Bou-rilliant!
By TMX Archives on 13th Jan 12
The 2012 international trials season got underway with the traditional visit to the Sheffield Arena and normal service was immediately resumed, as Toni Bou destroyed the opposition with a brilliant display. Adam Raga and Jeroni Fajardo were distant challengers on an all-Spanish podium as they finished second and third respectively.
In truth the remaining field made up of four British runners, two Spanish compatriots and his Japanese Repsol Montesa team-mate were never on the same page as Bou at Sheffield, despite a tight and tense qualification lap that saw home boys Michael Brown and Jack Challoner eliminated ahead of the six-man final.
A familiar array of man-made obstacles greeted the eight starting riders and the near-capacity crowd who had packed into the established sporting venue on the outskirts of the famous Yorkshire city.
Making his final appearance, having competed in every edition of the event since 1996, Dougie Lampkin gave the home fans good reason to cheer as he opened proceedings with a morale-boosting feet-up ride on the rock section.
This particular hazard was cleaned by all but James Dabill and Challoner, who both had evenings they would eventually wish to forget.
The initial tour of five observed hazards plus the infamous blue quarter-pipe race had been designed by course creator Martin Lampkin to be easier than in some previous years to give the riders a chance to find their feet after the winter break.
The result was a nervous opening performance by the invited stars, who knew that one failure could rule them out of progressing to the sharp end of the event.
Bou was the exception to this rule and oozed confidence, flair and moments of sheer flamboyance as he made light work of the Sheffield sections, not losing a single mark in the observed hazards and then beating Raga in the head-to-head duel.
To be fair to Raga, his defeat to the reigning indoor and outdoor world champion was his only penalty in qualification as he finished one mark ahead of the ever popular Takahisa Fujinami at the end of lap one.
Dabill's night started well as he qualified just one mark behind ‘Fujigas' and one in front of Fajardo.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX JANUARY 13
International Sheffield Indoor Trial
Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield (Avondale Management)
Final Overall: 1 Toni Bou (Repsol Montesa) 2 marks lost, 2 Adam Raga (Gas Gas) 15, 3 Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) 15, 4 Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol Montesa) 18, 5 James Dabill (Beta) 25, 6 Dougie Lampkin (Gas Gas) 27.
Qualification: 1 Toni Bou clean, 2 Adam Raga 1 mark lost, 3 Takahisa Fujinami 2, 4 James Dabill 3, 5 Jeroni Fajardo 4, 6 Dougie Lampkin 5.
Non-Qualifiers: 7Jack Challoner (Beta) & Michael Brown (Gas Gas) 9 each.
