The Repsol rider Toni Bou has won the Indoor Trial in Sheffield, the first trial in a championship that he has won the last three years running. Bou took an outstanding victory in the definitive minutes of the trial, the first held under the new regulations stipulated by the International Motorcycling Federation and which divides the competition into four stages. In spite of a good first round, Takahisa Fujinami was eliminated in the parallel race and could not progress to the second half of the competition.
This season, the trials in the Indoor Trial World Championship will consist of four parts. Firstly, the QX1, a qualifying stage developed in 5 sections. Then, the participants must tackle the TX1, parallel races between eight riders, with a tie-breaker if necessary, depending on the time used in the final individual zone. Finally, the TX3, in which participants must overcome four sections, the scores for which will be added to those of TX2.
With all of these changes in place, Toni Bou was the best in QX1 (0 points), followed by Jeroni Fajardo and his Repsol Montesa – HRC team mate, Takahisa Fujinami, with 2 and 3 points respectively. The reigning World Champion lost his parallel race in the TX1 against Dougie Lampkin, but in the play-off section, he secured his place in the TX2, which he completed with 0 points.
However, the rider that was hardest hit by the new regulations was Takahisa Fujinami, who after achieving a promising result in the QX1, lost his parallel race with Albert Cabestany in the TX1 and could not progress to the next phase.
The second scoring trial in the Indoor Trial World Championship will be held on 23 January in Marseille (France).
Toni Bou
“I’ve started the championship winning and that is the most important, but we’ve suffered a lot because the new regulations make things very complicated. From what we’ve seen here in Sheffield, I can’t rule out falling victim to a disaster like that which affected my team mate Fujinami. I’ve always said that you have to take it race by race and with these regulations this approach is even more logical.”
Takahisa Fujinami
“I don’t agree with the new regulations. I had a fantastic qualifier, but it wasn’t worth a thing, and I wasn’t the only one in this situation, which I consider unfair.”
