: Adam Raga has scored a very important victory today at the French GP that keeps him alive in the fight for the world title with his biggest rival, Toni Bou, who was second today after signing an identical card to that of the winner, but accumulating three more minutes to complete the route that have been decisive.
The third step of the podium went to Jeroni Fajardo, who repeats the good role of last week in the United Kingdom and snatches the fourth provisional place in the championship from an unfortunate Fujinami.
The Trial World Championship was completed in the French town of Le Mongie, where the new Montesa Cota 2015 –View Here-the frantic 3-week journey across the European continent, where Four scoring races have been held and 80 points have been distributed. The great protagonist of these weeks has been Toni Bou, who after scoring the first three victories achieved a minimum respite of 10 points in the championship. Raga, in his incessant push of the season, has always been in the shadow of the champion, except in France, where he has managed to overcome the solid king of the specialty for the fourth time this season .
In France, it was a tough race on a physical and mechanical level due to the altitude, as most of the route was held at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres. The sections, on the other hand, were relatively easy for the leading riders and only four points were left (two per lap). The third-placed Fajardo completed the three laps with eleven more points.
Albert Cabestany, fourth, had a race from less to more, but it was not enough to recover ground and fight for the podium. After the Tarragona native, it was anew driving spectacle for Jorge Casales , who in his first season has once again slipped into an extraordinary fifth position, ahead of great favourites such as Fujinami (sixth) or Dabill (tenth).
In the World Cup category, Arnau Farré won a great victory, beating by one point the great favourite for the title, the Basque Jaime Busto, and Jack Price. Equality has been the dominant tone in this race, since up to the seventh classified the riders have finished in a range of only 5 points.
The Trial World Championship will therefore be decided in Arnedillo (La Rioja), where there are 40 points at stake. Toni Bou arrives with a 7-point lead and Raga does not depend on himself to score the precious title. Therefore, it will be a race of maximum emotion and one of the most disputed titles in recent years.
KEY STATEMENTS
Adam Raga: “I’m very happy with this victory as today it was very important to close the gap to Toni Bou in order to continue fighting for the world championship. It was a fantastic and very tough race, at more than two thousand metres, with some spectacular walls. I want to thank the team for their work in the whole set-up of the bike, at such an altitude they all lose some power. We’ve done our job! Now, to win the world championship we have to win the last two rounds and hope that Toni does a third, we know that it is difficult, but things under pressure are always more complicated for everyone and anything can happen.”
Toni Bou: “I don’t think I had a bad race, but I was always very afraid of making mistakes in such an easy trial that could complicate the championship. The terrain was incredible and they could have marked the much more difficult sections, but they wanted to make some simple areas for everyone. It was a shame not to win by such a small margin, but we have to settle for the positives: we are still seven points clear in the championship, which is very good. We will look at managing the race and managing the advantage in the last Grand Prix to achieve the objective.”
Jorge Casales: “I’m satisfied with my fifth place in France, it’s a good result. I had a good first lap, but in the second lap the wear and tear took its toll. Then in the third we improved. You have to keep working and enjoying the bike to gain experience in the World Championship. I appreciate the work of the team because the set-up here, at so many meters of altitude, has not been easy at all.”
Takahisa Fujinami: “The sections were quite easy and I made some mistakes that accumulated points and more points. With each lap I left more; I knew I was failing and I had no margin. I tried to finish fifth, but I finished sixth when I could have finished further back. This August I’m going to try to recover my knee well and go all out in the last two races.”
Arnau Farré: “From the prime
In the area I have found myself very comfortable. I finished the first one with five points and in the second one I only took one foot out, although in the last one I suffered a bit because the differences with my rivals were minimal. In the end I managed to win and I’m very happy for this victory, it’s a victory that motivates me to keep going, working, and that also shows us that we are capable of achieving it. I want to thank the Gas Gas team and Marc, my backpacker, for all their work, without them it wouldn’t have been possible. Now we’ll keep training and we’ll keep working to improve.”
