The Bielefeld crowd witnessed Toni Bou crowned Indoor Trial World Champion. The Repsol Montesa rider has had enough of four rounds of the Championship to be, for the seventh consecutive year, the best on the planet.
With this victory Toni surpasses Adam Raga as the Spaniard who has won the most rounds in this speciality in the World Championship. Piera’s arrived in Germany with 24 points ahead of the second classified in the general classification, Albert Cabestany. Despite this, Bou has not relaxed at any time and has managed to climb to the top step of the podium to celebrate in style the achievement of this title.
There is no doubt that we are facing one of the greatest riders in the history of motorcycling and, in particular, of Trial. Nowadays there is no one who can beat it. His ambition and desire to continue making history are taking him to the Olympus of the gods of this sport.
Today Toni had a magnificent Trial, completing the semi-final with 0 points and the Final with only 1. Cabestany’s non-qualification for this one has made the rider from Montesa face it with much more tranquility and already being virtually champion.
In addition to Albert, Fujinami has also been left out of the Final as he has made three fiascos in the Semi. So the four riders who have fought for the German podium have been Toni Bou himself, Adam Raga, Jeroni Fajardo and James Dabill.
The areas prepared for this test, some made of artificial stones, others of wood, scaffolding, concrete cylinders or containers, have played tricks on the riders but not on the champion who has overcome them without problems, even the one that no one has been able to do, he has achieved it by drawing strong applause from the audience.
Thus, Toni Bou adds a new title to his very long list and adds to his legend. In Germany, Adam Raga (13) was second and Jeroni Fajardo (15) third, completing a very important Spanish treble.
Bou: “It was a very special race, with some tense moments at the start and absolutely happy in the final, which I played without any pressure, absolutely loose and without thinking about anything other than winning. Going into the final knowing I was champion was fantastic, I enjoyed it a lot. The bike was perfect, as always, and to feel supported by the team, my family and friends is sensational. I can only thank them.”
Takahisa Fujinami: “I did well in qualifying but in the first part of the semi-final I wanted to go fast so as not to take a time penalty and I made a fiasco that made me lose focus. It’s been a good day for Toni and the team, but personally I’m not satisfied. There’s one race left to finish the championship and the chances of finishing in the top positions are real, so I’m going to think positively.”
Adam Raga: “I’m happy with how this race went. I felt good, I had a good qualifier and it was a shame that I broke the bark of the trunk in the semi-final, because I was doing well. I think I’ve only had a couple of glitches all night.
But as I said, I’m happy because I’ve made a step forward from Malaga in this trial that is so different from that one. Here there were selective zones, where you could miss, leave points and recover them in another. I even thought that with the trunk thing I would be out of the final!
Now there’s only one race left and I’m second, it’s important; I’d like to achieve a result that I haven’t achieved for years and close the indoor season with a good final classification.”
Bielefeld X-Trial Results
Final
1. Toni Bou, 1
2. Adam Raga (Gas Gas), 13
3. Jeroni Fajardo, 15
4. James Dabill, 25
Semifinal
1. Toni Bou, 0; 2. Adam Raga (Gas Gas), 6; 3. Jeroni Fajardo, 7; 4. James Dabill, 8
Unqualified: Albert Cabestany, 12; Takahisa Fujinami, 16.
Qualifying
1. Toni Bou, 0; 2. Albert Cabestany, 0; 3. Adam Raga (Gas Gas), 0; 4. Takahisa Fujinami, 1; 5. James Dabill, 10; 6. Jeroni Fajardo, 10
Not qualified: Matteo Grattarola (Gas Gas), 11; Alexandre Ferrer, 11; Jack Challoner, 23.
Provisional X-Trial World Championship
1. Toni Bou, 80
2. Adam Raga (Gas Gas), 43
3. Albert Cabestany, 42
4. Jeroni Fajardo, 39
5. Takahisa Fujinami, 34
The X-Trial World Championship will conclude on April 12 in Nice.
