Raga triumphs in Barcelona
Gas Gas rider edges final victory ahead of Bou and Cabestany

Adam Raga (pictured right) was the winner of this afternoon’s Barcelona Indoor Trial, the second round of the Indoor World Championship calendar, beating Toni Bou and Albert Cabestany in a thrilling finale. The Gas Gas rider earned his first win of the year and triumphed in Barcelona for the first time in four seasons.

With second place, Bou maintains the lead of the overall standings, with a two point advantage over Raga and four over Cabestany.

This latest Barcelona Indoor Trial edition was a little different to that of previous years. Some of the zones were designed with a nod towards China and specifically Beijing, the location of this year’s Olympic Games. Never was this more apparent than in the speed section, a small scale version of the world famous Great Wall. Around 10,000 spectators were on hand to watch events unfold at the Palau Sant Jordi, with the best riders in the world pitting their skills against each other and the circuit considered the hardest on the calendar.

Jeroni Fajardo was the man given the task of opening the classification lap in Barcelona. The circuit consisted of eight zones, with a time limit of 11 minutes. The Beta rider conceded fourth place to Takahisa Fujinami by a solitary point, after an untimely fiasco in the final timed section. As in Marseille at the opening round, Fujinami was in sterling form, although some early errors left him just short of earning a ticket for the final three battle.

James Dabill was one of the more profligate riders early on, picking up penalties in quick succession before concluding with a time excess. An even worse fate befell countryman Dougie Lampkin in his second appearance as a Beta rider, as the Englishman racked up four fiascos and committed an error in the head-to-head that left him in last place.

Toni Bou had vastly contrasting fortunes to those of the British duo, with a fantastic first lap. He made just a single mistake from the entire classification session, blazing through the zones at breakneck speed. The reigning World Champion never looked in danger of missing out on the final, something mimicked by fellow Spaniard Adam Raga whose sole blot on the scorecard was a big error in the race section. Albert Cabestany, who suffered a fiasco in zone 4, was once again on form with the Sherco 3.2 four-stroke debuted three weeks ago in France.

In the final round, Cabestany withdrew prematurely from the battle for victory, with three fiascos from the first four zones. The early advantage belonged to Bou, who further stamped his authority on the final with victory in the two speed zones. However, zone 8 was the turning point for the trio in Barcelona, as Bou was given the maximum penalisation at precisely the wrong time and conceded the lead to Raga. The Gas Gas rider didn’t waste the opportunity to take his fifth win in the Palau de Sant Jordi, and Raga closed the race as the winner by three points over Bou.

The Trial Indoor World Championship returns to Spain next week, this time in the city of Granada. The Palacio de los Deportes will be hosting action from the third round on February 10th.

Adam Raga: “I am very happy with the result; I didn’t stop fighting until the end. I was able to come back from the first lap problems, when I wasn’t at my best, and I had a great final ride which was deserving of the win.”

Toni Bou: “It’s a pity that I wasn’t able to win here. Things were going well on lap one, but in the final I felt the pressure of Raga and made some mistakes. Second place isn’t too bad though.”

Albert Cabestany: “I can’t be happy with today’s result, because I wasn’t on form. I was expecting more, because the bike was working perfectly, but I didn’t have a good ride.”

The podium in Barcelona



Toni Bou



Albert Cabestany



Adam Raga is ecstatic with his win!

James Dabill Report
James Dabill (pictured right) made only his second start as a permanent rider in the World indoor championship, and despite his best efforts the youngster from Leeds came off the worst in the seven-way battle. By far the least experienced competitor in this elite series, James in no way showed himself up, with some moments of brilliance in what is one of the biggest and most famous arena events on the tour.

Like most of his rivals James’ night did not begin well as he fell back off the initial step of the opening section to record his first five within seconds of his lap getting underway. Dabill displayed great composure a few moments later as he completed the tricky second section feet up to get his campaign underway proper, before failing again at the third hazard.

Despite these early set backs Dabill remained confident in his approach, and this reflected in the next hazard as he became the first rider to conquer the difficult jump at the start. The large Spanish audience responded well and urged Dabill through the remainder of the section, only to see him fail within sight of the end cards as his front wheel slipped off one of the concrete tubes.

