The Repsol rider achieves his second victory of the season, which strengthens his lead in the overall standings. Takahisa Fujinami accompanies him on the podium in third place.
The Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona held the second round of the X-Trial World Championship, where Toni Bou confirmed the expectations. The Repsol rider showed his good form and offered a great riding performance, achieving his seventh win in Barcelona, matching the record set by Jordi Tarrés 20 years ago. With this result, Bou is now 19 points ahead of the second placed overall, Albert Cabestany. His team mate at the Repsol Montesa Honda, Takahisa Fujinami, was third after a close duel with Adam Raga, who finished second.
The fans present at the second X-Trial World Championship round witnessed Toni Bou’s second victory of the season. The several times champion dominated the qualifying, the semifinal and the finale, where he was the only one to finish the third zone without points. After today’s ten zones, the rider from Piera had received only 7 points, 14 ahead of Adam Raga, second in the overall standings. With this win, he adds another 20 points to his overall result, and now leads with a total of 40 points, 19 more than Cabestany and Fajardo, who are tied in second place with 21 points.
His team mate, Takahisa Fujinami achieved his first podium of the season when he finished in third after a very close finale where there were also Adam Raga and Jeroni Fajardo. With 7 points in the first lap, the Japanese arrived to the finale in fourth place, but he was able to finish with 23 points, overtaking Fajardo and getting a well-deserved podium that places him in the fifth overall place in the World Championship.
The next round of the X-Trial World Championship will be next March 10th, in Malaga.
Toni Bou >> Audio
“I am very happy, it was a great day in front of my fans. It is the seventh win I get in Barcelona and I never thought I would achieve so many triumphs. I had another amazing night in this incredible place. This year the zone were maybe less complicated than before, but that made the race to be open until the end. It makes it more exciting for the fans, but for the riders in front it is worse, as we have to deal with more nerves. It forces you to avoid mistakes and take care, because the zones were very slippery due to the dust left by the Enduro bikes. Now I will rest a bit and keep training for the Malaga race, the next round of the X-Trial World Championship.”
Takahisa Fujinami >> Audio
“I really wanted to get a good result at the Barcelona Indoor, because it is like my second home; although it is the same for the rest of the riders and they were all very motivated. I am very happy to have achieved this third place, because the beginning of the year was very difficult for me, with the sixth position in Sheffield. In the qualifying I was fifth and didn’t think I would finish on the podium, because I didn’t have too much confidence and I was very nervous. There were difficult zones, with a lot of steps and very high areas. But in the semifinal I could pass a zone where most of the others failed, I felt confident and was able to be on the podium, which is very positive.”
