Results Trial World Championship, Kramolin, Czech Rep.

2013-07-14 10:57
Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa HRC narrowly missed out
on extending his winning run in the 2013 FIM
Trial World Championship as he placed a close
second in the Czech Republic earlier today. Adam
Raga – Gas Gas was the eventual victor in what
was a low scoring event, but still trails Bou in
the general standings, which the reigning
champion now leads by two points. Albert
Cabestany – Sherco closed out the rostrum places
on a day that Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa
HRC will want to forget. His sixth place on the
day sees him drop to fourth spot in the overall rankings.

The Czech Republic as it is now known has been a
part of the FIM Trial World Championship since
its inception back in 1975. Hosted in Ricany
during the early years, the Czech Trial GP then
briefly visited Topol’Cany before moving to
Nepomuk from 1991 to 1998. Since 2000 the
ex-motocross circuit at Kramolin, just a few
kilometres away from Nepomuk, has been the home
of the Czech Trial GP, which last took place back
in 2010. As has been the case in more recent
editions, the sections for today’s event were
scattered in and around the nearby woodland that
surrounds the permanent facility.

Searing heat in the days before and during the
trial created a dry and dusty course, with all
twelve sections following a very similar theme
and little variation. Bou and Raga could not be
split as they progressed around the first of
three laps having both only lost a single mark in
the fifth hazard, before Toni was to strike
disaster. Bou’s failure to crest the middle rocky
outcrop in section nine would leave him playing
catch up for the rest of the day. Despite not
being too familiar with chasing rather than
leading, Toni used the power of his factory Cota
4RT to good effect and managed to match Raga’s one mark total on lap two.

Trailing Raga by five marks as the arch rivals
headed out on the course for a third and final
time, Bou was handed a life line when the Gas Gas
rider made an unexpected mistake in section
three, putting the two championship contenders
dead level with nine hazards remaining. Knowing
this, Toni then sensed his moment to snatch the
win from Raga in the very difficult fifth section
and attempted to stay feet up when a single dab
would have been a safer approach. His all-out
attack for victory would ultimately backfire as
he recorded his second five of the day to put
Raga back in control, a position Adam would not
relinquish as he beat Toni by a mere three marks
come the close of the competition.

Fujinami started the day poorly, and continued to
suffer this kind of form throughout the first two
laps. Only a timely recovery on the third and
final lap, when the Japanese rider dropped just
eight marks, prevented him finishing outside of the top six.

The Repsol Montesa HRC pairing will be back in
battle in two weeks’ time when the series lands
in Great Britain for the penultimate Grand Prix
of the current season, with both riders still
having much to fight for respectively.

HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:

Toni Bou (Repsol Montesa)
Trial result: 2nd Championship position: 1st
“I cannot say that today’s competition belonged
inside of the World Championship, as it was far
too easy. I was nervous from the start and then I
made the mistake in section nine on lap one. From
that point I recovered well and managed to match
Adam (Raga) on the second lap. Then when he made
his mistake on lap three I tried to win the trial
by cleaning section five. I was close to
achieving this, but in the end I gave him back
the opportunity to take the win. I am not happy
with the trial or the result, but I am quite
happy with my riding, so I am not too concerned
before we go to the next round, as there I am sure things will be different.”


Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol Montesa)
Trial result: 6th Championship position: 4th
”It has been an incredibly bad day for me. I did
not feel nervous this morning, but when I made a
five in section two I began to feel something
strange. Then when I repeated the same things in
section three and five I was really worried for a
complete disaster. Then I began to settle a
little before I made the same mistake in section
two on lap two and the same kind of stupid error
in section eleven which was very easy. At least
in the last lap I recovered something, and
although sixth place is bad for me, at one moment
I was worried to be inside the top ten. Now I
need to regain my confidence in my head ready for Penrith.”

RESULTS:

TRIAL

SUNDAY

POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / MARKS LOST

1/ Adam RAGA / SPA / GAS GAS / 9
2/ Toni BOU / SPA / MONTESA / 12
3/ Albert CABESTANY / SPA / SHERCO / 17
4/ James DABILL / GBR / BETA / 32
5/ Jeroni FAJARDO / SPA / BETA / 35
6/ Takahisa FUJINAMI / JPN / MONTESA / 40
7/ Alexandre FERRER / FRA / SHERCO / 46
8/ Daniel OLIVERAS / SPA / OSSA / 64
9/ Matteo GRATTAROLA / ITA / GAS GAS / 64
10. Michael BROWN / GBR / GAS GAS / 65
11/ Loris GUBIAN / FRA / GAS GAS / 69
12/ Jack CHALLONER / GBR / BETA / 77
13/ Pere BORELLAS / SPA / GAS GAS / 100
14/ Eddie KARLSSON / SWE / JTG / 101
15/ Martin KROUSTEK / CZE / BETA / 140

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE:
1 BOU 163, 2 RAGA 161 3 CABESTANY 120, 4 FUJINAMI
119, 5 FAJARDO 113, 6 DABILL 92, 7 GRATTAROLA 64,
8 GUBIAN 51, 9 FERRER 48, 10 CHALLONER 47, 11
OLIVERAS 42, 12 BROWN 38, 13 DAGNICOURT 21, 14 BORRELLAS 19, 15 KARLSSON 18

NEXT EVENT: ROUND 07 SATURDAY/SUNDAY JULY 27/28 CARLISLE, GREAT BRITAIN

Source: Honda Pro Image

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