Toni Bou returns to the X-Trial World Championship in Paris

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Repsol Honda Team riders Toni Bou and Takahisa Fujinami are all set for the sixth round of the FIM X-Trial World Championship to be held at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris.

Championship leader Toni Bou returns after his back injury to participate in the Paris X-Trial. The Repsol Honda Team rider had taken a very serious blow at an event in Le Mans, France on 17 February.

Today, Thursday, Toni Bou once again donned the team colours and boarded the Montesa Cota 4RT after almost a month out of action after the Le Mans incident. Bou reported back with positive sensations and has decided to line up for the AccorHotels Arena start-line in the French capital this Saturday at 20:00hrs. The prize-giving podium is scheduled for approximately 23:00.

After the cancellation of the competition in Seville, the X-Trial of Paris will be the sixth event in the championship calendar. Bou has commanded the first five dates and holds a 31-point advantage over his second-place pursuer in the overall standings. Toni has competed on just a single occasion in Paris, back in 2012 where he took the victory.

Lining up alongside Toni Bou will be Japanese Repsol Honda Team rider Takahisa Fujinami. This will be Fujigas’ fourth participation in the X-Trial World Championship as the rider goes in search of both a solid performance and qualification for at least the semi-final.

Toni Bou

After spending a really tough month since I fell, the goal has been to recover and get back in time for the Paris event. Everything was up in the air and we really didn’t know if I’d recover in time. Today I tried the bike and I got much better feedback than I had expected. I felt more secure but, obviously, I am not 100%, but I’m nevertheless excited and I’m really looking forward to returning. It will be a bit of a "whim" that I will let myself do, because I love to compete in Paris: it's a special event. The sensations on the bike have not been incredible, but they were much better than I expected. In the trial we will be very cautious, because physically I haven’t done anything over this last month, but the desire and passion to ride made me decide to take part. The first two weeks were very hard and the third too, but last week I have noticed a great improvement and I went back to normal life. You can’t imagine what was going through my mind in the Le Mans hospital. I just kept thinking about coming back right up until I got back on the bike today. In Paris I can pick up the title, yeah, and I prefer to do it by competing. I don’t think I have much chance of winning the trial as I'm not at 100%, but I’m capable of riding so to get the title on the bike will be so much better.

Takahisa Fujinami

This will be my fourth event of the X-Trial season and I’m looking forward to this event and am very motivated for it. I’ve trained quite to be at my best for this one and I would like to be able to make it through to the semi-finals and be able to compete with my team-mate Toni Bou, who can take the title here.