Toni Bou has achieved victory in the first race of the 2018 TrialGP World Championship, held in the Girona town of Camprodón.
In the context of harsh and changing weather, the riders faced some highly demanding sections that became progressively more complicated after the arrival of rain at the beginning of the second lap. The high scores of the riders and the widespread time penalties give us an idea of the tension that has been experienced during this day of competition.
Toni Bou’s sublime first lap was key to the dynamics of the race. With 12 points less at the end of the first lap compared to his main rival in the race, Jaime Busto, the race became very expensive for Toni Bou. In front of him was a very competitive Busto, author of the pole position on Saturday, who finished second.
Behind him, his teammate, Jeroni Fajardo. Fourth, just one point behind, Jorge Casales, and another point behind, Adam Raga.
In Trial2 victory for Matteo Grattarolla, followed by Jack Peace and Loris Gubian. In Trial 125 the first position went to Billy Green, followed by Martin Riobo and Arthur Rovery.
SPANISH TRIALGP RESULTS
TRIALGP CAMPRODON CLASSIFICATION
CLASSIFYING TRIAL2 CAMPRODON
CLASSIFICATION TRIAL125 CAMPRODON
DECLARATIONS
Toni Bou P1:
“I’m very happy for the victory, as yesterday I had a pretty bad qualifying and today I had to start from the first riders in the category. The race was very complicated but from the beginning I felt comfortable, making very few mistakes. The second lap was more complicated with the rain and mud, where I did some 5s with little confidence with the terrain. Physically I felt good, on the second lap my back hurt a bit, but I was better than I expected. It has been a great start to the Championship and I want to congratulate the organiser, as it has been a very complete Trial with very authentic sections.”
Jaime Busto P2:
“I’m very happy with the whole weekend we’ve had. Qualifying yesterday went very well, I finished first and that gave me a small advantage today. With the rain that fell yesterday afternoon, this morning the terrain was very slippery, but I was able to complete a good first lap and the feeling on the bike was incredible. In the middle of the second pass it started to rain and that complicated everything. But we were able to keep up the pace and finish second. I want to thank the whole team for their work with the bike, which has been great throughout the weekend.”
Jeroni Fajardo P3:
“I’m very happy with this third place. It has been a difficult weekend, which started with ninth place in yesterday’s qualifying. Today I started the day quite well, but in the middle of the first lap I started to feel not so comfortable. It was very difficult for me, but I finished fourth on the first lap. With the rain that fell, the second pass was much harder, much more difficult, but we fought, we held on and all the effort was rewarded with this third position.”
Adam Raga P5:
“I can’t be satisfied with my result in this first Grand Prix of the season. The truth is that I didn’t feel comfortable riding during the race, something that was reflected in the qualifying. We will continue to work hard to do well in Japan.”
Takahisa Fujinami P8:
“Just last week we were deciding whether or not to race in this first race because I didn’t have 100% of my right shoulder. I wanted to try it and so I did. I started well but I was getting more and more tired and suffering from my back and arms. Even so, I’m very happy with the result: an eighth position is very good for the championship.”
Loris Gubian P3 TR2:
“It’s been a good weekend for me. Today, the beginning was quite stressful, because it was my first race in Trial2 in quite some time. To finish third, just a few points off second place, in the first race is a very good result. We will have to continue like this and work for the next races, in Andorra and Portugal, to catch the riders in front.”
