VIDEO and Summary : A near perfect season for Toni Bou and Repsol Honda Team in the X-Trial World Championship

The name Toni Bou continues to be inscribed in gold letters in the annals of trial and world motorcycling history. At the end of another fine season, the Repsol Honda Team rider has clinched a 13th X-Trial World Championship medal.

Toni Bou’s participation in the Andorra X-Trial has brought the indoor competition to a close in the best possible style. It was a great season for the Repsol Honda Team rider, with five out of a possible six victories and ground-breaking records for the multi-time champion: 13 X-Trial titles, 75 podiums and 62 victories.

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The season, race by race

The 2019 X-Trial Championship kicked off in Budapest, Hungary in mid-January with an excellent ride by Toni Bou, who won the opening final of the year despite still recovering from an injury, picked up in Japan in December, which had left him with two fractured ribs. Fujinami was unable to qualify for the second phase of the X-Trial.

In Barcelona, the second date of the year, Toni Bou fell in one of the sections, taking a hard blow in the back. This put an end to the run of twelve straight victories on home soil. The second final position proved to be a respectable result, keeping Bou’s championship chances well alive. Team-mate Fujinami narrowly missed out on making the cut for phase two.

The third date of the season was also in Spain. Bilbao got its X-Trial world championship premier a fortnight after the Barcelona event, with Toni Bou taking top honours by a narrow margin. Even without being at 100% physical best, the Repsol Honda rider was able to dig deep to finish top and return to the head of the overall leader board.

Just a week later, X-Trial – indoor’s top flight category – returned to the city of Granada with a demanding course where Toni Bou looked at ease in a final which he dominated in despotic fashion. From the top of the rostrum, with his sixtieth victory in hand, and his chief rival to his left, Bou had the championship table all set for a celebration in the following event.

In Marseille, Toni Bou sealed the 2019 X-Trial World Champion with one event still to go in the season. The Montesa rider merely needed to finish ahead of Adam Raga who missed out on the final after being passed by Jeroni Fajardo in the previous round. The Repsol Honda Team ace once again shone in a tough race to celebrate a perfect 13th title.

Toni Bou had never previously participated in an indoor test in Andorra, a source of great motivation given that the rider lives in the Pyrenean country. With the crowd firmly behind him, the champion rose to the occasion and did not fail to delight the X-Trial fans. The champ ended the evening, accompanied by his family, on the podium adorning the gold medal. This was the fifth victory of the season for Bou, who witnessed team-mate Fujinami grab fifth final position, his best result as a wild-card entry in the competition.

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