FIM World Trials Championship, St. Julia De Loria, Andorra

Adam Raga and Toni Bou both took a win each at the recent FIM World Trials Championship in St. Julia De Loria, Andorra.

Toni Bou on board his factory Repsol Montesa HRC Cota 4RT recorded an important victory on the second day of the Trials Grand Prix of Andorra to go within a single point of the championship lead. Bou had finished as runner-up to Adam Raga on his Gas Gas after the opening day, but turned the tables on his rival and fellow Spaniard ahead of next weekend’s Spanish World Round.

Takahisa Fujinami, Repsol Montesa HRC, recorded two fifth place finishes to maintain third spot in the general standings, whilst Albert Cabestany – Sherco was twice third in Andorra to complete two all Spanish podiums.

Adam Raga

Bou did not get off to the best of starts on Saturday morning when he took a five in the second section of the day. This was to hand an early advantage to Raga, and one that Toni would fight hard to reduce aboard his factory four-stroke machine with a good level of success. Both Bou and Raga incurred two time penalties each as they misjudged the sheer length and severity of the course and impact of the increased eighteen sections on the opening lap.

Heading into the second and closing lap on day one, Bou trailed Raga by just two marks and thanks to incredible riding in the rocky hazards managed to draw level with his arch-rival with just three sections remaining. However Toni’s hard work was to be undone in section sixteen where his five mark loss was to effectively hand Raga his third win in a row. Fujinami also battled hard throughout in the hot conditions and was unlucky to miss out on a top four finish on this occasion due to a most cleans tiebreak with Jeroni Fajardo – Beta.

Toni was back at his best on the second day of competition and took control of the event from the outset with a series of confidence building rides, including the three sections that had been modified overnight. Raga in contrast looked to be feeling the pressure and lost five marks in each of two hazards late on the first lap to give Bou a ten mark lead as the riders headed out around the course for one last time.

Bou was not about to pass up the invitation to take his second win of the season to date and closed out with an equally impressive second lap performance. His lap total of two marks put him on five for the day, which saw him take the victory by a twelve mark cushion over Raga and to move within a point of his main title rival before they resume battle at their home round next weekend.

Top Brit, James Dabill was unlucky not to be on the podium on Day 2.

He just missed out on a podium place by a mere four marks at yesterday’s Grand Prix in Andorra. Dabill is one of the riders who looks to have adapted best to the new no-stop rules, which were introduced at the start of this season and that have been successfully implemented during the opening three rounds of this year’s series. Twenty-seven year old Dabill who finished sixth in last season’s final standings remains confident that he can break into the all important top five on a more consistent basis under the new and more dynamic style rules.

Up until now James’ best result came at his home Grand Prix at the end of the 2012 campaign, when for the first and only time in his career to date he made it onto the podium with a well received third spot in front of his many British fans. Having tasted the associated champagne and that feeling once, it is something that the four times British national champion would like to repeat and he sees no reason why that cannot be in Spain this weekend, given his current form and liking of the no-stop format.

Speaking after his recent success in Andorra, Dabill explained his thoughts and expectations. “Yesterday was a great result for me, but in some ways I am disappointed too, as I was so close to being on the podium and perhaps felt that I deserved to be a part of the celebrations with the way that I rode.”

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