BOU A BRAVE SECOND ON DAY 2 IN JAPAN – FUUJINAMI FOURTH

2014-04-27 07:48
Despite riding in constant pain from his back
injuries, second place was a heroic result on day
two in Japan from Repsol Honda rider Toni Bou. He
backed up his previous day’s runner up position
to come away from the two day event at the top of
the championship table. Riding in his home Grand
Prix, Takahisa Fujinami on the second Repsol
Honda, came home in fourth place to continue his championship challenge.

The fact that current World Trials Champion Toni
Bou still heads the championship series is a true
testament to his skill and courage as he has
competed on both days in immense pain from his
back injuries which he is carrying form his
training accident. Adam Raga – Gas Gas was the
winner once again which has now moved him into a
very challenging position to Bou with only one
mark separating these two riders. Once again it
was a good sized crowd that watched the day’s
events unfold in the very warm weather conditions
as the riders competed three laps of the twelve
sections. Three of the twelve sections had been
modified from day one, which were reflected in the riders’ final scores.

The day’s action had started very well for Bou on
the Repsol Honda, with some very strong riding
which put him in the lead at the close of the
first lap. Adam Raga was the rider under pressure
as he witnessed Bou take the advantage by a few
marks as he cleaned section twelve as he took a
five mark penalty. The competition between these
two riders had seen them pull away from the rest
of the field with Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol
Honda and Albert Cabestany – Sherco engaged in
their own battle for third position.

On the early part of the second lap both Bou and
Raga parted with similar marks, including a five
mark penalty each on section three to maintain
the pressure on one another. It was then
advantage Raga as Bou took a run of three five
mark penalties which added to the pain from his
injuries and he knew from this point on it would
be difficult to fight for the victory.

Displaying tremendous courage though, Bou still
rode as determined despite the effect form the
pain killing injections which had worn off with
both himself and Raga having their best single
lap scores on the final circuit with Raga on 7
and Bou on 8 as Adam made it a double win in
Japan. These two had left the fight for the final
step on the podium to Fujinami who wanted to make
the podium in front of his home fans but it was
Cabestany who made it for his best finishing position of the 2014 series.

The World Championship series now takes a short
break which will give series leader Toni Bou the
opportunity to recover from his injuries as he
continues in his pursuit of another World Championship crown.

Round 3 of the series will be held on May 25 in Corsica.


HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:

Toni Bou: “You cannot even begin to think about
the pain I have been in during the two days of
competition in Japan. After day one I was not
sure I could ride the second day but I knew I had
to compete to keep my championship hopes alive.
The results are also very important to the Repsol
Honda team as it was their home Grand Prix and I
was very happy to be on the podium on both days.
To come away from these two days of competition
still leading the World Championship is more than
I could have asked for. I would like to thank
everyone who has helped me to achieve this in the difficult circumstances”..

Takahisa Fujinami: “This weekend has been quite
difficult for me as I had problems with my
damaged knee on day one when I twisted it. Today
I have tried to make the podium and I am
disappointed not to do so. On a more positive
note I have enjoyed performing on the Repsol
Honda in front of my home fans and I am still in
third position overall in the championship”.

Results: Twin Ring Motegi (Japan) – 27.04.2014

1: Adam Raga (Gas Gas-ESP) 40; 2: Toni Bou
(Repsol Honda-ESP) 47; 3: Albert Cabestany
(Sherco-ESP) 53; 4: Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol
Honda-JPN) 63; 5: Jeroni Fajardo (Beta-ESP) 66;
6: Tomoyuki Ogawa (Honda-JPN) 81; 7: Jorge
Casales (Gas Gas-ESP) 89; 8: Alexandre Ferrer
(Sherco-FRA) 108; 9: Nozaki Fumitaka (Yamaha-JPN)
110; 10: James Dabill (Beta-GBR) 111.

World Championship
1: Toni Bou (Repsol Honda-ESP) 71; 2: Adam Raga
(Gas Gas-ESP) 70; 3: Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol
Honda-JPN) 58; 4: Jeroni Fajardo (Beta-ESP) 52;
5: Albert Cabestany (Sherco-ESP) 51; 6: James
Dabill (Beta-GBR) 38; 7: Jorge Casales (Gas
Gas-ESP) 34; 8: Alexandre Ferrer (Sherco-FRA) 30;
9: Pol Tarres (Sherco-ESP) 27; 10: Eddie Karlsson (Montesa-SWE) 18.

Source: Honda Pro Image

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