2005 World Trial Championship Round 1
17/4/2005 Pampilhosa da Serra, Portugal
Bad result for Fuji at the season opener
2005 Outdoor World Trial Championship has kicked off as the first
round took place in Pampilhosa da Serra, Portugal. The event saw Montesa's
new 4-stroke making its debut in the series. It was the first time
for Fuji competing the series as the world champion by wearing the
number 1 bib too, so there was a sense of tension building up before
the competition.
It was a special day for the Montesa team, as they have been working
so hard for the bike development to be fully ready for the series.
Thanks to the effort of the whole team, Lampkin, Freixa and Fuji lined
up with the latest 4-stroke bike at the event. But the team weren't
yet ready to provide the minders the latest bikes, where in the previous
seasons, they had the same bike as the competitors in case of an emergency
repair assistance with spare parts.
The first round was held as a single-day event with the European championship
took place on Saturday. Sections seemed to be tough on Saturday, but
after the overnight modifications, severity was reduced at some of
the sections. However loose rocky surface still be a challenge for
getting good traction.
Fuji picked the worst card at the ballot for such an important occasion,
taking the first starting position among the top five riders. The lap
1 started out well with two cleans, but he experienced a very scary
moment at the section 3 - a steep descending section. He made a small
error and ended up falling from 2 meters off the ground. He managed
to land on the wheels, but otherwise it could be a very nasty crash.
Although he was unhurt, he had the maximum penalty points as he jump
off from the bike as he landed. Two sections later, an observer called
five when he saw the maker being knocked off. The marker in fact tipped
over on its own when Fuji hit the rock with his rear wheel. Later the
score was revised, but he had his card punched with five points at
the time.
At the end of the lap 1, Fuji realized that he didn't have enough
time to complete the lap in time. Just like he did in Spanish championship,
there was no choice but attacking rest of the sections without careful
inspection. It was a nice contrast at the section 13, where Fuji muscle
through the section only to end up taking five, where Raga and Lampkin
knew they needed to ease off for a moment to minimize the penalty point.
Fuji finished the lap 1 with 20 points; the worst score in the top
five riders. He didn't have a chance to get his rhythm going at the
lap 2 either. Things went backwards as a section tape got snapped at
the section 5, where the marker tipped over on the previous lap.
It was Lampkin who showed a strong ride the day. He led the first
lap with 11 points after a close battle with Cabestany, and then held
off a strong challenge from Raga on the lap 2. Lampkin took the victory
of the opening round of the season; accomplished a debut win for their
new 4-stroke. While Lampkin, Raga and Cabestany stood up on the podium,
Fuji finished 5th next to young Bou. Ironically, it was Fuji's worst
finishing record since the Portugal round in 2004.
Quote from Fujigas:
World Championship 2005
Pampilhosa da Serra |
Sunday |
|
rider |
|
L1 |
L2 |
TO |
Pts |
CL |
1 |
Dougie Lampkin |
Montesa |
11 |
10 |
0 |
21 |
18 |
2 |
Adam Raga |
Gas Gas |
19 |
5 |
0 |
24 |
17 |
3 |
Albert Cabestany |
Sherco |
12 |
13 |
0 |
25 |
21 |
4 |
Toni Bou |
Beta |
16 |
15 |
0 |
31 |
17 |
5 |
Takahisa Fujinami |
Honda |
20 |
12 |
2 |
34 |
19 |
6 |
Marc Freixa |
Montesa |
27 |
9 |
0 |
36 |
15 |
7 |
Graham Jarvis |
Sherco |
23 |
20 |
0 |
43 |
13 |
8 |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
Beta |
24 |
25 |
2 |
51 |
13 |
9 |
Jordi Pascuet |
Gas Gas |
38 |
22 |
0 |
60 |
8 |
10 |
Fumitaka Nozaki |
Scorpa |
32 |
31 |
1 |
64 |
9 |
11 |
BLAZUSIAK Tadeusz |
Gas Gas |
40 |
29 |
0 |
69 |
5 |
12 |
Shaun Morris |
Gas Gas |
42 |
38 |
0 |
80 |
8 |
13 |
Sam Connor |
Sherco |
50 |
34 |
0 |
84 |
5 |
14 |
Daniele Maurino |
Gas Gas |
56 |
43 |
0 |
99 |
5 |
15 |
Fabio Lenzi |
Montesa |
51 |
48 |
0 |
99 |
3 |
L1: Lap1 L2: Lap2 TO:
Time Over Pts: Penalty Point CL:Clean |
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