Toni Bou has added his fourth victory, out of a possible five, in the Andorran GP, held in the town of Sant Julià, and is already on his way to achieving a new world title. Now the driver from Piera extends his lead at the top of the standings to fifteen points, after his closest pursuer, Adam Raga, has given way to Fujinami in the fight for second place.
Andorra is a regular venue for the Outdoor World Championship, as well as numerous editions of the Trial of Nations. The main factor of this race is the high altitude of the scenario, which greatly conditions the behavior of the bikes, which are difficult to tune up, and of the riders, who suffer more from fatigue due to the lack of oxygen. In addition, historically it is a complex race, with high-level sections and very high records. In this case, Bou finished with 15 points, which is ideal, but the bulk of the riders, in this case from the fourth onwards, have signed cards with more than 80 points. This is certainly an abysmal advantage.
In the First Round Bou has already shown his superiority, scoring a Partial record of only five points -five one-point penalties-, while his closest rival, his teammate Takahisa Fujinami, signed a first round of Thirteen Points after leaving two fiascos in the most decisive sections of the race: number three and nine.
Raga gave ground to teammates Repsol after scoring one more fiasco than the Japanese, specifically in zone five, which made them reach the halfway point of the race with a 19-point split and almost zero chances of putting the reigning world champion in check again. His task was now to overtake Fujinami and open a gap to his main rival in the championship, Albert Cabestany , who gave up his slight advantage over the Gas Gas rider after committing a fiasco in zone thirteen, finishing the lap with a total of 24 points.
Far behind, already immersed in another fight, were Dabill, Fajardo and Challoner. It was a bad day, therefore, for Jeroni, who after a good start to the season sank into atypical positions for him, consequently losing some very valuable points in the fight against Fujinami for fourth place in the provisional standings.
On the second lap, curiously, only Cabestany managed to improve his previous rule, and he did so by three points, while the rest, including Bou himself, fattened their cards. However, Bou’s record of only 10 points was still overwhelming against the partials of his rivals, who in this second lap did not fall below 21 points. In this way, Bou scored a resounding victory with a margin of 20 points over his teammate Fujinami, who in turn beat Raga with authority. For the Gas Gas rider it is not a good result, since in the opinion of his statements, his priority continues to be the reconquest of the title, but looking at it from the other side, he manages to slightly increase his points advantage in the provisional against his pursuer, Albert Cabestany.
The Tarragona native scored a very good second lap, but it was not enough to make amends for the mistakes of the beginning and overtake Raga. However, nothing is decided between them, as they are only five points separated by five points in the provisional standings. Behind Cabestany finished Dabill, although very far away, almost 40 points behind, and very close, only 3 behind the Briton, Fajardo.
In the Junior category, Alfredo Gómez from Madrid gave up the top step of the podium for the first time so far this season to Frenchman Alexandre Ferrer. In any case, Alfredo continues to extend his lead at the head of the provisional standings over his closest pursuer, fellow Spaniard Moret. Pol Tarrés, who is third in the Championship, completed the places of honour.
In the Youth category, another victory for Jitsie rider Jack Sheppard, who counts his participations by victories.
Text: David Quer / Photos: G2FMedia
 
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