Cabestany tastes his first victory in Milano
By TMX Archives on 18th Feb 07
After several attempts, Albert Cabestany enjoyed this night in Milano his first victory at Indoor Trial World Championship 2007 by defeating Toni Bou and Adam Raga in a very balanced final lap. Sherco's rider took advantage after cleaning section 3, while his rivals added maximum penalty. From then Cabestany managed the lead with calm and intelligence till the end of the competition. This result let the Spanish to strengthen third place in standings and now threatening second classified Adam Raga by only two points. Although Toni Bou couldn't clinch another win, his second place made him increase the gap from the top, with ten points ahead of current champion Raga, who closed podium places in third position.
In the first lap, Raga completed a superb ride with no marks. Defending champion was very consistent and even had the strength to beat Bou in a double lane race. Before, the current leader and Cabestany imitated their performance on the sections. The Spanish stars suffered on first hazard and lost another penalty on the next. From this point, both completed brilliantly the rest of the sections.
As happened last weekend in Lisbon, Takahisa Fujinami run out from the final by just one penalty. Slight mistakes in last section gave advantage to Albert Cabestany and Sherco's rider could defend third place despite Japanese pressure.
Jeroni Fajardo offered his best and worst version. Spanish rider cleaned tough opening hazards but received a severe punishment because of the time. Again Dougie Lampkin showed a very irregular performance and too early was very far from the fight for the rostrum.
Polish Tadeusz Blazusiak suffered the lack of pace after losing last rounds due to an injured knee. Beta rider added too much failures and fell till penultimate place. Local Fabio Lenzi, guest rider in Milano, was overcome by GP level and finished eighth in a poor style.
Next weekend FIM Indoor Trial Championship will visit Menorca, Balearic Island, where seventh round in calendar will be contested.
Cabestany: ` I want to dedicate the victory to my daughter who was born one month ago and I hadn't had the chance to offer her a triumph until today. The title is too far, but my aim is to go on at this level and repeat again this result. I also want to thank the great task done by my father and my minder that helped me a lot to achieve this victory´.
Bou: `I'm very satisfied with this result, you can't always win. The second place let me to increase the gap from the lead in two points and this is very important. Every day less rounds left and I want to maintain this place to defend first place in the general standings´.
Raga: `I'm not happy at all after I completed a nice riding in the first lap. I made too many mistakes in the final lap. Title goes away but I'll try to find my best performance and my hopes will be high till the end´.
GP Italy – Milano Indoor Trial – Round 6
Qualification Lap
1. Adam Raga 0 penalties
2. Toni Bou 7
3. Albert Cabestany 8
4. Takahisa Fujinami 9
5. Jeroni Fajardo 17
6. Dougie Lampkin 21
7. Tadeusz Blazusiak 31
8. Fabio Lenzi 35
Final Lap
1. Albert Cabestany 12 penalties
2. Toni Bou 16
3. Adam Raga 18
FIM Indoor Trial World Championship 2007
Provisional Standings
1. Toni Bou 51 points
2. Adam Raga 41
3. Albert Cabestany 39
4. Takahisa Fujinami 32
5. Dougie Lampkin 27
6. Jeroni Fajardo 26
7. Tadeusz Blazusiak 6
...
11. Fabio Lenzi 1