Toni Bou was the winner of the event which began this Sunday, in the Galecian location of Baiona, a new addition to the World Outdoor Trial Championship. The Repsol rider achieved some notable point differences in each of the zones, ending the event with 23 points to his advantage over the second classified, Adam Raga. Takahisa Fujinami, who finished the first round in second place, was penalised a few points in the last zones which him out of the podium positions, in favour of Jeroni Fajardo.
The first championship event ended with an easy win for the three-time champion in this speciality, who has perfectly adapted to the changes imposed by the current regulations. With a limit of one minute to complete each zone (30 seconds less than previously) and with a starting order related to the World Championship classification – in this case the final results from 2009 due to being the opening meeting of the season-,
Bou set the bar to a level which no-one was been able to beat.The Repsol rider finished the first round with 15 points, half that of Takahisa Fujinami, at that time his closest rival. In the second round, Bou continued to increase the difference to secure the best point score once again. Fujinami, for his part, fought to maintain his second position, but in the closing moments and with some light rain, he made a mistake which cost him some valuable points, finally finishing off the podium.
Laia Sanz, taking part in the junior category, finished in 18th place.The second and third events of the Trial World Championship will take place next Saturday and Sunday, 24th and 25th April, in Paços de Ferreira (Portugal).
Toni Bou
“The zones were the kind I like, difficult and selective. In my case, it was even more complicated, as I was riding through all of them first and had no reference. This, added to the time reduction, made it noticeably more demanding. I think I had quite a good ride and also, our strategy for the event was correct. Overall, a good start to the championship.
Takahisa Fujinami
“I can’t say I feel satisfied. I was in position to finish second and because of some mistakes I dropped to fourth place. I lost and so did the team because we could have started the championship with a 1-2 finish”.
