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Raga and Fujinami Win in Italy D epsol Montesa HRC rider Takahisa l'Fujinarni moved into second place in the overall standings of the 2005 World Trials Championship after recording a victory and a runner-up finish in the Italian Grand Prix after splitting wins with Gas Gas' Adam Raga, july 9-10. Although Raga won on day one, he was pushed down to fourth place on the second day. Repspol Montesa HRC's Dougie Lampkin, who is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in France two weeks ago, did well to earn a 4 -3 result over the weekend. Meanwhile, Sherco's Albert Cabstany saw his title hopes fade as he went 3-9 over the course of the weekend. After the manmade sections of the French Grand Prix, the championship returned to more natural surroundings for the Italian round. The small village of Valbondione sitting at the head of the towering valley, some 30 miles from the city of Bergamo, brought the series to one of its most beautiful locations on this year's tour. The 15 sections were all situated beside the shallow river that ran directly next to the village, with sections 12, 13 and 14 being the most scenic, with a 3OO-foot waterfall as their natural backdrop. Freixa was the first to conquer the early hazards after having watched a string of failures, including those of Lampkin and Beta's Antonio Bou. Freixa's three dabs looked as though this may be the best for this section, but Fujinami, Cabestany and Raga were to soon prove differently as all three needed only a single dab, Raga hardly needing to foot at all. Cabestany could be accused of underestimating section seven, as he did not give the approach to the final step enough respect, resulting in him spinning at the critical moment, leaving him with a very unex- Takahisa Fujinami won on day two of the Italian Grand Prix. Raga found himself in second place at this point, trailing the japanese rider by three marks, the same score that he had lost in section 15. Cabestany completed the halfway point in the top three, just one behind his compatriot. Bou and Freixa jointly filled the fourth spot after the first 15 sections on 24 marks apiece, with Lampkin a further five marks adrift due to a controversial maximum penalty he received for touching the boundary marker tape in section II. With the rain continuing to return much as it had all day, the second lap was conducted in a similar fashion to the earlier part of the day, although some of the sections had definitely improved with the greasy top surface having now been scrubbed away. The scores were always going to be lower, especially with section two having now been officially removed from the competition for safety reasons, but no one could have predicted the lap that Raga was about to put together. His total of just five marks for his second tour almost seemed impossible, and his performance was simply too strong for his rivals and left him a clear and welldeserved winner, a victory that may just signal the new outdoor World Champion in waiting. The scrap for the runner-up spot was far closer, with Fujinami just managing to hang on in the last section to defeat Cabestany by a single mark. Lampkin had recovered well to ride himself into fourth place, as both Bou and Freixa posted worse second-lap totals to be demoted to fourth and fifth, respectively. "This is a very important victory for me, both for my advantage in the championship and also for my own confidence," Raga said. "My level of riding during the first lap was acceptable, but I am really pleased with my riding as the riders fought to find grip in a hazard that now looked very possible. Fujinarni signaled his intentions for the day with the only clean on the opening lap in the eased section. jeroni Fajardo and Lampkin both failed, while Raga and Bou needed a dab apiece on the final undercut step despite the new, larger launcher rock. Fujinarni remained clean through the first three hazards but was to collect his first maximum of the day in the fourth hazard to lose his early lead. Fajardo found himself the halfway point leader, one mark ahead of a rejuvenated Freixa, with Fujinami, Lampkin, Raga and Cabestany all following closely, only Fujinami came closest with a tally of 10 that included one five, one three and two dabs, and this performance would be enough to give the japanese rider a vital victory in his championship campaign. Lampkin managed his second lap for 1I marks, but this still was not enough to prevent Fajardo taking the runner-up spot and pushing the British rider to the lower tier of the podium. While Raga remains the clear championship leader, Fujinami has now moved into second place in the overall standings thanks to his latest victory. '~fter France, it is good to return to this position once again," Fujinami said. "It is an pected five marks. His mistake allowed performance on the second lap, as that is Raga and Fujinami to become the new joint what has given me the victory today. Now I am feeling strong about taking the title, but also it is clear that the fight is not finished yet, seven marks separating the top six at this stage of the competition. The rain returned as there is still a lot of sections before the very interesting out on the course as this pack of front-runners continued to fight it important victory for both me and the team, as we have had a bad couple of weeks with my results and with Dougie's [Lampkin] injUry. I really hope that this is leaders on nine marks, while Cabestany found himself five marks adrift due to one small but costly lapse of concentration. Cabestany rode himself back into con- end of the season. Obviously, I will be look- ready for the start of lap two to make things tention with a fantastic clean in section nine ing to repeat something similar tomorrow, I as he closed his opening-lap performance, a feat that was only matched by Bou on the first visit to this tough finale. hope at least," Torrential rain throughout the night and out for the victory. As Raga had done the day before, this another turning point and that we can enjoy a strong close to the season. It is clear that time it was Fujinami's and Lampkin's turn Fujinami finished off his morning's work modifications to four of the sections created a new element to Sunday's trial. Section two to produce a special closing lap as both threatened to achieve single-figure totals with a two to head the field on 16 marks. had been softened and brought some good for their Raga has a big advantage and he now must be favorite to be champion, but that doesn't mean that I will stop fighting right until the last section of the last round." respective second-lap tours. Top Teams, First Woman Slated for Suzul