SPEA TRIALS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
La Antigua, Guatemala
BOU TAKES SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON ON GUATEMALA DEBUT
 Round
one winner and championship leader Antonio Bou – Repsol
Montesa HRC today picked up where he left off, with an emphatic
win on the first day of this weekend’s two day event
in Guatemala. He was joined on the podium by team-mate Takahisa
Fujinami – Repsol Montesa HRC after a day-long tussle,
with Adam Raga – Gas Gas filling the final podium position
in third.
With the championship visiting Guatemala for the first time,
few riders, if any, had any idea of what to expect and the
first thing that greeted them was stifling heat and humidity.
This made the sections even more difficult, as all were located
in river-beds; some dried out and some still flowing. This
meant that little breeze was available to combat the heat
and the going was extremely testing.
Team-mates Bou and Fujinami made the running throughout the
day, with Fujinami finishing the first lap with a slender
one mark advantage. In fact, the pair were in a class of their
own, with them being the only two riders to record single
figure lap scores. Further demonstrating their domination
in the hazards, both suffered time penalties, but still this
did not deter their overall performances.
Behind them, the competition was just as close, with Raga,
Dougie Lampkin – Repsol Montesa HRC and Albert Cabestany
– Sherco, separated by just four marks, with only Raga
incurring extra marks for going over time.
Although the heat had lessened slightly for the second lap,
it was just as difficult for the riders. Bou recorded an additional
eleven marks against Fujinami’s fifteen, to leapfrog
into the lead and clinch his second win of the season. Despite
dropping three marks less than Fujinami on the second lap,
this wasn’t enough for Raga to close up and he finished
seven marks adrift in third place.
Many of the riders complained of misjudging the pace of the
first lap, meaning they had to rush through the last few sections.
They therefore predicted a different strategy for the second
of the two day event on Sunday, ensuring that they will not
find themselves in the same situation.
In the World Junior championship, the positions from the
first round in Spain were reversed, with Alex Wigg –
Gas Gas taking the first day win, thanks to a dominant fifteen
mark margin over Frenchman Nicolas Gontard – Gas Gas.
In third was the winner from Spain, Michael Brown –
Beta, who finished just a single mark behind Gontard.
Over in the Youth championship, Spaniard Alfredo Gomez –
Gas Gas took a strong win, his second of the season, with
a nine mark advantage over Ross Danby – Gas Gas. Third
in the category was Patrick Smage – Sherco, a further
twelve marks further back.
The riders have a short pause for breath now, but face another
challenging day tomorrow, as they repeat the competition on
the second of the two days of action.
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