Toni Bou responded with a resounding victory in the Italian GP to his main rival, Adam Raga, who came into this event as the leader of the championship with an advantage of just one point over the reigning world champion.
Bou, who has practically recovered from his rib injury, has been able to ride at 100% and give his best. On this occasion the terrain was wetter and the areas, as shown by the high scores, of significant difficulty, as Bou demanded after the previous races.
On the first lap the three favourite riders, Bou, Raga and Cabestany, set exactly the same times, with the difference that both Raga and Cabestany incurred partial time penalties that forced them to add two and three more points, respectively, to their cards on this first lap.
MAJOR FALL OF ADAM RAGA
This equality was broken on the second lap, where Raga suffered a hard fall in the most difficult section of the entire race, the sixth. Despite the setback, the Gas Gas rider managed to overcome and complete the lap with a partial of 19 points, very much in line with the previous lap, but far from a Toni Bou who began to open ground with an extraordinary card of 7 points.
More of the same for Cabestany, who equalled his previous run and remained 4 points behind Raga at the start of the last pass through the 12 zones. Jeroni Fajardo, the only rider capable of compromising the podium to Raga or Cabestany, was 4 points behind the Sherco rider. Everything was to be decided.
In the last pass through the zones there were no big surprises. Bou managed to extend his points lead at the top of the standings, putting 27 points ahead of his closest rival, Adam Raga, who took for granted a hard-fought second position that keeps him alive in the fight for the world title when the halfway point of the championship has already been reached.
Cabestany once again set his previous records and Fajardo signed his best lap of the race, which would have been enough to get on the podium if he had not fattened his card with 4 time penalty points on this last lap.
Behind the favourites we have James Dabill in fifth, followed by a Fujinami which is far from the records expected of him (64 points) and a bulk of drivers with more than 100 points on their scorecards, such as Pol Tarrés (7th) or a Jorge Casales (9th) who had to overcome mechanical problems.
In the World Cup category, the current leader, Jaime Busto (4th), is off the podium this time but retains a wide advantage at the head of the provisional standings. The victory went to local driver Luca Cotone, followed by Franz Kadlec and Kenny Thomas.
The Trial World Championship will take a month-long hiatus until the next event, the Belgian Grand Prix, which will be held in the town of Comblain-au-Port on Sunday, July 13.
WORLD PRO G.P. Italy Standings
WORLD CUP G.P. Italy Standings
WORLD 125 G.P. Italy Standings
PILOT STATEMENTS
Toni Bou: “Today we had a high-level trial. I started badly, with 3 fiascos up to zone six, some with bad luck. But I’ve started to recover because the areas allowed it. I’m still uncomfortable with the regulations, it’s a bit difficult, but I was able to ride well on the second lap and finish off on the last lap. I felt good, recovered physically, and more comfortable than in previous races. We have achieved the objective: to regain the lead, although I know that in the next races it will not be easy.”
Adam Raga: “I started very well, in fact I was leading the race until the sixth section where I suffered an important crash, very strong. However, I’m happy because I didn’t hurt myself and, despite having a bad day, I finished second. You have to be positive. I haven’t been as successful as I was in Corsica. The terrain was much more slipped and there was no traction, but I think we did a good job. There’s a month to go until the next race and we have to keep training and improving to be the best.”
Jorge Casales: “The Italian Grand Prix has been good in terms of the fact that I continue to accumulate experience in the world championship, even if the race did not go too well for me. In the first sections I went quite well until, in zone ten, I suffered a mechanical problem and I was forced to chop some of the last sections so as not to get a time penalty and to be able to repair it quickly on the truck. Then, on the second lap, I punctured the rear wheel which made me lose my concentration a bit. And then it took me a bit to keep up with the guys at the front. The team’s work has been very good and we have to keep learning in the World Cup”
Text: Trialworld / Photos: G2F Media
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