Toni Bou gets his world championship title defence underway in Japan with a hard-fought victory. Repsol Honda Team come away with noteworthy results; besides Bou, Fujinami and Busto also occupy top positions.

Repsol Honda Team and Toni Bou have opened the FIM Trial World Championship with a bang at the Japanese GP. Bou was back in the title fray, on cracking form, in a race that saw the Honda ace mark the difference from the first hazard, although it was a far from easy task as the high-level performances of the adversaries never let the Spaniard relax a moment. The triumph – in the first of the two Japanese GP events at the Motegi circuit – positions the champion at the head of the provisional leader-board.

Takahisa Fujinami was finally back in action for this twentieth season, after a knee injury necessitated an operation at the close of last season, followed by a lengthy period of convalescence. Any doubts about the Repsol Honda Team whiz’s physical shape were soon dispelled after he was able to successfully tackle all twelve sections to take fourth place on the day.

It was also a brilliant top-category debut for Repsol Honda Team rookie Jaime Busto, who finished in a magnificent sixth place and could have done even better had it not been for several errors on a final lap made complicated as conditions deteriorated.

Tomorrow riders look forward to the second day of the Japanese Trial GP at the Motegi circuit with three laps of twelve sections.

Toni Bou

RACE: 1ST CHAMPIONSHIP: 1ST

I’m pleased to have started the season with a win. It went really well but maybe it was a bit too easy, so we had to really fight hard. It was very high-level with some difficult sections. But they began to relax a bit with the non-stop rule and things got a bit trickier. I’m happy with the way I put up with the competition. Let’s see if we can repeat the result tomorrow.

Takahisa Fujinami

RACE: 4TH CHAMPIONSHIP: 4TH

I wasn’t as accurate as I could have been, but I suppose it was because I felt nervous after such a long period out of action after the knee operation and having to perform in front of the home crowd. I don’t feel that good about it, but fourth place isn’t bad after the operation.

Jaime Busto

RACE: 6TH CHAMPIONSHIP: 6TH

I felt quite good in the first race at World Pro level. Things went pretty well on the first lap and also the second where I recuperated a bit. But I was sliding about on the third and I lost my footing a couple of times picking up some faults. Tomorrow I hope to improve and not make the same mistakes.

Private: Miquel Cirera

Team Manager

We are very pleased because it has been a good start for Repsol Honda Team. It hasn’t been an easy victory as Toni had to suffer to win it. The result is great with a triumph for Toni, fourth place for Fujinami, and a nice start for debutant Busto in sixth. The overall evaluation is positive, but obviously we will be looking to improve.

Trial 2015
Trial Round T1   Motegi

Results day 1

Pos. Rider Num Nation L1 L2 L3 T3 Champ Team Constructor Points
1 Bou Toni 1 SPA 7 6 4 20 Repsol Honda Team Montesa 17
2 Fajardo Jeroni 4 SPA 9 13 4 17 Beta Factory Racing Beta 26
3 Raga Adam 2 SPA 14 7 9 15 Gas Gas Factory Team Gas Gas 30
4 Fujinami Takahisa 5 JPN 14 17 20 13 Repsol Honda Team Montesa 61
5 Cabestany Albert 3 SPA 25 25 17 11 Sherco Factory Team Sherco 67
6 Busto Jaime 15 SPA 28 26 38 10 Repsol Honda Team Montesa 92
7 Casales Jorge 7 SPA 36 27 32 9 Beta Factory Racing Beta 95
8 Kuroyama Kenichi 20 JPN 37 38 21 8 Yamaha Racing Yamaha 96
9 Ogawa Tomoyuki 18 JPN 36 25 36 7 Honda Team Mitani Honda 97
10 Ferrer Alexandre 8 FRA 26 36 36 6 Sherco Factory Team Sherco 97
11 Brown Michael 11 GBR 34 45 27 5 Gas Gas Gas Gas 106
12 Nozaki Fumitaka 19 JPN 26 41 40 4 Yamaha Yamaha 107
13 Dabill James 6 GBR 44 28 41 3 Vertigo Factory Team Vertigo 113
14 Ogawa Tsuyoshi 21 JPN 40 43 33 2 Beta Beta 116
15 Kadlec Franz 16 GER 45 50 41 1 Beta Factory Racing Beta 136
16 Shibata Akira 26 JPN 48 45 44 0 Honda Honda 137
17 Nomoto Yoshiaki 22 JPN 60 53 55 0 Beta Beta 168
18 Sunada Masahiko 26 JPN 57 60 54 0 Honda Honda 171
19 Sato Yuki 25 JPN 60 56 60 0 Honda Honda 176
20 Saito Akio 24 JPN 60 0 Honda Honda
Location Information

Race format 12 sections x 2 laps

Twin Ring Motegi, Haga District, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan - View in Google Maps

Records

Podium 2019 -day2- Toni Bou - Adam Raga - Takahisa Fujinami
Podium 2019 -day1- Toni Bou - Adam Raga - Takahisa Fujinami
Podium 2018 -day2- Jaime Busto - Toni Bou - Adam Raga
Podium 2018 -day1- Jeroni Fajardo - Adam Raga - Takahisa Fujinami
Podium 2017 -day2- Toni Bou - Adam Raga - Albert Cabestany
Podium 2017 -day1- Toni Bou - James Dabill - Takahisa Fujinami
Podium 2016 -day2- Toni Bou - Adam Raga - Takahisa Fujinami
Podium 2016 -day1- Adam Raga - Toni Bou - Takahisa Fujinami
Podium 2015 -day2- Toni Bou - Takahisa Fujinami - Jeroni Fajardo
Podium 2015 -day1- Toni Bou - Jeroni Fajardo - Adam Raga
Podium 2014 -day2- Adam Raga - Toni Bou - Albert Cabestany
Podium 2014 -day1- Adam Raga - Toni Bou - Takahisa Fujinami