2010 Trial World Championship Round11

Kramolin, Czech Rep. 5/9/2010

3rd in the championship with 5th

photoWith Toni Bou capturing the world title at the Italian round before the summer break, the target for the team Montesa at the final round was to let Fujinami taking the runner-up position to make Montesa's 1-2 domination in the championship. An intensive tactical meeting took place in the team before the final round. The surface of the sections was very slippery and the more riders going through the more the surface to become difficult to deal with. As Raga was expected to follow Bou closely, the team made the decision to have Bou riding at very fast pace trying to disturb Raga's rhythm, push him to lure his fatigue and some mistakes. The team also made sure of collecting the competition report of the other riders to help Fujinami.

When the competition got going, Raga stayed closely, as expected, with the first rider, who was intensionally keeping the fast pace. However, they soon were held up by the group of the junior riders, and Bou could not keep his pace. After all, the two riders ended with an usual battle at the front of the field, and the plan did not work as it planned.

Fujinami said it was very encouraging to know that the whole team was backing him up for taking second in the championship. It was the first time since 2006 that he had a chance for taking the place. He also said, interestingly, he did not feel so much pressure nor being nervous.

Fujinami made the first mistake, which ended with a full mark at the section3. It as a double-steps, and he could not reach the second step. He almost did an ended-over-end and could not recover. The day was still early at the time, so he did not think it was a fatal mistake, he believed to have a chance to catch up. He then re-concentrated and marked all cleans until the section11 apart from a single mistake at the section10.

Then, Fujinami made another full mark error at the section12. In the quadruple steps, he lost the grip of the rear tire at the second one, and he hit the under-guard against the rock and he fell down. The bike almost hit Fujinami when going down the hazard, so it was a close call. Fujinami stayed away from injures, but the bike suffered damages including the silencer being bent pointing up to the sky, bent handle-bars, the brake system and the bent foot-pegs.

Urgent repair work took place, but during the halt, Bou and Raga became completely out of sight. Dabil, Lampkin, Fajardo and Brown also got passed the Japanese. The regulation states that changing the silencer during the event is prohibited, so the mechanic bent it back and forced to put the bolt through the bracket to attach it in place. Thanks to a dedicated job of the mechanics, the bike restored back to somewhat normal, and Fujinami restarted before becoming the bottom of the field.

At the end of Lap1, Fujinami saw the scoreboard, accidentally, and found his rivals were unexpectedly staying out of mistakes. He then made up his mind for Lap2 to aim all-clean and hope the rivals would make some mistakes. He rode strong making eight cleans at the beginning of the lap, followed with a single mistake at the section9. At the section10, he pushed a little bit too much even he knew he could stay away from the big mistake with an intensional footing, he held on trying to mark clean. It was too late when he finally footed, and he dropped a full mark.

Before the final section, Fujinami saw the score - again, accidentally - to find he lost the chances for the victory, second in the championship nor the podium finish. He started his run while he was feeling defeated, and he ended with another full mark error. It was a mistake led by weak spirit. However, his score at the end of the lap did not make any difference to his result, as he was too far from Cabestany being fourth, and had a healthy lead over Dabill who was behind. Moreover, even Fujinami made an all-cleans at Lap2, he would finish two points behind Raga - the final standing would be the same anyway.

photoFujinami arrived in Czech rep. with his hair cropped short. Some people thought the Japanese rider made a wish for the good result with his hair cut very short, but it was not the case. During the summer break, Bou and Fujinami were talking and decided to cut their hair using hair clippers. Fujinami ended with Bou's style and both Montesa riders appeared with a sort of the new team-hair style at the final round.

2010 world outdoor championship is over, with the Trial des Nations to follow in a week in Poland. It is a short trip from Czech rep. to Poland, but Fujinami returned to his home, spending some time with his family before getting ready for another battle as Japan's national team rider.

Quote from Fujigas:

For some reasons, I have not done well at the final round of the season in the past including 2004, the year I captured the world title. I am not sure if I have a big pressure for the round, but I remember I tended to be very tense at the final round for past three years. This year I was not. Result was not ideal, but I am glad to be able to compete without being nervous. I spent better season this year than the last with two victories. Final standing is important, but it was very hard to accept not winning once last year. In Czech rep., before going back to the Montesa paddock, I dropped by Raga to congratulate his result. I was not so much disappointed right after the event, but the feeling started to build up the next day. It had a very rough time coming back from Czech rep.

FIM SPEA Trial WorldChampionship
Round11 - Kramolin, Czech Rep.
Sunday
1 Adam Raga Gas Gas 9
2 Jeroni Fajardo Beta 12
3 Toni Bou Repsol Montesa HRC 13
4 Albert Cabestany Sherco 16
5 Takahisa Fujinami Repsol Montesa HRC 23
6 James Dabill Gas Gas 44
7 Dougie Lampkin Beta 44
8 Michael Brown Sherco 61
2010 Standing
1 Toni Bou Repsol Montesa HRC 200
2 Adam Raga Gas Gas 172
3 Takahisa Fujinami Repsol Montesa HRC 161
4 Albert Cabestany Sherco 143
5 Jeroni Fajardo Beta 142
6 James Dabill Gas Gas 109
7 Dougie Lampkin Beta 97
8 Loris Gubian Sherco 65