FAJARDO WINS HIS FIRST EVER GRAND PRIX IN ANDORRA
Temperature: 30 c Weather: Sunshine

Jeroni Fajardo – Beta scored a shock win at the Grand Prix of Andorra earlier today, and in doing so he recorded his first victory at World level. With all eyes focussed on the Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa HRC versus Adam Raga – Gas Gas clash, Jeroni stole the show with a clear win after two stunning laps of the mountain-based course. Last week’s winner Raga had to settle for second place this time out, whilst Bou was demoted to third spot for the second round in a row. Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa HRC and Dougie Lampkin – Beta rounded out the top five.

The opening four sections did little to unsettle the front runners, however the final river hazard was a real stopper, with only Fujinami pushing out for a three on the first lap. After a nervous start, Bou looked back in control until he fived section nine on his first visit, whilst Raga made a similar mistake a few sections later. Jeroni kindly accepted the lead at the halfway point, and with only four marks dropped on his second lap, the young Spanish rider was a very deserved eventual winner. Bou still heads the series by twelve points.

In the Junior class Alfredo Gomez – Montesa claimed his second win of the season as he finished eight marks clear of Mateo Grattarola – Sherco, with Francesc Moret – Gas Gas completing the podium. Although Alexz Wigg – Beta slumped to seventh on the day, this was still sufficient for him to take the 2009 SPEA Trial Junior Championship ahead of the two final counting days in Spain and France in September. Wigg confirmed he will ride in the World Pro class at these two rounds that will bring the curtain down on the 2009 season.

Maxime Warenghien – Sherco from Belgium recorded his first victory in the Youth class to move into second place in the overall standings. However, whilst Jonathan Richardson – Sherco could only manage third position in today’s low scoring trial, the young British rider still did enough to capture the 2009 SPEA FIM Trial Youth Championship with two rounds remaining. Fellow British competitor Ben Morphett – Beta achieved his best ever result by finishing as runner-up. Richardson will remain on his 125 machine due to his age, but will move up to the Junior category for the closing two events to allow his rivals to fight to become vice-champion.

The series now stops for its traditional summer break, before resuming in Spain in early September.


Jonathan Richardson secures MRS's First World Champion Crown
17-year-old Jonathan Richardson celebrated winning the SPEA FIM World Trials Youth Championship in Italy at the weekend on-board his Doodson backed MRS Sherco. Richardson has been a dominant force throughout the Championship and has not been off the podium since the start of the World Youth Championship in Ireland back in April.
 
The youngster has secured the Championship with two rounds of the Championship still remaining. He will move into the SPEA FIM Junior World Trials Championship for the remainder of the season and will ride his 125 Doodson Sherco at the final rounds in Spain and France.
 
Richardson has worked extremely hard throughout the year and after an extensive training routine over the winter period he established himself as a huge threat when he clinched the wins in the two opening rounds. Soon afterwards Doodson Motorsport showed an interest in the youngster and a sponsorship deal was established for the remainder of the 2009 season.
 
MRS Director Malcolm Rathmell commented: "Jonathan fully deserves this excellent result. It is just reward for the dedication and work put in last winter. He is extremely determined and does not shirk any of the work that he has to do, he is one of the few riders I have worked with who listens and works to the maximum."
 
A delighted Jonathan said: "I am very happy at what I have achieved but none of this would have been possible without the support from my family. All the hard work and effort that I put in over the winter has finally paid off. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me, especially my Mum for looking after the farm on her own and my Dad for allowing me this fantastic opportunity to be able to become a World Champion. I would also like to thank my sponsors Mike Smith - Mial Coach Builders who provided me with a Motorhome and endless support, also all at MRS, Paxau, Richmond Garage Services, Ground Protection UK and all my friends and family who have helped me along the way.
 
I'm extremely pleased to have won with two rounds to go and now this gives me the opportunity to have a go in the Junior Class at the final two rounds and hopefully get some good results. I like to challenge myself in hard trials and I'm sure the last two rounds will do this. I can't wait to step up to a bigger bike next season but now I'm also very much looking forward to riding the famous Scott Trail!"
 
Neil Clayton Managing Director of Doodson Motorsport said: "We all want to congratulate Jonathan on his terrific achievement and we are looking forward to supporting him in years to come, through our partnership with Malcolm Rathmell Sport. It is one of the things which is key to us at Doodson to invest in Motorsport but in particular helping with talented youth riders to help them reach their true potential. We have become involved with supporting trials through Malcolm Rathmell Sport over the last six months and it has been a great decision for the company. We are looking forward to building on this partnership in years to come and hopefully helping them develop more future World Champions."


DOUGIE LAMPKIN
Dougie Lampkin narrowly missed out on recording his fourth, fourth place in a row as a single mark pushed him down to fifth spot at the Grand Prix of Andorra earlier today. Whilst still hampered by a hand injury sustained two weeks ago at an extreme enduro in Austria, Lampkin was once again battling with his younger counterparts at the top of the leaderboard for most of the trial.

The former multi World champion lost just a single dab in the first four watery zones before being halted by the steep and slippery climb in the fifth hazard. This early five was not a major set back as all but one rider failed at the same point.
The action then shifted to dry land, with the remainder of the sections being situated in the steep and dry wooded area just above the paddock, these being far from Dougie’s favourite type of test.

Despite the un-British conditions Lampkin maintained his fight and produced stunning rides in sections twelve and thirteen on the first lap, which were only bettered by eventual winner Fajardo. A mechanical problem in section ten and a mistake in the penultimate section brought two fives that added heavily to Dougie’s score to put him in joint fourth at the punchcard change. A similar second lap would see the veteran campaigner finish a single mark away from another fourth spot.