Two textbook cleans and a steadying dab in the following three sections were at least some reward for James’ efforts, and it looked like he would be rewarded further in the final section of the lap, but for a late disaster. Dabill really showed his ability as he edged his way over the massive boulders, which were surrounded by water, however a misjudgement with just two rocks to go added another five to his increasing score.

Dabill arrived in Barcelona after a mixed few days, which included a solid third place behind Raga and Fajardo in Nice on Friday night, just hours before escaping unhurt from a potentially fatal crash as he fell asleep at the wheel whilst driving back to Italy.

“It’s been a mad few days, which may have just taken their toll here tonight. The result is a real disappointment, and does not reflect just how well I rode in places. Unfortunately in this company you cannot make mistakes, and tonight I made two. One in section three when I failed to stop after the drop off and the other in section four when the hard work had been done.”

“The crash on he way back from Nice was a big escape and certainly has used up one of my nine lives. I am looking forward to a quieter week and hopefully a better showing in Granada next Saturday.”



Dougie Lampkin Report
Dougie Lampkin (pictured right) endured another difficult night as he finished in a lowly sixth place at the second round of the World indoor series held in Barcelona, Spain. Although this result was one place higher than his initial outing, Lampkin looked far from his best aboard his new Italian two-stroke machine.

Two fives in the first three sections and a total of four failures during the eight hazards that made up the qualifying lap, was enough to quickly rule the multi World champion out of the final.

Dougie was one of many riders who failed at the very first step of the first section, but the Yorkshireman showed great fighting spirit as he recovered momentarily with an emphatic clean in the second hazard.

The mini revival was short lived as he then jumped short at the opening part of section three, before sliding off the large concrete tubes during the early part of the fourth section, much to the disappointment of the large Spanish crowd.

Lampkin restored some level of pride with cleans in the next three hazards, but the damage had already been done. The lap finished with yet another five in the final section as Dougie fell back off one of the large boulders into the waiting pool of water.

“I rode with very little confidence tonight and I think has shown both in my riding and in my result. Although I feel that I am practising well outdoors, I am struggling to find any reference on the indoor sections.”

“It is certainly a steep learning curve, and one that we need to continue to fight. We made some changes after Marseille, which seemed to work well in Nice on Friday night, but here I never felt good from start to finish.”

“I knew that the transition was never going to be easy, but I was hoping for a more positive start than has happened. As a team we need to focus on the week ahead and work on the areas that need attention, so hopefully we can produce a more respectable result in Granada next weekend.”


REPSOL – MONTESA HRC Report
Toni Bou continues leading the World Championship after finishing second in the Palau Sant Jordi.

Toni Bou (Montesa-HRC Cota 4RT) still leads the general classification of the World Indoor Trial Championship after the second scoring event this Sunday in Barcelona, where the title-holder finished second. After winning the initial event of the season, Toni Bou (pictured right) made an excellent classification lap, finishing with just one point, in comparison to the seven of the other two finalists. In the play-off, the Montesa rider made three failures, the last of them in the eleventh and the one from last zone, which he reached with only one point more than the future winner and with options to win for the third consecutive time in the Palau Sant Jordi. Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa-HRC Cota 4RT) almost reached the final, finishing fourth in the classification lap.

Toni Bou: “I made a couple of mistakes competing against a very tough rival, and that explains the result. After winning in Marseille, I commented on how important each victory was going to be in such a short championship, and I think it’s essential to continue with the approach that gave us such good results last year, taking each race as it comes. I wasn’t able to win today, but the good thing is I retain my leadership”.

Takahisa Fujinami: “In Marseille I was much closer to reaching the final. Last year I obtained a podium position here in Barcelona, and of course I would have liked to repeat that result in this demanding event. It wasn’t possible, I made more mistakes than I should have and my rivals were stronger”.

Toni Bou will be defending his lead in the third scoring event, to be held next Saturday 9th of February in Granada.

Takahisa Fujinami