2006 Trial World Championship Round 3-4

Couldn't Repeat the Performance in Tennessee

After six weeks of Spring break, USGP took place in Tennessee U.S.A. Fujinami went to US with a high hope to bring him up in the championship having the first victory of the season in Portugal, and USGP had been good place for him in the past seasons. However, things didn't turn out as he wished, and he finished down in sixth and fifth places.

Sequatchie in Tennessee hosted the event this year replacing Duluth, Minnesota. Sections consisted of water hazards from the section one to eight, and rock sections followed. It rained over night on both Saturday and Sunday, so for both days, the lap one started in very wet condition. But strong sunshine during the day quickly dried the surface making the condition better and easier as the event progressed especially at the later lap.

The first round on Saturday started OK for Fuji as he finished third at the lap one being nine points down from Raga, and four to Lampkin. Fuji knew he had a chance to catch them up in the later lap, but he blew it early when adding three consecutive fives atthe beginning. It seemed unrealistic that his rivals making many mistakesat the sections with better condition, and indeed, all the riders except Fuji scored better results at the lap two, so Fuji had to settle at the sixth place for the day.

There were some over night modifications took place before day two to lower the severity of the sections. Still, having heavy rainfall during the night, all the sections seemed to be even tougher than the previous day at the first lap.

Finishing sixth on Saturday, Fuji started twelve minutes earlier than the final starter Raga. Fuji was too far from the top riders, and he didn't even see them once after the competition got under way. He only heard the crowds cheering up the top riders in a distance.

Fuji rode well at the beginning of the lap one, but the challenge came at the rock sections starting from the section nine. They were easy on Saturday - one of the reasons why Fuji didn't have a chance to improve his results - but they were very tough on Sunday; Fuji had four consecutive fives. Later when he spoke with Lampkin, he was told the top riders found the different and easier line than Fuji.

At the lap two, Fuji showed some good rides in the water hazards, but again he struggled at the rock sections. He finished nine points better than the lap one, but he dropped the position to finish fifth for the day.

Apart from the bad results, it was tough for Fuji to see Raga making double victories for the championship. He has been scoring good results consistently so far the season, where the rest of riders going rather ups and downs. Unlike the way Fuji aiming before the rounds, after the two days of competition was over, the point gap between Raga and Fuji became greater to 23 points.

Fuji still has a chance to make up as the season hasn't reached to the half way yet. But he has to act quickly as his home rounds in Motegi, Japan waiting in just a week.

Quote from Fujigas:

I don't know what went wrong. I am going to review the rounds so that I will be better in Japanese rounds. I think it was due to lack of concentration adding fives so many times at the lap two on Saturday. On Sunday, I was only eight points off from Lampkin who finished second, so I had a good chance to finish better if I had a little bit of extra. But it was the best I could do this time. I will try to ride the way I should in Japan, to get the good rhythm going again for the rest of the season.

Pix: Mario Candellone

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