The leader of the TrialGP World Championship, Repsol Honda Team rider Toni Bou, finished in tenth place today after suffering a knee injury that will undoubtedly hamper Sunday’s main event. Takahisa Fujinami qualified eighth.
The qualifying session for tomorrow’s Belgium TrialGP took place today, coinciding with the country’s National Day. During the morning training session, Toni Bou suffered a mishap which affected his right knee and despite get the best time in Q1, that impeded him throughout the decisive Q2 qualifying lap. Bou, who had to secure a point to be able to overcome the final qualifying phase, finished in tenth position overall, which means that tomorrow the champion will start from fifth place.
Bou’s Repsol Honda Team mate, Takahisa Fujinami, qualified better than the leader with an eighth final place, which allows him to start from two positions behind Toni. ‘Fujigas’ had made the decision to ensure a penalty-free qualification at the expense of a few costly some seconds.
The trial, to be held in Comblain-au-Pont, will consist of a total of fifteen sections, which will be ridden over two ten-kilometre laps. The final podium is scheduled for 15:45 p.m.
Toni Bou
We are a little worried, not for the qualification, but for a bad movement that I made during the morning’s training session. We do not know what I have done just yet, but my knee is swollen and I have some fluid inside. It is getting worse, but we have no choice but to try to save the weekend and try to get the maximum points possible. We have no choice but to wait until Monday to determine the extent of the injury and the recovery time.
Takahisa Fujinami
It was a bad result, but I did not want to take any risks because in the qualifying section training I had already been penalized one point and in Q1 I got a five. So on the final qualification lap, I did not want to take any chances. I tried not to pick up any more points, and maybe that's why I went a little slower. I'll start tomorrow in the middle group, but I have some good riders in front, so it's not that bad. I think we can have a great trial tomorrow.
Qualification of TrialGP of Belgium 2018
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | L1 | L2 | L3 | T3 | Team | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dabill James | 22 | GBR | 0 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 37.13 | |||
| 2 | Busto Jaime | 69 | SPA | 0 | Gas Gas Factory Team | Gas Gas | 37.56 | |||
| 3 | Cabestany Albert | 37 | SPA | 0 | Beta Factory Racing | Beta | 38.04 | |||
| 4 | Raga Adam | 67 | SPA | 0 | TRRS Factory Team | TRRS | 40.19 | |||
| 5 | Price Jack | 34 | GBR | 0 | Gas Gas Factory Team | Gas Gas | 40.82 | |||
| 6 | Kadlec Franz | 9 | GER | 0 | Gas Gas Factory Team | Gas Gas | 41.73 | |||
| 7 | Bincaz Benoit | 16 | FRA | 0 | Scorpa Factory | Scorpa | 41.82 | |||
| 8 | Fujinami Takahisa | 5 | JPN | 0 | Repsol Honda Team | Montesa | 47.62 | |||
| 9 | Noguera Oriol | 14 | SPA | 0 | Team Jotagas | JTG | 49.56 | |||
| 10 | Bou Toni | 1 | SPA | 1 | Repsol Honda Team | Montesa | 1 | |||
| 11 | Casales Jorge | 33 | SPA | 5 | Vertigo Factory Team | Vertigo | 5 | |||
| 12 | Fajardo Jeroni | 4 | SPA | 5 | Gas Gas Factory Team | Gas Gas | 5 | |||
| 13 | Roberts Iwan | 21 | GBR | 5 | TRRS Factory Team | TRRS | 5 | |||
| 14 | Gelabert Miquel | 11 | SPA | 5 | Sherco Factory Team | Sherco | 5 |
Location Information
50.474722, 5.576944 - View in Google Maps
