Toni Bou comes away from the qualifying round in Portugal on top. The Repsol Honda Team ace bagged a third ‘pole position’ of the campaign on the tough urban qualifying section in the centre of Gouveia. ‘Fujigas’ claimed the day’s third best time.
It was a fine day’s qualifying for the Repsol Honda Team duo in Portugal for the fifth trial of the season. Toni Bou and Takahisa Fujinami made off with first and third places in the elite class competition, which rewards the pair with superior starting positions when the main event gets underway tomorrow.
Bou once again notched up the fastest times over the two laps of the qualifying section to grab his third pole in 2019. Team-mate Takahisa Fujinami likewise rode a scorcher, even managing to take the second quickest time in Q1. The second tour around proved to be faster still marking 00:23.5 on the stopwatch to register the third fastest time of the day.
Tomorrow’s main event kicks off at 09:00 local time in the Parque Senhora dos Verdes, on the outskirts of Gouveia, where riders will have to overcome a total of 15 sections taken over two laps. The final podium is scheduled for 15:45 local time.
Toni Bou
We were able to lower the time of the first lap a little more, so I am super happy with this pole. It is very important to be able to start out from the rear tomorrow morning. There will be dry sections where not many points will be collected, but in the river areas I imagine that more penalties will be picked up. Last year was a great trial for us, so let’s see how it goes tomorrow.
Takahisa Fujinami
Today I am very happy because this year I have been ahead in many events. For tomorrow's race, it will be very good for us to start from behind so we can check out the tracks of the other riders. We will try to set a fast pace from the beginning and have a good trial in sections that I like.
Qualifying results TrialGP of Portugal
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | L1 | L2 | L3 | T3 | Team | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bou Toni | 1 | SPA | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Montesa | 0:23.22 | |||
| 2 | Dabill James | 22 | GBR | 0 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 0:23.42 | |||
| 3 | Fujinami Takahisa | 6 | JPN | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Montesa | 0:23.50 | |||
| 4 | Casales Jorge | 33 | SPA | 0 | Vertigo Factory Team | Vertigo | 0:24.56 | |||
| 5 | Kadlec Franz | 66 | GER | 0 | TRRS Factory Team | TRRS | 0:25.13 | |||
| 6 | Bincaz Benoit | 73 | FRA | 0 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 0:25.65 | |||
| 7 | Gelabert Miquel | 9 | SPA | 0 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 0:26.49 | |||
| 8 | Fajardo Jeroni | 2 | SPA | 0 | Gas Gas | Gas Gas | 0:26.52 | |||
| 9 | Peace Dan | 38 | GBR | 0 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 0:28.13 | |||
| 10 | Price Jack | 34 | GBR | 0 | Gas Gas | Gas Gas | 0:29.28 | |||
| 11 | Raga Adam | 67 | SPA | 0 | TRRS Factory Team | TRRS | 0:29.70 | |||
| 12 | Farre Arnau | 19 | SPA | 1 | Team Jotagas | JTG | 0:25.70 | |||
| 13 | Busto Jaime | 69 | SPA | 5 | Vertigo Factory Team | Vertigo | 5 |
Location Information
| Race format (until 2019) | 15 sections x 2 laps |
| Race format (2021) | 12 sections x 2 laps |
Gouveia, Portugal - View in Google Maps
Records
| Podium 2019 | Toni Bou (1) - Adam Raga (2) - Jorge Casales (3) |
| Podium 2018 | Toni Bou - Jeroni Fajardo - Jaime Busto |
| Podium 2015 - day2- | Toni Bou - Adam Raga - Albert Cabestany |
| Podium 2015 - day1- | Toni Bou - Adam Raga - Jeroni Fajardo |
| Podium 2010 - day2- | Takahisa Fujinami - Albert Cabestany - Adam Raga |
| Podium 2010 - day1- | Toni Bou - Albert Cabestany - Adam Raga |
| Podium 2009 | Toni Bou - Adam Raga - Albert Cabestany |
| Podium 2008 | Toni Bou - Jeroni Fajardo - Adam Raga |
| Podium 2006 | Takahisa Fujinami - Adam Raga - Dougie Lampkin |