Despite dropping to sixth in the series, Lampkin is now just two points off fourth place in the overall standings. “ I have ridden OK despite the trial not really being up my street. I was good in the river both laps and held my own on the dry stuff too. Two fives in section fourteen and the one when the bike misfired were disappointing and soon pushed up my score. In terms of my hand, it is very sore and with the punishment it has been given today, it is pretty much back to square one again. Hopefully with the summer break, I can be fully fit and back in the hunt for the final two rounds,” Lampkin explained.


REPSOL MONTESA HONDA
Toni Bou on the podium again, leading the final stage of the championship with a 12-point advantage

Toni Bou (Montesa Cota 4RT) was third in the Trial Grand Prix of Andorra, held this Sunday. The Montesa rider will therefore reach the final stage of the championship leading the general classification with a 12-point advantage over his closest rival. Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa Cota 4RT) finished fourth, breaking his consecutive run of three second positions. Nevertheless, the Japanese rider has strengthened his third place in the general classification. Montesa still leads the classification by manufacturer, aiming directly for what will be their twelfth title.

Laia Sanz (Montesa Cota 4RT), who in the same scenario won the first event of a new edition of the Women’s Trial World Championship yesterday, finished tenth today in the junior category, which was won by Alfredo Gómez (Montesa).

Toni Bou: “Twelve points advantage is good to have in view of the two very important events to go. I know that just to get a podium position in each of them will be enough to retain the title, but of course I’ll try to win them. I think I didn’t do too badly in this one, and the struggle with Adam has been as intense as usual, with a minimum difference at the end, but Jeroni was incredible and beat us both.”

Takahisa Fujinami: “My result today had nothing to do with the three previous events. I made a lot of mistakes and I got the fourth position by a hair’s breadth. In any case, the result isn't too bad for the general classification, as I’m still in third position.”


HONDA RACING INFORMATION
Weather: Bright sunshine
Temperature: 30 degrees C
Attendance: 2,000

Bou on the podium in Andorra

Toni Bou (Repsol Montesa HRC) maintained his position at the head of the general classification after finishing in third place at the Grand Prix of Andorra, round six of the 2009 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship. Bou, riding the Honda factory four-stroke machine, narrowly missed out on the runners up spot at La Rabassa, by just two marks but he still leads the series by a solid twelve points with just two counting events to go.

Jeroni Fajardo – Beta was the shock winner in La Rabassa, as the young Spanish rider recorded his first ever World Trial victory after a recent run of disappointing results for the current World number four. Toni’s main rival, Adam Raga – Gas Gas took second position, with Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa HRC finishing down in fourth place on this occasion.

Set high in the mountains, the dramatic and scenic venue at La Rabassa is a regular stop on the tour and remains one of the highest locations to host a World trial, with the sections being found at over two thousand metres above sea level. The rugged valley offers a different mix of hazards each year, on this occasion the course was spilt into two main groups. The opening five sections were all situated in the narrow, but fast flowing river below the paddock, with the remaining hazards being back on dry land in the wooded area just above the start / finish facilities. The boulders under the trees were slippery in places, with the damp soil dragging on to the rocks as each rider passed through.

The top riders passed through the first four sections without incident and with only Bou on his Cota 4RT and Dougie Lampkin – Beta losing a single mark a piece, however all but Fujinami were to come to a stop on the opening climb in the watery fifth section. Here the Japanese rider pushed out for a three to take an early lead despite having suffered a clutch problem and then a puncture all before the end of the first section. Takahisa would then surrender the lead as he failed on the large step in section seven, where Bou stayed clean and Fajardo dropped two of the eight marks he incurred on his first lap. Toni’s recovery was only short lived as he made a bad mistake in the ninth hazard to collect his second five of the day, with Raga making a similar error a few sections later, surprisingly Jeroni found himself out in front at the mid point of the trial.

Typically Toni fought back well on his second visit to the fifteen hillside sections and closed in on Fajardo, and looked to have the measure of Raga until he recorded a five on the penultimate section of the trial. This final mistake left Bou two marks behind his main championship rival and eight behind Jeroni who was simply unstoppable on the day. Fujinami produced two consistent laps, and while some way off the leading pace, they were enough to earn him fourth spot by a single mark from Lampkin. Takahisa remains in third place in the series standings ahead of the long traditional summer break.

Bou -  3rd : ”I knew when I made the big mistake in section nine on the first lap, that this could be a disaster, as the trial was very low scoring. Up to that point I was quite happy with my riding and I knew I was close to the lead and also close to Adam and Jeroni. Fajardo made some incredible riding today, so perhaps it was always going to be impossible to beat him. I thought I had done enough to take second place, but then I made another mistake just before the end of the trial. Third is OK, and I still have a good lead in the championship so rather than thinking about today, I will now just think about the final two trials and how to win the title again.”

Fujinami – 4th  “It was a bad day even before the trial began. I had a problem with the clutch when I was practising this morning. We thought we had fixed the problem, but it returned again just before the first section. Then when this was finally fixed I punctured the front wheel in the first section. With all these problems, I lost about fifteen minutes and this affected my concentration. Despite this I rode the rest of the river sections well, but on the dry sections I was poor and this was the same each lap. It has not been a good trial for me, and I am not happy with the result, but in terms of the championship it is OK as I finished in front of both Cabestany and Lampkin. ”

Laia Sanz – Repsol Montesa HRC began the defence of her FIM Women’s Trial World Championship title with an emphatic victory during Saturday’s competition. Despite not looking at her best on the first lap, Laia created an early lead that she then stretched to a seventeen mark winning advantage thanks to a strong second lap showing. Sanz followed this up with a strong showing in the World Junior class on Sunday, with her finishing in a very creditable tenth place, which was considerably better than her performance in Italy just seven days earlier.