Date : 11/07/2010
Weather : Bright Sunshine
Temperature : 32 degrees C
Crowd : 8500

Bou and Fujinami finish 1-2 at French GP

Repsol Montesa HRC riders Toni Bou and Takahisa Fujinami completed an impressive 1- 2 at the French Grand Prix, which marked round five of the 2010 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship. In hot and difficult conditions the four stroke mounted pair showed their class finishing ahead of a rejuvenated Jeroni Fajardo – Beta who was the remaining podium finisher. Thanks to this latest result, Bou moves further ahead in the general standings, with Fujinami having now over taken Adam Raga – Gas Gas to claim second spot in the title race.

The small industrial town of St Michele De Maurienne, which sits close to the Italian border and nearly two hundred kilometres south east of the French city of Lyon has been absent from the calendar since 1995. Whilst the town now boasts a motorway on its outskirts and several changes within the urban areas, the terrain where the sections were located on the hillside overlooking the valley was as fierce as it was when the series last visited here fifteen years ago.

Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon turned dust into mud and forced the organisers to change almost every section ready for Sunday’s competition. As a result of these late alterations the riders were allowed to inspect the hazards during the first lap, which is now normally not permitted under new rules introduced earlier this year. To aid this process the riders were also granted an extra twenty minutes to complete their initial tour. Even with the changes the course proved to be ultra difficult with Bou posting a first lap score of twenty nine marks, which put him just two marks clear of Fajardo at the head of the field with a lap still to play for.

It was during the closing tour that both Bou and Fujinami really showed the pedigree of the factory Cota 4RT machines, with these being the only two riders to record lap totals of less than twenty marks as conditions remained as tough as ever. Toni’s tally of thirteen made him the clear winner, and deservedly so, but equally Takahisa did a brilliant job to ride himself back into contention. The Japanese rider suffered a nasty crash late on the second lap, which left him with an injured leg, making his achievement even more special. After such a strong team result, both riders will look ahead to the next two GPs over the coming two weekends with great confidence, and holding solid positions in the title standings.

Montesa HRC rider comments.

Bou – 1st: “I am very happy with today, especially after not such a good start. The conditions were very difficult this morning and I did not have a good feeling with the bike. The sections were difficult to understand and because of this I made a lot of mistakes. What I am most happy with is the way I recovered for the second lap. I changed my mentality and my riding style and in the end this is an important victory both for me and the team. I want to thank my team again, as now I have good advantage in the championship ahead of the next rounds.”

Fujinami – 2nd: ”To be second after such a difficult day is the best result I can hope for. Riding first in the sections on the first lap was an impossible task, as these were different sections to which we normally know. To understand how the ground was working and how much time you could spend in each place was a big challenge. After the first lap was over I begun to ride well and was riding good in most places until I made a big crash in section twelve. Nothing is broken I hope, but it made the last sections even more difficult for me.”

Laia Sanz – Repsol Montesa enjoyed one of her best weekends for a long time and looked to be back at her best on both days of competition. Saturday saw Sanz open the defence of her FIM Women’s Trial World Championship with a convincing win, whilst on Sunday she only narrowly missed out on a top ten finish in the Junior class. “At the start of the year I did not have a good feeling on the bike, but the changes we have made, now really suit my riding style and I think that has shown in my results this weekend. I am now looking forward to the next two weekends.”