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RAGA KEEPS HIS CHAMPIONSHIP DREAM ALIVE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
 Adam Raga – Gas Gas kept his championship hopes alive today with his third victory of the season at the Czech Republic Grand Prix, the seventh scoring event in the 2008 FIM SPEA Trial World Championship. Main rival, Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa HRC was second with Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa HRC finishing third.
It was Bou who looked strongest despite dropping his first mark in the fifth section of the opening lap whilst Raga was still running clean. However, two fives on sections seven and eight for Raga where Bou managed to get through dropping three apiece that gave the reigning champion the advantage.
Both were evenly matched for the remainder of the lap giving Bou a three mark advantage moving into the second half of the competition. It was Albert Cabestany – Sherco rather than Fujinami who occupied third place at the half mid point on fourteen marks to Fujinami’s eighteen. Cabestany would have been tied with Raga at this point had it not been for picking up a time penalty on his first lap.
Many times this season has Raga launched a comeback attempt in the second lap only to fail to match the high standards set by Bou, however his impressive score of just seven marks on lap two to Bou’s eighteen saw him take a convincing win by a clear eight marks.
In the battle between Cabestany and Fujinami, it was the popular Japanese rider who was to prevail, dropping twenty-one on his second lap to Cabestany’s twenty-eight. Bou now leads the championship standings by twelve points over Raga with just three days of competition remaining.
In the Junior championship French rider, Guillaume Laniel – Gas Gas recorded his best result of the season and first podium position with a single penalty victory over championship leader, Loris Gubian – Sherco. Matteo Grattarola – Sherco recorded his second third place in two weeks to take the remaining podium position. Gubian now leads the championship by eleven points over Alexz Wigg - Montesa who is still suffering from a knee injury and finished in sixth place today.
The Youth championship saw Alexandre Ferrer – Sherco also record his best result this year winning by eight marks from Adrian Pastoriza – Gas Gas. Jack Challoner – Beta , after dominating the opening stages of the championship continued his recent poor run, finishing third. However, Challoner still maintains a healthy thirty point lead in the overall standings over second place Francesc Moret – Gas Gas.
The championship now enters its traditional summer break with the next scoring event being in Uddevalla, Sweden on 31st August.
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HONDA RACING
Weather: Sunshine with some cloud
Temperature: 28 degrees C
Attendance: 3,000
Bou and Fujinami both on the podium at the Czech Grand Prix
Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa HRC consolidated his lead at the top of the 2008 FIM SPEA Trial World Championship with a slightly disappointing second place at the latest Grand Prix in the Czech Republic. Bou was joined on the podium for the ninth time this season by his team mate Takahisa Fujinami, who took third spot on this occasion. Adam Raga – Gas Gas claimed his third win of the series to move fractionally closer to Bou in the title race. However the reigning champion still holds a relatively comfortable margin of twelve points over his main rival with just three rounds remaining.
This was the second time in two years that the championship had visited the small motocross facility at Kramolin, previously it had been back in 2001 when a World event last was hosted in the Czech Republic. Hot and dry conditions both prior to and during the trial meant that the dusty sections offered much grip. The short five kilometre course around the outskirts of the motocross track lacked variety, with nearly every hazard being hidden by a wooded covering and consisted of an array of steep rock faces and steps, of varying size and severity.
Raga claimed the early advantage as Bou on his Cota 4RT parted with his first mark at section four, however after the leading duo both completed the sixth hazard for a dab apiece it was Toni who began to pull clear as he became the only rider to exit section seven. The factory four stroke rider further extended his lead in the very next hazard, as again he was to become the only rider to reach the ends cards all day. Two more single dab rides during the latter part of the opening lap left Bou three marks in front of Raga, and four ahead of Cabestany, as the first punch cards were counted.
However Toni’s lead was to be short lived as he fived the relatively easy second section on his final visit. Bou returned to some kind of form, needing only one more dab to arrive at the very difficult seventh hazard. This time around Raga turned the tables on Bou to record a two mark ride here, as he and Fujinami were the only two riders to escape a maximum score at this hazard on lap two. Despite this set back, the battle was still far from over as Bou on board his factory 4RT immediately answered back at the very next section to leave with the loss of just two marks as the rest of the field all failed completely.
