Toni Bou has been mathematically proclaimed 2012 Outdoor Trial World Champion after achieving an epic victory in the Italian GP, the eleventh round of a total of thirteen. Bou already has 12 world titles, 6 indoor and 6 outdoor, all of them achieved consecutively and demonstrating great superiority at all levels. Toni Bou has increased his number of World Cup victories to 48, in a total of 124 races played.
The Italian Trial Grand Prix could not have been loaded with more ingredients of emotion in all the tasks. The glorious sporting weekend where the new World Champion was crowned , we have witnessed a test of extreme toughness where the scores have been high and tight, giving an extra tension to the race. On the other hand, emotional tributes have been made to two great references of Trial who disappeared in 2012: the beloved former world championship rider Diego Bosis and the journalist Giulio Mauri.
The eleventh world championship round for the drivers was the only one on the entire calendar to be held in a single day and, therefore, with 20 points to be distributed. All the others have been played in a double day with points; This will also be the format of the closing ceremony, which will take place in England.
Albert Cabestany arrived in Italy very strong and motivated. The victory in the last race, held in Andorra, brought the Tarragona native closer to his ultimate goal: the runner-up position. This motivation led him to complete an impressive first pass through the fifteen zones, signing a record of only 6 points. Behind him, with 12 more points on his card, was Bou, and with 3 more a double tie between Fujinami and a surprising James Dabill. Further away, Raga, Oliveras and Fajardo.
This advantage it should have been enough for the Sherco rider to take his second win of the year, but During the second pass through the zones, great problems were found in zones 4, 5 and 6, where three consecutive fiascos were left, where finally two more would have to be added; the last of them in zone 14, unseated him from the lead, while the last foot of zone 15 also took away the second position in favor of Fujinami.
Bou masterfully took advantage of these problems in Cabestany and improved by 6 points on his previous partial, more than enough work to mathematically guarantee himself his sixth consecutive outdoor world title and twelfth cumulative, thus equalling the record of Dougie Lampkin, who accumulates 7 outdoor and 5 indoor world championships.
Fujinami was also splendid on the second lap, setting the second best stage of the day and working until the last section to get the victory. The one who was most grateful for Cabestany’s final problems was Raga, with whom, along with Fajardo, the runner-up spot is at stake. Adam, who didn’t have his day either, signed a fourth position that could have been snatched away by a lucid Dabill in the closing stages of the race.
It was a bad race for Jeroni Fajardo, whose excellent consistency in the last few races had secured the provisional runner-up position. He has now lost his 5-point lead and is level on 160 points with Cabestany. Behind them, also with options, is Adam Raga with 155 points. As a result, the heart-pounding fight for the runner-up spot will be decided in England on July 28 and 29.
JUNIOR
Alexandre Ferrer , the main contender for victory in each race and already proclaimed World Champion, has decided to take the start in the absolute category, opening up even more the intense fight of the Junior riders to get on the podium and opt for victory.
The great dominator throughout the day was Maxime Warenghien, whose fantastic partial of only two points at the end of the first lap already foreshadowed the dominance of the German rider. The one who had the most ballots to approach his records was Jorge Casales; The Galician, who has four consecutive podiums, is in magnificent form and arrived in Italy hungry for victory.
However, the route proposed in Santo Stefano D’Aveto did not conceive of margins for error and Jorge had difficulty closing the gap with Maxime, having to settle for a brilliant second position. The Frenchman Dagnicourt held on to the podium throughout the race, always keeping Moret very close , who again missed out on the podium, this time by just one point.
It was a bittersweet day for Pol Tarrés, who should have been fighting for the podium this time finished fifth.
DECLARATIONS
Toni Bou: “Winning the title again makes me very happy and to have done it with a new triumph and a new award for Montesa fills me even more. It’s been a fantastic year, with many victories that reward the work we’re doing. Six titles at the outdoor world championships and another six indoors… At this moment I am not proposing where we can get to, but rather enjoying this intense moment. Today was a difficult day, as the leg injury continues to affect me, but the finish was unbeatable, both for me and for the team. We can’t ask for more.”
Takahisa Fujinami: “It has been a full day, with a new championship for Toni, one more for Montesa and me in second position in this race. On the first lap I didn’t feel too good but I was convinced that on the next lap I could turn the situation around, and that’s what happened. Both Toni and I went from strength to strength and completed the party with a brace.”
Adam Raga: “I paid dearly for the mistakes I made on the first lap. It hurt me to start much earlier than my rivals, although I was able to come back afterwards. The most positive thing is that I have cut points from Fajardo and the runner-up position will be decided in Great Britain, where I hope to get a good result.”
James Dabill: “I have ridden really well today and I am unlucky only to be fifth. Towards the end of the second lap we were really short on time and I struggled to hold onto the bike during some of the more physical parts of the final sections and lost a few disappointing marks”. “It it nice to be back in the hunt for the podium though, I am really happy with the set up we have at the moment and hope I can continue this form into my home event at the next round in the UK.”
