Toni Bou’s status as a trial legend increases as he adds a new trophy to the silverware collection, rounding off a perfect decade for the Repsol Honda Team ace.
With one trial still to run before the close of the 2016 world championship, the Repsol Honda Team rider mathematically sealed the triumph today, Saturday, in the FIM Trial World Championship in Chiampo, Italy. The new title takes the honours list total to ten outdoor crowns and twenty overall (10 indoor + 10 outdoor).
Toni needed only to post a top seven place on the day to take the championship, but the Honda Team rider gave his adversaries a veritable trial master class. Bou, aboard the Montesa Cota 4RT, set out his stall early with only five points on the scorecard at the end of lap one, compared to the twenty of his nearest competitor. On the following two laps of twelve sections, the champion held firm to finish with a total of 13 points and an advantage of 43 over second place Adam Raga.
Bou thus rounds off a fabulous season with the highest number of victories clinched – 11 out of 14 trials disputed – all this in spite of commencing the year with some serious performance doubts due to a pre-season shoulder injury. Toni took top honours in each of the grand prix of Germany, Andorra, Belgium and Great Britain, as well as single-wins in the two-day events in Catalonia, Japan and France. The final day of the Italian GP is still to be competed.
Teammate Takahisa Fujinami had an uphill task still recovering from a wrist operation after a fracture sustained during an indoor trial event. The Japanese rider sought to limit the damage and not concede too much to the third place rival. That’s the way that it turned out on the day for ‘Fujigas’ who goes in search of an overall third place and currently has an eleven point-advantage.
Repsol Honda’s Jaime Busto once again flirted with a podium spot position throughout the day before finishing the penultimate championship trial in fifth.
Tomorrow sees the second and final day of the Italian Grand Prix. The course will be the same: three laps featuring 12 sections to round off trial’s top category.
Toni Bou
Today is a special day. When you win a championship it is something great. It has been a very special season, with some back problems at the beginning of the year. I was able to keep gradually improving until it was almost my best season. Finally this race has been a perfect one and I’ve clinched the title. I wish to thank all of those who have helped me to achieve it; the entire team, my family and friends. This is a really special moment and I couldn’t dream of anything better. Now I’m going to enjoy the moment and then think about the trial tomorrow, then next season and how I can improve things.
Takahisa Fujinami
It has been a tough day as I had expected, maybe even tougher. The sections weren’t easy and there wasn’t time. I got off to a good start but later I started to feel a pain in my wrist and I wasn’t feeling right and didn’t have the strength. Still, fortunately I was able to finish well and keep the distance over Cabestany. I only conceded three points and I think that I will be able to achieve my aim in the championship. The third place is quite close. I’m very happy for my friend Toni who has won a great championship title, so congratulations to him.
Jaime Busto
Today was a complicated one. At the start, the sections went really well for me, but from the third one onwards I did the difficult parts well, but I messed up on the easier ones and picked points with too many errors. Things started to get better again from the second lap and on the third I was able to put in a good lap. For me, Toni [Bou] is my idol and I’m sure that he has got many victories still left in him; he’s a great rider
Private: Miquel Cirera
This twentieth title of Toni Bou’s is something incredible; he is achieving things that no-one has ever done before and to be able to share this with him has been a pleasure. He really is an exceptional rider, but above all is a great person. Today was a complicated trial and he set the tone right away. He rode very calmly, which wasn’t an easy task, with the rivals picking up a lot of points and everything worked out right. He was up to the job. I’m sure that after this - the twentieth title - Toni will go on winning even more.
Results Trial GP Italy day 1
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | L1 | L2 | L3 | T3 | Champ | Team | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bou Toni | 1 | SPA | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 20 | Repsol Honda Team | Montesa | 13 |
| 2 | Raga Adam | 2 | SPA | 20 | 18 | 18 | 17 | TRRS Factory Team | TRRS | 56 | |
| 3 | Fajardo Jeroni | 3 | SPA | 21 | 39 | 22 | 4 | 15 | Vertigo Factory Team | Vertigo | 86 |
| 4 | Cabestany Albert | 4 | SPA | 28 | 28 | 33 | 13 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 89 | |
| 5 | Busto Jaime | 6 | SPA | 41 | 33 | 15 | 2 | 11 | Repsol Honda Team | Montesa | 91 |
| 6 | Fujinami Takahisa | 5 | JPN | 30 | 38 | 29 | 10 | Repsol Honda Team | Montesa | 97 | |
| 7 | Casales Jorge | 9 | SPA | 28 | 34 | 38 | 9 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 100 | |
| 8 | Grattarola Matteo | 18 | ITA | 35 | 40 | 37 | 8 | Gas Gas FG Italia | Gas Gas | 112 | |
| 9 | Gelabert Miquel | 20 | SPA | 45 | 29 | 39 | 7 | RFME Spea | Sherco | 113 | |
| 10 | Dabill James | 8 | GBR | 35 | 41 | 46 | 6 | Vertigo Factory Team | Vertigo | 122 | |
| 11 | Bincaz Benoit | 22 | FRA | 42 | 36 | 37 | 10 | 5 | Scorpa Factory | Scorpa | 125 |
| 12 | Ferrer Alexandre | 7 | FRA | 43 | 43 | 40 | 4 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 126 | |
| 13 | Noguera Oriol | 24 | SPA | 49 | 35 | 35 | 3 | MRW Limit Motos Montesa | Montesa | 129 | |
| 14 | Kadlec Franz | 11 | GER | 46 | 44 | 52 | 5 | 2 | Gas Gas | Gas Gas | 147 |
| 15 | Karlsson Eddie | 10 | SWE | 49 | 50 | 49 | 1 | Montesa Team Karlsson | Montesa | 148 | |
| 16 | Tournour Gianluca | 23 | ITA | 52 | 52 | 47 | 0 | Gas Gas | Gas Gas | 151 | |
| 17 | Pedersen Hakon | 15 | NOR | 53 | 54 | 53 | 1 | 0 | Gas Gas | Gas Gas | 151 |
| 18 | Sorensen Ole Kristian | 16 | NOR | 0 | Sherco Sorensen | Sherco |
Location Information
Valchiampo, Vicenza, Italia - View in Google Maps