A slack five at section eleven on the closing lap was to seal Bou’s fate, as Raga finished strongly to take the win by an impressive eight marks, after having trailed Toni by three marks at the halfway point. Fujinami endured two nightmare laps by his own self imposed high standards and was therefore happy to bring his Cota 4RT home in third position just ahead of Albert Cabestany – Sherco and Jeroni Fajardo – Beta, who filled fourth and fifth places respectively.
Bou - 2nd : “It was a strange trial today, as most of the sections were not too difficult, but still it was easy to make a five very quickly and without doing too much wrong. My first lap was good, with no fives and I was the only rider to make it through sections seven and eight for less than five marks. The second lap was a big disaster right from the second section and right through the lap. I recovered slightly in section eight, but again I made a bad mistake just a few sections later. Thankfully this second place has not done so much damage to my championship position.”
Fujinami – 3rd : “I have to be happy with third position today as I have ridden very badly from the start to the finish of the trial. I have no excuse for my performance, but I can not say that I have enjoyed the trial as the sections have all been the same, one after another. Also the sections are nearly exactly the same as we rode here last year. Yes they were a little more difficult, but they really should have changed some things as after all this is the World championship.”
Laia Sanz – Repsol Montesa HRC enjoyed a much better day with two consistent laps earning her a creditable tenth place in the World Junior class. ”I am much happier today as I rode a lot better than the last few rounds. I really liked the sections. They were not too difficult, but were just a little long for me, as on quite a few occasions I simply ran out of time. This meant I collected several fives right near the end of the hazards after I had done the majority of the section with no marks.”
REPSOL – MONTESA HRC
Toni Bou finishes second and will participate in the one from last event as the leader. Takahisa Fujinami obtains another podium position.
 Toni Bou (Montesa-HRC Cota 4RT) finished second in the Czech Republic Trial, ninth scoring event in the World Championship, held this Sunday. With three events to end the championship, the Montesa rider still leads the general classification, with 12 points advantage over his closest rival.
Takahisa Fujinami (Montesa-HRC Cota 4RT) repeats podium position after finishing third, the same position he holds in the general classification. Laia Sanz (Montesa-HRC Cota 4RT) was tenth in the Junior World Cup, and holds the ninth position in the general classification. Montesa still leads in the classification by manufacturers and continues widening its advantage.
Toni Bou finished the first lap in the lead and with a three-point advantage, but a fall at the beginning of the second lap and then breaking a delimitation tape gave him the card with 10 supplementary points that cost him his victory. Fujinami, improved as the event went on, recovering points in the second lap and achieving the third position at the last moment.
Toni Bou: “I made a couple of mistakes that Adam didn't let me get away with in the second lap. First I fell trying not to place a foot on the ground and then I broke a tape. With this outcome, and with a rival who’s always at your heels, you can’t win; it may seem a repetitive statement, but it's true. With three events to go, 60 points at stake and my 12 points advantage. The numbers are clear, so much so that I can’t allow myself these types of mistakes.”
Takahisa Fujinami: “I repeated the result of the last events but feeling less competitive than in them. The podium was up for grabs until the last moment and the positive thing was to have got there”.
DOUGIE LAMPKIN
Dougie Lampkin took seventh position for the second week running, as the Czech Grand Prix became the seventh counting round of the 2008 FIM SPEA Trial World Championship. Lampkin suffered a left shoulder injury as a result of a freak incident during the early part of Saturday’s official practice session.
Whilst the thirty-two year ex multi World champion never actually crashed, he badly twisted his shoulder and was left in severe pain. This forced him to sit out the rest of the day as he underwent treatment in an attempt to get himself in some kind of condition to compete in today’s competition.
Sunday morning saw Dougie take the maximum dosage of pain relief under FIM rules before he set off on a damage limitation exercise, his performance obviously severely hampered by his acute shoulder injury.
The tough Yorkshireman battled bravely against the many big steps that defined the fifteen sections around the motocross circuit to hold seventh place at the end of lap one. Lampkin’s mid point score of twenty-nine marks included several fives, some of which were taken without actually riding the section in an attempt to not worsen the injury.
In the hot and dusty conditions Dougie kept to his task despite being in pain, and whilst his second lap score was some eight marks more than his morning performance it was enough to hold on to a creditable seventh spot, and to be the highest placed British rider in the World class.
A detuned Lampkin stated. “It’s been a difficult day, as I knew right from the outset I was only going to be able to ride certain sections. The pain was so intense at times I was not able to hold on to the handlebars, which was hardly confident boosting when you were heading towards one massive step after another.”
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