2005 Indoor World Trial Championship Round 11
19/3/2005 - Stadium: Odyssey Arena, Belfast Northern
Ireland
Bitter result for the penultimate round
A week after the competition in South America, IWTC traveled to Belfast
in Northern Ireland for the penultimate round of 2005 season. Fujinami
and Freixa again entered the event with the standard bike. They kept
their 'works' bike at the base in Barcelona not to lose any time by
transporting the bike, so that they would have more time to work with
the bike for the Outdoor season. Lampkin however took different option,
and he had a practice session with the 'works' bike in his home in
UK. Thus he entered the Northern Ireland round with his factory bike.
Atmosphere at Odyssey Arena was a lot more gentle and quiet than the
previous round. In Argentina a week ago, there was an enthusiastic
cheer at the stadium from the fans enjoying their first Indoor trial
event in the country, and their hot and huge support energized the
competitors too. But in Belfast, competitors needed to bring up their
motivation solely by themselves.
Sections in Argentina were technically demanding, and it helped Fuji
on the standard bike, where horsepower alone wasn't a big factor. However
for Belfast, section materials were shipped from Spain, and number
of gigantic materials being used to create spectacular scene for the
audience. It was then inevitable that Fuji and Freixa on the standard
bike would have disadvantages against the opponents who had superior
horsepower.
Fuji was the sixth rider to start the qualification lap following
two guest riders: Steve Colley and Shaun Morris, Cabestany, Raga and
Lampkin. Three regular riders rode before Fuji completed the observed
section with single digit penalty points. Fuji thought before his ride
that it was too difficult for Fuji on a standard bike to avoid taking
five at the section 5. That meant Fuji had to score clean for the rest
of the section to proceed to the final. Section 5 indeed was a tough
one for every rider, and all the riders except Raga and Cabestany ended
up being five. Who could blame Fuji and Freixa taking five aboard the
standard bike?
Fuji started the lap with 2 points at the section 1, and went on to
take five at the section 2. He showed some unusual errors in the lap,
such as slipping his foot as he tried to save by footing, or falling
down as he stalled the motor. There are limited number of sections
at the Indoor event, and it is very hard to turn over the point gap.
Especially when starting from the back, it is hard to keep concentration
knowing the opponents' scores are better than his, and hoping that
the rivals would make huge mistakes at the double-lane. Fuji knew he
had a small chance for the final lap, but he showed powerful ride in
front of fans in Belfast to entertain them. When the lap was over,
Fuji finished at sixth, the last regular rider to qualify.
Fuji was in a middle of battle for the 3rd place in the championship
at Argentina, but after Belfast he dropped back a little. Fuji has
to win the final round in Spain, and both Lampkin and Fajardo need
to finish 5th or worse than 5th position, in order for Fuji to secure
the 3rd place. He knows he has a slim chance, but that is what he aims
at the final round.
So, the final round of the season will be held on March 26th, in Eivissa
Spain. The Spanish championship follows after the Indoor season, and
finally the Outdoor championship will start in April.
Quote from Fujigas:
Indoor Trial World Championship 2005
Round 11 |
Final Lap |
1. |
Adam Raga |
Gas Gas |
4 |
2. |
Albert Cabestany |
Sherco |
8 |
3. |
Dougie Lampkin |
Repsol Montesa-HRC |
28 |
Qualificarion Lap |
1. |
Adam Raga |
Gas Gas |
1 |
2. |
Albert Cabestany |
Sherco |
3 |
3. |
Dougie Lampkin |
Repsol Montesa-HRC |
6 |
4. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
Gas Gas |
7 |
5. |
Marc Freixa |
Repsol Montesa-HRC |
14 |
6. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
Repsol Montesa-HRC |
19 |
7. |
Steve Colley |
Gas Gas |
22 |
8. |
Shaun Morris |
Gas Gas |
27 |
Point Standings |
1. |
Adam Raga |
106 |
2. |
Albert Cabestany |
80 |
3. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
55 |
4. |
Dougie Lampkin |
55 |
5. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
51 |
6. |
Marc Freixa |
40 |
7. |
Toni Bou |
14 |
8. |
Tadeusz Blazusiak |
8 |
9. |
Jerome Bethune |
5 |
10. |
Steve Colley |
2 |
11. |
Shaun Morris |
1 |
12. |
Michele Orizio |
1 |
13. |
Fumitaka Nozaki |
1 |
In order to use a PDF file, Adobe Reader (no charge) is required.
Please click the banner. |
|
RESULTS TOP | PAGE TOP
|