Report: World X-Trial Championship, Barcelona
By Team TMX on 8th Feb 17
TONI Bou was in a class of his own at the opening round of the 2017 FIM X-Trial World Championship staged in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday evening.
The Repsol Honda ace took a stunning win in the St Jordi Stadium, high on Montjuic, dropping just five marks in the eight-section final to take his ninth consecutive victory in the event and his 11th in total.
Second-placed Adam Raga dropped 21 on the TRS to take his sixth runner-up placing in the event, while Vertigo star Jeroni Fajardo gave the home-town marque their first ever X-Trial podium after an exciting tie-break with veteran Sherco No.1 Albert Cabestany.
It was a disappointing first round for Britain's sole contender James Dabill, though, the new Gas Gas factory team leader failing to make the final and finishing seventh just ahead of his young German team-mate Franz Kadlec
This famous event was amazingly celebrating its 40th anniversary with a parade of previous winners and competitors who could only applaud the greatest of them all as Bou destroyed his challengers to take his 11th win inside the Olympic arena.
The Qualifying was short and sharp with just five sections deciding who would make the final and always promised to be a tight and tense affair and lived up to those expectations. Four of the sections were the usual mix of wooden and concrete shapes with the final hazard being an impressive waterfall built into the seating tiers.
First into action were Kadlec – contracted for the full series for the first time, although he did ride the Austrian round in 2016 – and Repsol Honda's teenager Jaime Busto, with the German rider winning the first speed section of the night by a single second.
Busto responded well to post a total of 10 marks over the five sections and was unlucky not to transfer to the final, although he could still be satisfied with his fifth position.
Fajardo got the better of his 2016 Vertigo team-mate Dabill in their initial sprint duel and Jeroni ensured his superiority through the observed hazards, too, as he completed qualification for a mere six marks.
This proved to be 11 better than James, despite the fact that The Dibsta took the sole clean on the opening section that was fived by Raga and Bou!
Just a few fractions of a second split Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Honda and Cabestany – after they raced around the speed section, with the Japanese veteran edging this first test.
However, Fujgas failed to capitalise and with a total loss of 12 marks had to be content with sixth on the night. After fiving the opening section Cabestany recovered well to book his place in the final dropping just one more for a six mark total.
The crowd-pleasing final pairing of Bou and Raga started with Toni winning the sprint, before the two favourites then surprisingly fived the first section, putting pressure on themselves to clean the remaining four hazards, if they were going to make it through to the four-rider final.
But confirming their status as World No.1 and No.2 both contenders managed to stay clean for the rest of the lap to join Cabestany and Fajardo in the play-off. The final was fought-out over a mighty eight sections, although in typical Barcelona style they were ripped through in record time.
And it didn't take Bou long to establish a clear lead, his brilliant clean in the second section – which Raga fived – set the tone and by the time he bagged the sole clean in the fourth hazard the writing was already on the wall.
In fact, Toni cleaned seven out the eight sections in the final to end the contest a full 16 marks ahead of Raga, although Adam's score could have been slightly better if he had not played to the crowd in the closing waterfall, although by then it was all over.
Fajardo and Cabestany effectively contested a separate battle to secure the final place on the podium.
Finishing the final level on points Jeroni was quickest in the speed section tie-break to seal hs maiden podium place for
Vertigo in the FIM X-Trial World Championship.
