Toni Bou has scored a spectacular victory on the first day of the Trial Japanese Grand Prix, the fourth meeting for the Trial Outdoor World Championships. With this new victory, the third in this current competition, the Repsol rider has increased his advantage as leader of the overall standings to 11 points. His team-mate Takahisa Fujinami, finished just a whisker away from the podium, as he finished the event with the same points as the third classified, with whom he also equalled in the number of zeros in the zones (12).
In the end, the deadlock for “ones” scored tipped the balance against him. The rainfall during the night made the terrain quite tricky, a factor which negatively affected Takahisa Fujinami in particular, who, due to the new regulations, had to go out first having won the previous event.
In these conditions, the Japanese rider could not shine in front of his fans as he had wished. Toni Bou, for his part, was full of good moves, which was especially reflected in his point score from the first round – the trickiest – as, by the second round, the terrain had improved.
Tomorrow, Sunday, also in the setting of the Motegi Twin Ring, the fifth event of the World Championships will take place.
Toni Bou
“I felt really good. In the first round I wanted to take some risks in a few zones and it wasn’t the best. Anyway, it´s the final result that counts. I assume that tomorrow the terrain will be drier and that Fujinami, my team-mate, will have something to prove. I will go out first and will be very motivated and I think I’ll have a strong rival in him”.
Takahisa Fujinami
“Between nerves about competing in my country in front of my fans, and the conditions in the zones, it´s not been an easy day. Because of the rain, there was a lot of mud and, being the first to go out, there were no references; opening was difficult. Without a doubt, those who went later had it better than me. Tomorrow I will go out fourth and I hope to be able to turn things around”.
