With barely enough time to rest after winning the Spanish Indoor Trial Championship, at the end of December, the next challenge for the Catalan rider Toni Bou was his third World Championship in the same category. On 4 January, in Sheffield, the World Championship kicked off, promising great rivalry, given the incredible skill demonstrated by the title contenders in the weeks running up to the English event. However, after four tests and with three victories and a second place, Toni Bou has proved to be a cut above the rest, winning along with Repsol Montesa-HRC his third World Championship.
Bou took advantage of that first event to leave it clear that after winning two consecutive World Championships, he was not going to relax for a second, and less so in a World Championship with just five events, where the slightest mistake could be very costly. He started the trial with a mistake in the second individual area, which forced the Repsol rider to put in his best performance until he secured victory in the final area to make the best possible start to defending his title.
Marseille –France- was the scenario of the second stop on the calendar, and on this occasion, slight errors caused him to lose a trial with a very high technical level by just one point, reflecting just how evenly matched the riders were. However, he was able to get even two weeks later and in front of a very devoted audience, which gathered at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona to admire the best riders in the world in the action category. The organisers set up, once, a technically demanding trial, in which the riders rapidly lost points. Bou himself, who struck disaster at the first obstacle, put in his best performance, being the only one to overcome many of the areas where his rivals accumulated points in fives. It was a very special victory for the Repsol rider, who once again dominated in Barcelona and this time, in front of his home crowd.
Yesterday (Thursday), the Indoor Trial at Bolzano was the icing on the cake for Toni Bou and Repsol, who added a new World Championship victory and as a result, won the third World Championship running. Bou’s performance was once again masterly, gaining just one point in the entire competition, when he was penalised in the final area for exceeding the permitted time. In spite of pressure from his rivals, who tried to put off the fight for the title until the final trial in Madrid, Bou calmly tackled a trial that got more difficult with each area.
At 22 years old, the excellent list of the Repsol rider’s achievements continues to grow, and his thirst for victory will be put to the test once again in front of the Madrid crowd on 14 March.
Biography
Born on October 17, 1986 and living in Piera (Barcelona), Toni Bou, started in Bike Trial at the age of eight. After becoming World Champion in bikes, he switched to Motorbike Trial in 1999.
Already immersed in the motorbike speciality, in 2201, he took the Spanish Junior Championship. The following year he took the European 250cc Cup for young promising riders and the overall European Championship in 2003.
In 2005 he was member of the winning team in the Trial des Nations, runner-up in the Spanish Indoor Trial Championship and fifth in the Outdoor Trial World Championship. In the following year, Bou achieved his first victories in the top category, both in the indoor (third in the World Championship) and outdoor series, where again he finished fifth in the final World Championship standings.
He joined the ranks of the Repsol Montesa-HRC team in 2007, and in this year, the Piera rider indisputably dominated the Indoor Trial World Championship. At the handlebars of the Montesa Cota 4RT, Toni Bou won four of the eight trials in the World Championship. The high level he demonstrated placed him among the favourites to win the Outdoor Trial World Championship, which he also won with authority, after taking nine of the possible eleven victories. As a finishing touch, the Repsol rider won the Spanish Indoor Trial Championship and his third win in a row as a member of the Spanish team in the Trial des Nations.
The following year, Toni won the Indoor Trial World Championship again and after seven wins in the Outdoor Trial World Championship and five second places, Bou became the new king of the category for the second year running. To end the season, he regained, along with the Spanish team, the Trial des Nations title, and won the Spanish Indoor Trial Championship again.
A cut above his rivals, Toni Bou has once again won the Indoor Trial World Championship in 2009 for the third time running, confirming that he is the best in his class. With just one trial left in the World Championship, Bou has won three victories and one second place this season, an unbeatable guarantee for his next objective: keep up the level at the Outdoor Trial World Championship, which starts on 4 April in Ireland.
