Great victory for the Repsol Honda Team rider in the first day of the British Trial, where he dominated a race marked by rain and mud. Takahisa Fujinami finished in fifth place.
Toni Bou offered a great performance in a very complicated trial as was this sixth Grand Prix of the season, which took place in the small town of Nord View, in Carlisle, in northern England. The race conditions were far from ideal, as the rain was added to the stones and dust, making the riding more complicated for the riders in the different phases of the race. Nevertheless, the Repsol Honda Team rider shone again and, in the first lap, he did not receive any point until the last zone, where he was penalized with one point.
At the end of the first lap, the Repsol rider margin over his rivals was more than 14 points. In the second lap, knowing his advantage over his rivals, the Spanish rider received some more points, thought he increased his advantage in the provisional classification of the race. In the last lap, and with everything on his side to achieve his fourth victory of the season, he made two consecutive mistakes when he was trying to finish without penalty.
Today’s victory allows Toni Bou to add 20 more points to his tally and to increase his advantage over the second, Adam Raga, by 7 points in the overall standings.
His team mate, Takahisa Fujinami, finished in fifth place after being in the group fighting for the fourth position in different phases of the race. The Japanese rider is still fourth in the overall standings of the Trial World Championship.
Tomorrow the second and last day of this British Trial Grand Prix will take place and the riders will face again three laps and a total of 12 zones.
Toni Bou,
“We started the race very well and in the first lap I only received one point in the last zone. In the second I had some points and in the third I did two consecutive mistakes because I tried to finish that lap with a zero and it couldn’t be. Maybe I took too many risks. We were able to get a good advantage in the race and I’m very happy with this first victory. The zones might probably be a bit easier tomorrow, but we’ll keep fighting. Today’s win was very important for me and for the team.”
Takahisa Fujinami,
“I think we did a fairly good last lap. It was a shame that I failed in the two previous laps, I made too many mistakes. I thought I could finish fourth, but I couldn’t just by one point. The race went well and I was confident, but I failed a bit. Recovery arrived a bit late, but it gives me hopes to be able to improve tomorrow.”
