The Repsol Honda Team rider finished second in the first round of the Outdoor Trial World Championship that took place today in Barcelona. Jaime Busto was fourth and Fujinami seventh.
Toni Bou started to defend today his Trial World Champion title. He will be looking to secure his tenth outdoor crown, the twentieth of his sports career. His performance was conditioned by an unfortunate injury in his shoulder, which hindered his participation. Despite that, the Repsol Honda Team rider secured a very valuable second position with Jaime Busto just out of the podium, in fourth, and Takahisa Fujinami seventh.
After a good start, Bou had a difficult second lap and he was able to improve in the third pass, finishing with 21 points, one more than the winner, Albert Cabestany. A bittersweet result for Busto, who, after two excellent first laps, finished out of the podium by only 3 points due to the mistakes he made in the third lap. Fujinami had good feelings but made some mistakes that didn’t allow him to do better than seventh place.
Tomorrow will be the second day of the Trial Grand Prix of Catalunya, with the same itinerary as today, although some changes in the zones are expected.
Toni Bou:
“I’m very happy of my physical condition. I got very tired, it was hard, but I’m satisfied, because if things continue like this, it will be better in the future. The result is not the most important. I’m very happy and I want to thank the team and particularly Doctor Joaquim Terricabras, who did a great job. I’m very grateful to him. I have a torn tendon and a dislocated biceps. The muscles are holding well and I can ride. The third lap was very good. Tomorrow I will be very tired, but if we can save the weekend and go to Japan recovered, it will be great. We’ve gone from thinking that the championship was lost to start fighting for the top positions.”
Takahisa Fujinami:
“I was behind Jaime [Busto] during the first lap and I saw that he was doing well. I tried to do the same and it also worked for me. But in two of the last zones I made two fiascos. In the last, the easiest, with the pressure of being on time I failed at the start. My head has failed me, because I pushed too hard. The result, seventh place, is not what I expected, because I am very well physically and overall I rode well.”
Jaime Busto:
“During the first two laps I felt very comfortable, especially in the first one, which seemed as if I had been there my whole life. In the third I found some deep lines and I made three mistakes that I shouldn’t have made, such as breaking a ribbon with the boot or mistakes with the trajectory. We hope tomorrow will be better.”
