Toni Bou closes in on a ninth trial world championship title. Repsol Honda Team’s top gun clinched a decisive career win on the first day of the Portuguese GP that also saw Jaime Busto narrowly miss the podium.
Repsol Honda Team rider Toni Bou sent a clear message to pretenders, showing who the numero uno in trial really is. Bou dominated the first day in Portugal with one of the best performances this season – not an easy task given the simplicity of the trial – where mistakes prove costly and nerves have to be contained. Toni picked up a sole penalty mark in section two of the first lap and went on to complete a near-flawless trial, collecting only two points for excess time.
Today’s victory leaves Bou just a short step away from collecting his ninth title. The Montesa Cota 4RT star will mathematically guarantee the crown tomorrow, if he repeat’s today’s achievement.
Jaime Busto proved to be the biggest surprise of the day, repeating a fourth place finish as he had done once earlier this season in the Czech Republic. Repsol Honda Team’s Basque rookie was in rostrum territory throughout the first two laps and looking poised for the year’s personal best until an excess of errors on the final loop put paid to the rider’s ambitions.
Takahisa Fujinami was hit by an attack of lumbago shortly after the start of the trial which made life difficult. The Japanese ex-champ battled on in spite of the pain but saw his efforts hampered as penalty marks began to accumulate on the score-sheet. Fujigas made it through to the end in eighth spot.
The second day of the Portuguese GP takes place tomorrow, once again in Pacos de Ferreira, with the same 12 kilometre route of 12 sections to be completed over three laps.
Toni Bou
The title is really close but today Adam made things hard. The most important thing is to have got the victory today and be in the fight for the same result tomorrow. I’m happy to be winning trials again. Battling with Adam brings out the best of me. We are riding like never before. We are at a point of near-perfection that will be difficult to beat, which is worth a lot more than the victory because we know there’s no room for error. I think that I’ve been improving in the easier trials and I showed it today.
Jaime Busto
Today I was very motivated. I really wanted to get it right and I knew from this morning that it was going to be a good day. I remained very positive throughout the trial and I felt perfectly at ease on the bike. I was riding very well on the first two laps and I’m pleased about that. On the final lap I picked up a fault for stopping which meant I collected more marks, but it has been a great day for me all the same.
Takahisa Fujinami
A tough day for me. I had a few back problems last week. I tried to soothe the pain but in the second section it came back and then, after that, the sections were like a lottery for me and I made a lot of faults. At the end of the second lap I started warming up and the pain let up a bit. I was unable to compete at high level and I feel bad for the team because for this trial you need a high level and I wasn’t up to it.
Private: Miquel Cirera
Today we managed to get a great result with Toni and Jaime. It was a pity that he just missed out on a podium place on the third lap. It was also a shame that Fujinami wasn’t in a condition to fight for a better result. We are really pleased to have obtained another constructor’s championship title and we hope to continue celebrating tomorrow with more good results helping Toni to get his ninth world championship title. Once again, I’d like to thank all the team for all the effort, in this, a hard trial with complicated conditions.
Results Trial Portugal day 1
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | L1 | L2 | L3 | T3 | Team | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bou Toni | 1 | SPA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Repsol Honda HRC | Montesa | 3 |
| 2 | Raga Adam | 2 | SPA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Gas Gas Factory Team | Gas Gas | 7 |
| 3 | Fajardo Jeroni | 4 | SPA | 14 | 8 | 1 | 3 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 26 |
| 4 | Busto Jaime | 15 | SPA | 8 | 7 | 16 | Repsol Honda HRC | Montesa | 36 | |
| 5 | Cabestany Albert | 3 | SPA | 17 | 10 | 7 | 2 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 36 |
| 6 | Casales Jorge | 7 | SPA | 16 | 17 | 10 | 3 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 46 |
| 7 | Ferrer Alexandre | 8 | FRA | 17 | 22 | 17 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 56 | |
| 8 | Fujinami Takahisa | 5 | JPN | 33 | 22 | 10 | Repsol Honda HRC | Montesa | 65 | |
| 9 | Moret Francesc | 18 | SPA | 27 | 30 | 17 | 2 | Vertigo Factory Team | Vertigo | 76 |
| 10 | Dabill James | 6 | GBR | 29 | 24 | 22 | 2 | Vertigo Factory Team | Vertigo | 77 |
| 11 | Karlsson Eddie | 14 | SWE | 30 | 11 | 29 | 8 | Montesa Team Karlsson | Montesa | 80 |
| 12 | Tarres Pol | 9 | SPA | 39 | 19 | 27 | 3 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 88 |
| 13 | Kadlec Franz | 16 | GER | 33 | 24 | 28 | 8 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 93 |
| 14 | Sheppard Jack | 13 | GBR | 51 | 39 | 47 | 1 | Jgas | JTG | 138 |
Location Information
Paços de Ferreira, Portugal - View in Google Maps
