TONI BOU HAS ONE HAND ON THE TITLE

Reigning champion Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa wrapped a firm hand around the 2010 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship title, with his third win of the series in Madrid, Spain to open up a healthy lead in the general standings with just one round to go. Bou's plight was made even better as Adam Raga - Gas Gas took the runners up spot on the night - to move into third place in the series, ahead of Toni's main championship rival Albert Cabestany - Sherco.

A good spread of technical sections housed in the huge arena on the outskirts of the capital city proved to be a good test for all riders in front of a near capacity crowd. Spain's MotoGP hero Dani Pedrosa got the evening off to a noisy start as he rode into the arena on a trials bike to make the opening presentation and was greeted by massive applause.

With the ceremonial duties out of the way, the real action began, as the nine riders battled their way through five testing qualifying sections in attempt to transfer straight to the semi final. Bou, Raga, Cabestany and Jeroni Fajardo - Beta took the direct route to the later part of the competition as they filled the top four places respectively come the end of qualifying.

Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa HRC, James Dabill - Gas Gas, Loris Gubian - Gas Gas and wildcard rider Alfredo Gomez - Montesa were forced to take their place in the last chance process, whilst Alexz Wigg - Beta became the first rider to be eliminated on the night. As expected Dabill and Fujinami emerged from this play off situation, but the Japanese contender only did so on a tie break decision after he finished level with Gomez.

Early in the semi-final it was soon clear that Dabill and Fujinami were not on the pace on the other four riders, as Fajardo, Cabestany, Raga and Bou all begun to build an advantage, as they looked to secure their place in the four man final. Bou was simply in a class of his own on the second section of this part of the Trial, his two mark ride on the concrete pipes coming after every other rider had fived the hazard at the same point.

Bou arrived in the final with a four mark lead over Raga, much due to this one single ride, and never looked like relinquishing this margin as he majestically made his way through the final four hazards. Toni could even afford a safety dab on the closing waterfall section, to come home three marks clear of a rejuvenated Raga. Cabestany's third place did little to help his title hopes, as he now trails Bou by thirteen points with one round remaining.

The final round of the 2010 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship will take place in Palma, Majorca on Saturday 27th March.


REPSOL MONTESA HONDA
A victory for Toni Bou, consolidating his lead in the general classification, with just one event to go

Toni Bou (Montesa Cota 4RT) has won the Indoor Trial of the Community of Madrid, fourth and penultimate World Championship event, held this Saturday in the Sports Palace of the Spanish capital. With this new victory, his third in this edition of the event, the Montesa rider leads the general classification and has taken an important step towards regaining the title for fourth consecutive year. To achieve this, he would just have to obtain any of the top four positions in the decisive event in Palma de Mallorca on March 27th.

Toni Bou finished the qualifying lap without a single penalty point and he also achieved the best result in the semi-final, with two points, four less than his closest rival.

Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa Cota 4RT) did not get through this phase of the competition, after obtaining eight penalty points, one more than in the qualifying lap. With just one point less, the Japanese rider would have accessed the final for the second time running.

Toni Bou: "It's been a very important victory and in addition Adam took three points from my closest rival, so I'm delighted. In view of the title, my situation is better, but the championship's not over and there are still twenty points at stake. In a championship with just five events you can't fail and this means you must always be at your best. It's obvious that in Mallorca there'll be the highest tension."

Takahisa Fujinami: "I suppose the public was satisfied with the spectacle, but I'm not at all satisfied at all with my result. I still don't like these regulations. I was out of the final today for just one point and I just missed another chance to be on the podium. I don't want to end the championship without being on the podium, so I'll have to do better in Mallorca."