Toni Bou this Sunday took his fourth Trial World Champion title, all consecutive, having clocked up another win – the seventh of the current season – in the tenth and penultimate point-scoring event of the competition. It would have been enough for the Repsol rider to finish fifth today to tie up this 36th World Championship competition with one meeting to go, the Czech Republic Grand Prix, which will take place on 5th September.
Bou refused to play it safe and he performed without making any concessions, setting the best score in the trial’s two rounds. With this result, the Repsol rider confirms his supremacy in a discipline which he has completely dominated since 2007, the season from when, alongside Repsol and Montesa, he has won the speciality year after year, accumulating eight world titles, four nationals and three wins with the Spanish team in the trial of the nations.
His team-mate, Takahisa Fujinami, accompanied him onto the podium. With his third position, the Japanese rider has conceded a place in the World Championship standings but still has the chance to fight for runner-up at the last event. Another Repsol rider, Laia Sanz, finished just out of the points.
Toni Bou
“I set out to win the championship by winning this event and I feel very happy to have achieved that. The season has been complicated by a rule change which has given us a lot of work. If I were to go back in time, I would think that first title I won in 2007 was great, and from then on I have been gaining in experience, learning new ways of working and dealing with different situations. This fourth title was very important for me, now that in the history of the World Championships I only have Jordi Tarrés and Dougie Lampkin ahead of me. Anyway, I don’t want to become obsessed with their seven titles, as that would stop me enjoying each and every one of the good times I’m having.”
Takahisa Fujinami
“First of all, I would like to congratulate Toni. He has once again been flawless, while I struggled with the pressure of securing the runner-up spot. I made too many mistakes in the first round and lost second place on the leaderboard. The difference is minimal and I think that runner-up is far from lost. At the next event, I’ll just have to finish in front of my rival, there’s no other way.”
