RAGA WINS IN ITALY TO KEEP HIS TITLE HOPES ALIVE

Adam Raga – Gas Gas scored an important victory at the Italian Grand Prix earlier today to keep his hopes of winning the 2009 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship alive. Raga’s title plight was made even better as Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa HRC finished outside the top two for the first time this season after the reigning champion endured a disastrous opening lap. Bou recovered to take third spot, whilst Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa HRC deservedly finished as runner-up at what proved to be a tough event.

The steep sided valley that surrounds the town of Barzio offered a good variety of hazards, five of which were located in the river next to the paddock, however the toughest sections were found beneath the local ski lift high on the rocky hillside that dominated the skyline. It was at the upper group where Bou sealed his own fate, with a run of three fives that handed Raga the lead, after Toni had started the better of the two. Time played a major part on the opening tour as all the top riders rushed to meet the three-hour limit, despite this they all picked up time penalties. Raga produced the best closing lap of the trial to confirm his second win of the year.

Matteo Grattarola – Sherco scored a popular victory in front of his home fans when he topped the Junior category just in front of Alexz Wigg – Beta who maintains his series lead. Wigg produced a stunning last lap but could not catch the Italian rider who used his home advantage to full effect. Alfredo Gomez – Montesa who remains second in the points table just managed to claim the final podium place after pushing Jack Challoner – Beta down to fourth on a most cleans tie break. Wigg looks almost certain to become champion in Andorra  next weekend.

Spanish rider Carles Traviesa – Gas Gas recorded his third win in the Youth class this season when he narrowly defeated Maxime Warenghein – Sherco by a single clean after the pair tied on six marks apiece following a tense day of competition. Series leader Jonathan Richardson – Sherco was demoted to third spot today in the easy conditions, but still heads the overall standings by forty points with just three counting days to go.  Richardson can tie up the title at the next round, subject to his result. Traviesa now moves into second position in the series after Tanguy Mottin – Gas Gas finished down in sixth place today.

DOUGIE LAMPKIN
Temperature: 28 c   Weather: Sunshine

Dougie Lampkin took a brave fourth place at today’s Italian Grand Prix, with the factory rider fighting both a tough trial and the injuries he sustained last weekend in Austria. The severe nature of many of the sections meant that Lampkin was in pain for much of the competition, with his sore and swollen hand costing him marks as he failed to find sufficient strength to hold on to the handlebars on at least two occasions.

Typically Dougie gritted his teeth and got on with the job ahead of him when today’s trial got underway, despite him having had to sit out of most of the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday to protect his injuries. Incredibly the thirty-three year old traded blows with the front-runners through the first six or seven sections, and actually shared the lead with Bou and Fujinami at points.

With time running out Lampkin along with the other top riders had to rush to complete the first lap and picked up four fives in the closing hazards. Even with these late losses and six marks on time Dougie found himself in third place at the halfway point. The hot conditions and ongoing punishment to his injured hand took its toll on the veteran campaigner during the second lap, with Dougie finally having to concede the final podium position to a resurgent Bou.

“Considering I was not sure if I was going to be able to ride this weekend, fourth place is far more than I could have ever expected. I know perhaps I should be disappointed at just missing out on being on the podium again for the third trial in a row, but in all honestly I am really happy with today’s result given the circumstances. My hand was both sore and weak on the second lap, twice I simply could not hang on and both times it ended with a five. It was OK when I had time to adjust my grip to compensate for the injury, but when things happened too quickly I had no chance of hanging on,” Lampkin explained.


REPSOL MONTESA HONDA
Toni Bou still leads the world championship after finishing third in an event dominated mainly Takahisa Fujinami

Toni Bou (Montesa Cota 4RT) still leads the general classification of the World Trial Championship after obtaining third position in the eighth championship event, held this Sunday. Winner of the six previous events and with three to go to finish the championship, the Montesa rider has a 14-point lead over his closest rival.

Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa Cota 4RT) was a serious candidate to win this event, which he dominated in the first lap, although some mistakes in the last zones took their toll. The Japanese rider finished second for the third consecutive time, a result that has moved him up one position in the general classification; to third place.

