When the bells stop ringing to welcome in the New Year and we make resolutions for the next twelve months, one thing was certain in Toni Bou`s mind, that this year he had a vague wish about being World Trial Champion. His new contract came into effect that day, a great chance for one of the best up and coming riders in Spanish trial. He became a fully fledged Repsol rider on 1st January and after the 2006 season he had no idea how his career was going to change over the following few months.
Toni Bou`s progress in the world of trial started when he was almost 8 with his first competitions in Bike Trial. At the age of 13 he was two times World Champion in his category, then he began to race on motorbikes. After a good performance in his third World Trial Championship open category, including victories in Galicia and Japan, he commited himself in September 2006 to the Repsol team. Before the end of the season he still had time to confirm that his new team had not made a mistake because he won the Trial of Nations team event, this accompanied the title he won in the Spanish Championship open category.Just 20 years old, this young man born in Piera in Catalunya, had just entered the select group of Repsol trial riders who had won the world title, joining Dougie Lampkin, seven times World Champion, Takahisa Fujinami, World Champion three years ago and Laia Sanz, seven times World Champion. This was a chance for him to learn from the best in the world but this made even more diffifcult by the fact that he had to use a bike that was totally new for him: the Montesa – HRC Cota 4RT, a 4 stroke that neither Lampkin nor Fujinami had felt totally comfortable on.Nevertheless, the first chance Toni Bou had he demonstrated that his first year was not just a period of transition; riding a new bike Bou did not take things easy at any time. From the very first round of the World Indoor Trial Championship date, held in Granada, the Repsol rider won with surprising ease and at the same time he got the first ever victory for a 4 stroke in the World Trial Championship. That victory was followed by another three: in St. Petersburg, Barcelona and Lisbon, three second positions: in Milan, Mahon and Madrid, and one sixth place: in Marseille. He was proclaimed World Champion by winning half of the dates in the calendar.If his debut in the World Indoor Trial Championship was brilliant it was even more spectacular in the World Outdoor Trial Championship. Toni Bou won the first round again, also in Spain, but since then he has won all the dates (except the second lap in Motegi and in the Czech Republic) or finished second in all of them. Spectacular results and peformances throughout a season where he hardly put a foot wrong and where the best Adam Raga of the last few years was the only one able to try and keep up with him.With the suspension of the Belgian Trial GP, the accumulated lead he has built up over the season has automatically made the Repsol rider into the new World Champion, as there is now only one round left: in Andorra on 2nd September. The most precious of his dreams became reality when he finished his holidays, a little surprising, although it is true that with the extraordinary season put in by the Repsol rider it was only a question of time before he won the long desired title. In the Andorran GP Toni Bou will have a chnce to confirm his title with a final victory, something that would be the icing on the top of his dream season.Summary of the 2007 seasonSpaniish GP, 1stWith the World Indoor Trial Championship recently won, Toni Bou made things clear from the opening date in the World Outdoor Trial Championship that his indoor result was no accident. The Repsol rider started a little nervously because rain had left the zones prepared by the organisers in a lamentable state and this sort of surface had neversuited him before. Even so he managed to win and from the very first day went to the top of the general classification.Guatemalan GP, 1st Three weeks later the Repsol rider confirmed his splendid form by winning the two days of the Guatemalan GP. The first, fruit of a tight duel with the other Repsol rider Takahisa Fujinami, and the second, a battle with the rider who would be his big rival the whole season, Adam Raga. Both put pressure on Bou right up to the last moment, but he was able to enjoy two hard-fought victories and a get a bigger lead in the classification. French GP, 1st The Marseille Trial was Toni Bou`s and his Repsol Montesa – HRC Cota 4RT`s fourth consecutive victory. A full house that made it plain to see that he had perfectly adapted to the 4 stroke Montesa bike, which on the first lap of the circuit had only received half of the points that any of his rivals had been penalised with. Japanese GP, 1st and 2nd Halfway through the calendar and the 1st and 2nd places obtained on the two days of competition at Motegi, Toni Bou had a total of 117 of the 120 points up for grabs. The date in Japan was an authentic exhibition by the two best riders in the championship –Raga and Toni Bou – who shared out the two victories in a spectacular duel with hardly any mistakes.Italian GP, 1st Back in Europe, Toni Bou once again set the pace with another victory. This took him ever closer to the world title. In spite of competing with a high temperature the Repsol rider was able to maintain his high level and win the first of the four rounds held in July. The victory in Italy was won after an impeccable first lap of the circuit, where he was penalised with less than half the number of points awarded to the second placed rider.Polish GP, 1st The 8th date brought another victory for the Repsol rider, who thanks to his seventh triumph in eight dates was able to extend his lead over the second placed rider to 20 points. Toni Bou won by exerting his authority on the two laps of the circuit, confirming his world class form for the run in to the championship finale.Czech Republic GP, 2nd For the second time this season Toni Bou finished second in na GP where any error was very expensive. Although it may seem paradoxical the very simple zones did not let him get another victory, a mistake on the second lap became an impediment to another win.British GP, 1st Wiith three dates left Toni Bou got his eighth victory of the season and he took an almost definitive step towards his first ever World Championship. His percentage of victories in the finished rounds was 80%, and he had a 20 point lead in the rider classification with two rounds left and so the Repsol rider had his first Match point in the Andorran trial, at the end of the summer holidays.
