Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1545725
C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 19, 2006 9 R epsol Montesa HRC's Takahisa Fujinami won his third World Trials Championship Grand Prix of the season, the Japanese rider winning the Polish round on July 9 to move to second place in the championship. Fujinami won by just a single mark over Gas Gas' Adam Raga with Sherco's Albert Cabestany completing the podium. Fujinami's teammate Dougie Lampkin fin- ished fourth. For the third successive week, the series was blessed with scorching temperatures, the hot conditions once again playing their part in what proved to be yet another tough competition to complete this batch of three European Grands Prix. The championship had not visited Poland for 11 years and the initial sections showed that the organizers were slightly out of touch with the new level of riding. After much debate with both the riders and jury members, eventually a com- promise was reached to create a suitable competition. Cabestany was the early leader, as he recorded the only clean at section three on the opening lap; his passage up the final step seemed almost effortless and was where the oth- ers had all failed. Fourteen of the 15 hazards were situated in dense and dark woodland, with every one of these sec- tions involving a series of steep climbs from the streambed. No one was shining in the strange conditions, but it was Cabestany who held a one-mark lead over Fujinami at the end of lap one. Current championship leader Raga was in the third spot at this point, having dropped four marks more than the top Montesa rider, while Lampkin was a fur- ther five marks adrift and down in fourth position, a situa- tion he would not improve upon at the finish. A closing lap of just 16 marks was enough to give Fujinami the victory, despite a late charge by Raga, who posted the best second-lap score. Raga's afternoon tally of 14 marks was enough to earn him a tie break with Cabestany, which he would win having gained one more clean than his Spanish counterpart. Raga now leads the championship by 15 points over Fujinami with three Grand Prix remaining. Lampkin is one point behind Fujinami in third place. "I am happy again, as this is my second victory in two weeks, and now I have moved into second in the champi- onship," Fujinami said. "It will be difficult to catch Raga, but if I keep winning, at least I can put some pressure on him. It has been a difficult trial, as I made a massive crash in the downhill part of section six this morning and injured my arm quite badly. The rest of the day it has been a battle as the arm is very sore and is causing me some pain, but in the end I still managed to take a narrow victory." Fujinami Gets His Third PHOTOS BY MARIO CANDELLONE Takahisa Fujinami won his third World Trials event of the season in Poland. Adam Raga still leads the championship after finishing second to Fujinami. With the announced retirement of nine-time World Champion Stefan Everts at the end of this season, Yamaha has signed both Joshua Coppins and Marc de Reuver for the 2007 MX1 World Championship season. Yamaha believes that the Coppins, the runner- up in the 2005 MX1 World Championship, and this year's championship title challenger de Reuver both have the talent and speed to be wor- thy successors to Everts in the team. "Since I came to Europe 11 years ago I have always been very impressed with the Rinaldi- Yamaha team," Coppins said. "They have been right up there for more than 15 years and since 2001 they have proven to be pretty much unbeat- able. Especially this year, their new bike is winning almost everything. So what more can I ask for? Being able to ride with them next year will give me the best opportunity ever to win the world title I've been chasing for so long." De Reuver, meanwhile, will make his debut in the MX1 class. "I'm really happy to be back with the brand where it all started with," the Dutchman said. "I won my first race aged six on a PW50 and I have competed on Yamahas for more than ten years, winning many races, so I know from my own experience they make great machines. Seeing the successes of the YZ450 it clearly is the bike to have in the MX1 class. The Rinaldi team is renowned for their professionalism and rider focus and I hope this support will make the differ- ence for me to mount a successful challenge for the MX1 title." Yamaha World MX: Coppins and de Reuver S. "DeRevver" Leroux Joshua Coppins