Michael Brown: “I cannot be too disheartened not to be up in seventh like the last round, there are a lot of good riders around the mid-field, Matteo Grattarola had a slightly better day than me and took his Gas Gas to eight position. ” I am really looking forward to the British round of the Championship in Carlise, it’ll be really great to ride in front of the home crowds and hopefully I can finish off the championship well
Text: Trialworld / Photos: Repsol / FIM G2F Media
BIOGRAPHY OF TONI BOU
Born on October 17, 1986 and living in Piera (Barcelona), Toni Bou started as a Bike Trial rider when he was eight years old. After being proclaimed World Champion of the specialty in his category, in 1999 he made the leap to Trial on motorcycles.
Immersed in the motorcycling specialty, in 2001 he won the Spanish Junior Championship, a title that was followed by the 250cc European Cup. for promising youngsters in 2002, and the European Champion in 2003. In 2005 he was part of the winning team in the Trial of Nations, was runner-up in Spain in Indoor Trial and fifth in the Outdoor World Championship.
following year, Bou achieved his first victories in the highest category, both indoors (third in the World Championships) and outdoors, where he ended up occupying fifth place again in the final classification of the World Championship.
Joining the ranks of the Repsol Montesa Honda Team in the 2007 season, the rider from Piera won the World Indoor Championship that same year. On the handlebars of a 4RT, Toni Bou won four of the eight races that made up the Indoor calendar. The high level he exhibited placed him among the favourites for the Outdoor Trial World Championship, which he also won with great authority, after achieving nine victories in the
s eleven possible. As a final touch, the Repsol rider won the Spanish Indoor Championship and his third victory, all consecutive, as a member of the Spanish team in the Trial of Nations.
The following year, the Repsol rider repeated the title in the Indoor World Championship, and After seven victories in the Outdoor World Championship and five second places, Bou was once again proclaimed absolute King of the discipline for the second consecutive year. At the end of the season, he revalidated the title in the Trial of Nations with Spain, and once again won the Spanish Indoor Trial Championship.
With an increasingly high level, Toni Bou defended both the Indoor and Outdoor Trial World Championships in 2009. He achieved four victories indoors, out of five events, and seven outdoors, out of the eleven that made up the calendar. He ended the season by also winning the national outdoor and indoor titles, as well as winning the Trial of Nations for the fifth time with the Spanish team, closing a historic season in which he won all five titles he competed in.
The rider faced the 2010 season without lowering his level one iota and has managed to materialize his two main objectives of the season: to repeat for the fourth consecutive year the victories in the World Championship, both Indoor and Outdoor. Four wins and a second place in the five races that made up the 2010 World Indoor Championship calendar confirmed his overwhelming dominance of the specialty. With his seventh victory in ten races at the Outdoor World Championship, the rider from Piera won his fourth consecutive outdoor title.
In the 2011 campaign, Bou achieved a similar feat, scoring a crushing title in the intense Indoor championship and ending the year with a hotly contested outdoor title.
In 2012 he is maintaining his dominance in both fields, both Indoor, where he achieved it after the triumph in the Indoor Trial in Milan, and in Outdoor, mathematically achieved in the Italian GP with two races still to be played. In this way, Bou continues to write his name in the history of Trial in golden letters, adding a total of 12 world titles, half of each modality, and all of them achieved consecutively.
Text: Trialworld
PILOT PROFILE
Name: Toni Bou Mena
Bike: Montesa Cota 4RT
Date of Birth: 17/10/86
Place: Piera (Barcelona).
World Cup debut: Ireland, 2003; 15th
GP wins: 48
GP played: 124
HONOURS
1994
Bike Trial Champion of Catalonia “Promesas”
1995
2nd Bike Trial World Championship “Poussin”
1996
2nd Bike Trial World Championship “poussin”
1997
Spanish Bike Trial Champion “Benjamín”
1998
Bike Trial World Champion “Minime”
2000
Bike Trial World Champion “Minime”
2001
Spanish Trial Champion “Junior”
2nd place in the European Youth Cup, 250 cc.
2002
European Youth Cup Champion, 250 cc.
11th Spanish Championship “Mr. A”
2003
European Trial Champion
13th Championship of the
World
8th Spanish Championship “Mr. A”
2004
9th World Championship.
2005
Team triumph at the Trial of Nations
2nd Spanish Indoor Trial Championship
4th place in the Spanish Outdoor Trial Championship
5th in the Trial World Championship
2006
Team victory at the Trial of Nations (outdoor and indoor).
Absolute Spanish Champion
3rd World Indoor Championships
5th place at the World Outdoor Championships
2007
World Champion
World Indoor Champion
Winner of the Trial of Nations
2008
Outdoor World Champion.
Indoor World Champion.
Champion of the Trial of Nations.
Spanish Indoor Trial Champion
2009
Outdoor Trial World Champion
Indoor Trial World Champion
Spanish Outdoor Trial Champion
Spanish Indoor Trial Champion
2010
Indoor Trial World Champion
Outdoor Trial World Champion
Spanish Trial Champion
World Team Champion
2011
Indoor Trial World Champion
Outdoor Trial World Champion
Spanish Trial Champion
World Team Champion
2012
Indoor Trial World Champion
Outdoor Trial World Champion
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