VOL. 52 ISSUE 12 MARCH 29, 2016 P25
again failed to show his true
talent and had to wait until the
final section to avoid a maximum
score. With a total of 22 marks,
Karlsson ended the night one
better than Busto as the duo
finished seventh and eighth,
respectively.
It was a close call between
Fujinami and Alexandre Fer-
rer (Sherco) in the next head-
to-head sprint, but it was the
Japanese protagonist who got
the nod. This was to prove a
good omen for Fujinami, as he
produced his best performance
of the season to finally claim a
place in the final with a tally of
14 marks. Despite great support
from the noisy home fans, Ferrer
was unable to make it through to
the main event and had to settle
for sixth spot overall.
The next pairing proved to
be a mismatch, as Cabestany
delivered an incredible ride los-
ing just two marks after be being
beaten by Jeroni Fajardo (Ver-
tigo) in their dual-lane encounter.
While Albert's showing would
prove to put him top of qualifica-
tion, Fajardo endured an incon-
sistent outing that would finally
rule him out of the final and into
fifth position as he fived the last
hazard on the opening lap.
A crash on the first pipe in the
race as he lined up against Raga
confirmed just how nervous Bou
was. A further fail on the second
section for Bou certainly con-
firmed that, but true to form, he
recovered strongly, not drop-
ping any further marks to book
his place in the final. Raga was
robust in his approach through-
out and only a two-mark ride in
the fifth hazard prevented him
matching Cabestany's score.
However, Adam's tally still took
him into the final in second place
behind Albert, but in front of
Bou.
In the Final, with Fujinami
soon out of the hunt, it was left
to the Spanish threesome to
fight it out one more time. Raga
found himself trailing his two
main rivals early on after a below
par ride in the first section in
the final which was ridden in the
reverse direction, as was the
case with all the other hazards.
Very little separated Bou, Cabes-
tany and Raga throughout what
proved to be a low-scoring and
tense finale, meaning that the
championship was not decided
until the very last section of
the series. Raga applied the
pressure one last time with a
stunning sign-off ride, but with
Bou matching his performance
and Cabestany taking a more
calculated approach, Adam still
ended the evening in third and
just short of stopping Toni from
taking a 10th title.
"Today it went really well,"
Bou said. "I'm so happy, be-
cause we suffered a lot. It was
a very difficult race. In the end,
not only Adam [Raga] pushed,
but also Albert Cabestany was
there. I want to say that Adam
fought hard during the whole
season and made things very
difficult for me. When you find
a rival of that level, the titles are
even more valuable. I'm very
happy. Now we can keep living
this dream." CN
Bou at work in
France, where he
won for the third
time this year.