The podium positions of Fujinami and Bou have given Montesa a new victory in the classification by manufacturer, increasing their advantage as leader even further.

Toni Bou: “I made some incredible mistakes in the first lap and I worked hard in the second to improve my position, which was not exactly good. I’ve not only broken my streak of consecutive victories but also obtained my worst result of the season. Even so, at this time in the championship, as things are at the moment, I think my third position was not too bad.”

Takahisa Fujinami: “I don’t know what happened, but I made some mistakes that I shouldn’t have in the last zones and I lost the championship. In the previous event in Japan, I missed it by the minimum and today again it was close. A second place is OK, but it evidently didn’t satisfy me this time either.”

Next weekend the World Trial Championship will be held in Rabassa (Andorra), when Laia Sanz will begin a struggle for what could be her ninth title on Saturday and the following day Toni Bou will defend his leading position in the ninth and antepenultimate event of the championship.


HONDA RACING
Weather: Bright sunshine with some cloud
Temperature: 28 degrees C
Attendance: 11,000

Fujinami and Bou both on the podium in Italy

Only for the second time this season, it was not a Repsol Montesa HRC that topped the podium with Takahisa Fujinami and Toni Bou having to settle for second and third places respectively at a tough Italian Grand Prix. Adam Raga – Gas Gas was the deserved victor on this occasion and produced an incredible second lap performance to seal his second win of the series. Both Fujinami and Bou improved during the afternoon session aboard their factory four-stroke bikes as they got to grips with the difficult conditions. Toni still heads the overall standings by fourteen points with three rounds remaining, whilst Fujinami has now moved back into third position in the championship table.

The small town of Barzio set deep in the Italian mountains and approximately eighty kilometres north of the city of Milan played host to this weekend’s trial Grand Prix. The steep sided valley with its lush green vegetation offered a good variety of sections that began in the river immediately next to the paddock before the riders then climbed high up the surrounding hillside. Heavy rain in the days prior to the event had left the ground under the trees both damp and greasy.

Bou riding his factory Cota 4RT began the day well dropping just a single mark in the first seven slippery sections, but then suffered his worst run of form this year as he then notched up no less than three maximums in the next three hazards, which were all situated at the highest point on the course. However Toni’s nightmare did not stop there as he incurred two further fives before the first lap was over as he rushed to avoid time penalties. Fujinami found himself in a similar situation and also picked up the majority of his marks on the opening tour as he too tried to finish within the intermediate time limit.

Some poor riding and six marks on time put Bou down in fifth spot at the halfway point, whilst Fujinami despite also being penalised four marks for being late at the mid point found himself just two marks behind the initial leader and eventual winner Raga. With conditions drying in the high temperatures, the Repsol Montesa HRC duo set about making amends for their earlier mistakes as the second lap got under way. Despite a dispute five in section twelve on his second visit, Toni still recorded the second best final lap with a total of ten marks, which was some twenty two marks lower than his initial attempt. Fujinami also raised his game through the closing fifteen hazards, but his tally of fifteen marks for the lap was not enough to prevent Raga taking the win.

Fujinami – 2nd : “My riding was not perfect today, so when you can finish second and you have not ridden at your best you have to be happy. The trial has been OK, the sections were a little difficult to understand on the first lap, so perhaps why many of the riders made so many mistake. My first lap was OK until the final sections, but the problem was we had no time and rode these in a rush without even looking at them. I was happy with how the second lap went, especially as I still have some pain in my ribs after the crash in England. ”

Bou -  3rd : ”To be on the podium after what happened on the first lap, is more than I could have hoped for after I saw the scores at the end of the first lap and realised I was down in fifth place. The problem was with my mentality, I made a stupid five in section eight and after that I completely lost my head and my concentration. I was angry with myself and I took this into the next sections. This plus we had no time meant the first lap was a complete disaster. In the end I made quite a nice recovery and I pleased to finish third when you consider everything that happened with me today.”

Laia Sanz – Repsol Montesa HRC made a welcome return to the 2009 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship, after having been absent from the series since the opening round in Ireland back in April. Unfortunately it was not a successful reunion for the reigning Women’s World champion, who finished down in seventeenth place and well off the pace.