Takahisa Fujinami surprised everyone with his victory on the second day of the Italian Grand Prix. A result that was not in any of the pools, since on the previous day he finished in seventh position, 41 points behind the winner, his teammate Toni Bou.
A result that was worth the Repsol Honda Team’s one-two finish and the Japanese rider’s rise to third place in the championship.
"Fujinami, who has 168 podiums and 34 victories in his sporting career, has not won since 2016."
FAJARDO DOESN’T FINISH OFF A GOOD FIRST TURN
On this second day of the race, the heat reigned again in the town of Tolmezzo, something that toughened a race that, a priori, was easier than on the previous day. The rider who started with the best pace was Jeroni Fajardo, who led the first pass through the zones, two points ahead of Bou and five over Fujinami and Busto.
EPIC LAST TWO ZONES OF FUJINAMI
On the second lap Jeroni started with small mistakes and did not pass the fifth section, which was an advantage for Bou and Fujinami, who passed cleanly. From then on, it was the Repsol Honda Team riders. The last two areas were the most difficult and the ones that made the difference. Here Bou left two fiascos, while Fujinami signed only three, managing to overtake his teammate and score an emotional victory that had not come since 2016.
RAGA TAKES OIL IN THE RACE AFTER A BAD FIRST LAP
Behind, Raga took advantage of a bad second lap by Fajardo and climbed to the third step of the podium. A key result to not lose the rope of a championship that is expected to be very tight. In fifth place, after Sherco, was the local hero, Grattarola, who with his podium on Saturday surprised in his return to the top category. Sixth, just one point behind, Gelabert, and one behind, Busto, followed by Marcelli and Peace.
TOBY MARTYN AND TURNER, WINNERS IN TRIAL2 AND TRIAL 125
In Trial2 victory for the British Toby Martyn, followed by Jack Peace on equal points and Aniol Gelabert. The top 5 was completed by Sondre Haga and Pablo Suárez. In Trial 125 Harry Turner triumphed, followed by Jack Dance and Adria Mercade.
PILOT STATEMENTS
Takahisa fujinami (P1)"Yesterday I felt comfortable with the bike, but the results didn't come out. In general, these last few months I've trained hard and I've felt very good with the bike. Yesterday I didn't expect to finish seventh, but the truth is that I was close to fifth and with possibilities to improve. What I didn't expect is to be able to win today! I was looking for the win, but not 100%. I am very happy. At 41 years old, I don't think anyone expected it, not my team, not Toni and I don't think me. It's been amazing to be able to pull it off. I've felt like 2004, when I was 24 years old. Thank you very much to the whole team for always supporting and helping me, this victory is a gift to all of them."
toni bou (P2)"First of all, I want to congratulate my colleague Takahisa Fujinami. What he has done today at the age of 41 has been brutal. He works hard and does a very good job with the whole team. As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy with the weekend overall. Today in zone 6 I hurt myself a bit, I made a mistake with the line and I couldn't secure my foot. Even so, we have achieved some very good results. I hope I didn't hurt myself too much and I can recover well for the second round of the World Championships."
Adam Raga (P3) "It has been a positive weekend where we have shown that we are at a good level, both in terms of riding and cycling. On Saturday we were close to achieving victory and on Sunday we had to recover, during the second half of the race, certain failures of the first lap that prevented us from being higher up. In any case, a good start to the season, which we face with a lot of desire to achieve our objectives"
TRIALgp italia standings day 2
Italian GP DAY 2 - Tolmezzo - TrialGP
- TAKAHISA FUJINAMI (MONTESA)
- TONI BOU (MONTESA)
- ADAM RAGA (TRRS)
- JERONI FAJARDO (SHERCO)
- MATTEO GRATTAROLA (BETA)
- MIQUEL GELABERT (GASGAS)
- JORGE BUSTO (VERTIGO)
- GABRIEL MARCELLI (MONTESA)
- DAN PEACE (SHERCO)
2021 WORLD TRIAL CALENDAR
2021 WORLD Trial Championship calendar
- GP ITALIA - TOLMEZZO - 12 & 13 June
- GP FRANCE - CHARADE - 3RD AND 4 JULY
- GP ANDORRA - SANT JULIÀ DE LORIA - 21 and 22 August
- FRENCH GP 2 - CAHORS - 28 & 29 August
- GP SPAIN - BAIONA - September 11 and 12
- GP GREAT BRITAIN - TONG - OCTOBER 8-10
- TRIAL OF NATIONS - GOUVEIA - PORTUGAL - September 17-19
