The Repsol Montesa Honda rider will compete tomorrow in France in the last round of the World Championship with a 5-point advantage over Raga, who won today’s round.
Toni Bou finished third in the first day of the French Grand Prix, which second day will be the finale of the 39th edition of the Trial World Championship. With this result, the Repsol rider keeps the overall lead, 5 points ahead of Adam Raga, who was the winner today in a round where Takahisa Fujinami finished sixth.
Held at the French ski resort of Isola 2000, at an altitude of 2.000 metres above sea level, the round was not very selective and once again mistakes were decisive. Raga finished with 12 points, followed by Fajardo, with 15, and Bou with 27. Fujinami, sixth today, keeps the third position overall, 1 point ahead of Fajardo.
Although the battle for the Riders World Championship title will keep the excitement until the very last minute, the Constructors title has already been secured by Montesa, achieving its sixteenth title –the last eighth, consecutive–, with the 4-stroke Cota 4RT.
Toni Bou
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy and from the second lap I suffered severe cramps due to the pressure I felt. It was the typical race without any complicated areas, where you can’t make mistakes and I made them. I was blocked in zone 4 and also Adam [Raga] and Jeroni [Fajardo] did a great race. Now we have to turn the page. Tomorrow I expect to be in better shape. It will be again an intense day, but knowing that I don’t need to win to achieve the title again will be a relief”.
Takahisa Fujinami
“I decided to go fast to have more time. I kept a comfortable steady pace; the problem was I made a lot of mistakes in the first lap, mainly due to the lack of references. I improved after that, but I made more mistakes than I should and the result was naturally bad. Tomorrow I will start with a different mind frame to defend my third position in the World Championship”.
