Toni Bou won the first round of this year`s World Indoor Trial Championship held in Marseille France on Saturday 19th.
The Repsol rider, the reigning World Champion, was better in a tight play-off after having finished in third position overall in the classification rounds, level with Takahisa Fujinami on 11 points; the time taken by the two in a direct play-off deciding the tie between the two teammates. Bou ended the first round, made up of seven zones, with a time of 9:02 and was the only participant that was not penalised for exceeding the permitted time, set at 11 minutes.Toni Bou: Obviously this was the best way to start the season and at the same time I was able to get rid of the thorn in my side that this trial was turning into. I reckon in a champioship as short as this one, with only six rounds, winning has extra value. The truth is that you have to go very carefully and avoid errors, because anybody who makes them will find it very complicated to make up the lost ground, and in this sense I was suffering during the first round. Of course, being the current World Champion and defending the title I think I have a little more pressure on me but that will not make us change last year`s plan which was to take the championship one round at at time.Takahisa Fujinami: I was out of the race in the end because I lost the Marseille against Toni. It was a question of him or me, and he got things right just when it was necessary. I feel quite satisfied perhaps because we were tied although, of course, it would have been much better starting the season on the podium. We will be working to try and do so in the next date in the championship.The second round in the World Indoor Trial Championship will be held on 3rd February in Barcelona in the Palau Sant Jordi.>> Classification in Marseille 1.Toni Bou (Repsol) 8 points2. Albert Cabestany (Sherco) 10 3. Adam Raga (Gas Gas) 11 >> World Indoor Trial Championship 1. Toni Bou (Repsol) 10 points 2. Albert Cabestany (Sherco) 8 3. Adam Raga (Gas Gas) 6 4. Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol) 5 5. Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) 4 6. James Dabill (Montesa) 3 7. Dougie Lampkin (Beta) 2 8. Jérôme Bethune (Beta) 1 >> Eliminated after the classification roundTakahisa Fujinami (Repsol) 11 puntos Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) 19 James Dabill (Montesa) 20 Dougie Lampkin (Beta) 26 Jérôme Bethune (Beta) 26
