Second Repsol Honda Team double with Bou and Fujinami on top in the British TrialGP

Toni Bou extends his leadership further in the TrialGP World Championship with a notable victory in Great Britain. Repsol Honda Team companion Takahisa Fujinami accompanied Bou on the podium.

Today’s fifth round triumph in Tong takes the Repsol Honda Team rider’s British tally to fifteen wins as the current champion edges further ahead in the world championship overall standings.

Bou led the trial from pole to flag, as it were; yet in spite of a clear domination on the first lap – with eight marks compared to the sixteen of the nearest adversary – the multi-titled champ almost came a cropper on lap two with several errors that narrowed the gap with rivals. The champion finished the day seven points clear of Repsol Honda Team buddy Takahisa Fujinami, who occupied the second step of the podium. Jaime Busto, who was also in with a chance of a podium at the start of the race, made some costly mistakes in the final sections of the first lap, which, despite a recovery second time around, failed to improve on sixth place. In the provisional championship leader board Toni Bou is top with an eighteen-point advantage over Adam Raga, Takahisa Fujinami holds third and Jaime Busto fourth.

The areas of the ParkWood Offroad Centre in Tong were quite demanding, with complicated routes in some mud-drenched river areas. The next round of the TrialGP World Championship will be held in Kingman, Arizona, U.S.A. from 28th to 30th July.

Montesa, meanwhile, extends an advantage of 51 points over TRS in the constructor’s championship thanks to the victories of Bou in TrialGP and Francesc Moret in TR2.

Toni Bou

“It was not my kind of terrain, but I was comfortable. In the end, a mistake put the pressure on me to win the trial. It was a very good trial, I think I did very well and, after what happened in Andorra, here we have made up some good points for the championship. We are going to the United States on a roll and will be hoping to get more results like these.”

Takahisa Fujinami

“I liked the terrain and despite a not-so-good result in the qualification, today I felt on good form and knew I could get a result. I tried to salvage what I could out of the sections and I am very happy with this podium, with the team double and my third place in the championship. I had trained a lot for this race and I have to thank the team for the work they have done here.”

Jaime Busto

“I started quite well, up until section eight, where the bike stopped. Then I made some more mistakes and wanted to finish the first lap to start the second one better. I'm happy with how I'd been on this last lap because I've improved a lot and although I haven’t been able to finish on the podium I think I did pretty well.”

Miquel Cirera

“This is a great result for the team and today Fujinami had a great trial - if Toni doesn’t mind me saying so - who had a sensational first lap himself. Bou made some mistakes which, as always, he was able to pull back from to take the victory. Fujinami was in the leading group, which was not easy and he did really well. They both have to be congratulated. Jaime had been in the podium group, he was doing well, but he made some errors that he shouldn’t have, but as they say, ‘That’s the way it goes!’ We hope he gets back on the podium soon. The United States will not be easy for the conditions we are in, but we will try to face the trial as well as we can. Congratulations to all the team who have worked very well, but before the holidays, there’s still an important job outstanding. Best wishes to all.”