VOL. 53 ISSUE 24 JUNE 21, 2016 P17
BOU, FUJINAMI SPLIT FRENCH GP TRIAL WINS
R
epsol Honda Team
riders Toni Bou and
36-year-old Takahisa Fu-
jinami shared wins at the
French Grand Prix FIM Trial
World Championship, June
18-19. Bou took the opening-
day victory and Fujinami the
second-day win.
Day one was cut short
when one of the rider's
minders suffered a concus-
sion and had to be airlifted
to the hospital. The event
was stopped to allow access
to the injured rider's assis-
tant. With more than half of
the competition having been
completed, the event was
declared to have full results
on the final lap of three.
Heavy rain prior to the
start caused havoc on the
hillside course, but Bou
made quick work of it all and
was the low point-scorer
when the trials was called. Fu-
jinami was second, followed by
Adam Raga (Gas Gas), who lost
ground to Bou in the champion-
ship standings.
But Fujinami, the most vet-
eran of the field, was too hot to
handle from the start astride the
Montesa Cota 4RT. With two
sharp first laps, the Japanese
rider finished the job with just a
single penalty point on the final
lap. That raises Takahisa Fujina-
mi's victory tally to 33 wins in the
FIM Trial World Championship.
He also becomes the fourth dif-
ferent rider to take a victory so
far this season. The result legiti-
mizes the third position overall
of 'Fujigas' on the championship
leaderboard.
He trails leader Bou and run-
ner-up Raga, the latter of whom
finished second on day two.
Bou matched teammate Jaime
Busto on points but edged him
out on the tiebreakers to nab the
final step of the podium.
Bou leads the championships
with 189 points, followed by
Raga with 169 and Fujinami with
136. CN
Day One
1. Toni Bou (Mon)
2. Takahisa Fujinami (Mon)
3. Adam Raga (Gas)
4. Jorge Casales (Beta)
5. Jaime Busto (Mon)
Day Two
1. Takahisa Fujinami (Mon)
2. Adam Raga (Gas)
3. Toni Bou (Mon)
4. Jaime Busto (Mon)
5. Albert Cabestany (Shr)
Takahisa Fujinami took
the win on day two
at the Grand Prix of
France World Trials.
PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY
HONDA
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
BRENDAN
LUTES
