2005 World Trial Championship Round 5
19/6/2005 Sant Julia de Loria, Andorra
Victory slipped away as 2 punctures bit him
Sunday, June 19th
TWC went back to the European continent, and round 5 took place in
Sant Julia de Loria, Andorra. Standing at the top of the series after
solid performances at his home round in Japan and U.S.A., Fujinami
wanted to extend the lead at the coming rounds to make it decisive.
Andorra was held in a one-day format with the Spanish round took place
on Saturday. The format was introduced as an experiment at Andorra
and Spain last year, but many countries have adopted it this year.
There was no top class competition on Saturday this year, so TWC riders
could not use the event for a competitive practice.
At least Fuji was lucky with the ballot to pick the final starting
order. It gave him a chance to observe rivals' riding without a risk
of getting time penalty.
There were water hazards from the section 1 to 7. A very slippery
surface of rocks gave a hard time for the competitors from the beginning
of the lap. Section 1 happened to be one of the hardest hazards, and
Fuji and Lampkin were the only riders to rode with a single penalty
point on the first lap.
Fuji decided to mark Lampkin on the lap 1, because the Briton looked
to be strong. Both Fuji and Lampkin facing small errors, but two led
the field with slight margin. It was at the section 7 that Fuji managed
to have a breathing room when Lampkin fived and Fuji rode with 2 points.
It was red-hot day as the temperature exceeded 30 degrees already
in the morning, and it took a toll on the riders. Fuji assumed that
his every day's training was paying off, because he didn't feel any
tiredness in such condition. Some of the riders began to rush from
the middle of the lap to finish in time. Fuji had more time-allowance
than the other, and it helped him to keep his concentration too.
It was then at the section 14 when a bad luck struck Fuji. He climbed
the first step, but he could not find enough drive to the second step.
He turned around to find that his rear tire was completely flat. It
appeared that the tire got punctured when Fuji was at the first step,
but he did not realize it until he fived at the second step, which
was the hazard supposed to be fairy easy for him. It was an unfortunate
accident, but he re-started to score clean at the final section to
finish the lap 2nd with 2 points behind Lampkin. Fuji knew 2 points
weren't fatal at that point.
It meant to be the lap to recover for Fuji on the lap 2, but at the
opening section of the lap, his tire punctured again! He was confident
at the section as he found the line on the previous lap, and he jumped
onto the big rock from a small rock, but the sharp edge of the first
rock pinched his rear tire.
After a disappointing start of the lap, Fuji re-concentrated and continued
his fight. He stayed away from big mistakes for the rest of the lap
to finish the lap 5 points behind Raga, who was the strongest on the
lap.
Temperature rose in the afternoon, and it reached 38 degrees. Fuji's
rivals needed to take a short break and having their arms massaged.
Again the heat didn't bother Fuji at all. Fuji knew the Andorra round
had been physically very demanding, but he did not have much of troubles
this year. It was definitely the sign that his physical fitness has
improved.
The day was over and Raga took the victory in Andorra. Lampkin shared
the same points but lost by number of cleans. Fuji had 2 more cleans
than Cabestany but he missed the podium by 1 point. It was a frustrating
result because he was physically very fit, rode well, and without puncture
related penalty points of 9, he would have taken the victory there.
He also gave away the top spot in the championship to Lampkin, and
being tied in point with Raga and Cabestany with 109 points.
Now the Spanish home rounds: Portugal, Spain and Andorra, were completed
from the calendar. Fuji believes that Lampkin is going to be tough
again this year. However, there is good news for Fuji that Lampkin's
home round at the end of July will be in a one-day format. Things are
still looking good for Fuji, and he is very determined for defending
his title.
Quote from Fujigas:
World Championship 2005
Sant Julia de Loria, Andorra |
Sunday |
|
Rider |
Make |
L1 |
L2 |
TO |
Pts |
CL |
1 |
Adam Raga |
Gas Gas |
24 |
10 |
0 |
34 |
16 |
2 |
Dougie Lampkin |
Montesa |
21 |
13 |
0 |
34 |
15 |
3 |
Albert Cabestany |
Sherco |
24 |
13 |
0 |
37 |
14 |
4 |
Takahisa Fujinami |
Honda |
23 |
15 |
0 |
38 |
16 |
5 |
Toni Bou |
Beta |
28 |
13 |
0 |
41 |
16 |
6 |
Marc Freixa |
Montesa |
31 |
17 |
5 |
53 |
15 |
7 |
Jeroni Fajardo |
Gas Gas |
28 |
25 |
2 |
55 |
10 |
8 |
Jordi Pascuet |
Gas Gas |
45 |
28 |
0 |
73 |
7 |
9 |
Graham Jarvis |
Sherco |
40 |
34 |
0 |
74 |
3 |
10 |
Blazusiak Tadeusz |
Gas Gas |
41 |
33 |
0 |
74 |
3 |
11 |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
Beta |
40 |
41 |
3 |
84 |
8 |
12 |
Fumitaka Nozaki |
Scorpa |
41 |
41 |
3 |
85 |
5 |
13 |
Jerome Bethune |
Gas Gas |
54 |
44 |
0 |
98 |
4 |
14 |
Sam Connor |
Sherco |
63 |
42 |
0 |
105 |
3 |
15 |
Shaun Morris |
Gas Gas |
58 |
44 |
4 |
106 |
5 |
L1: Lap1 L2: Lap2 TO:Time Over Pts: Penalty Point CL:Clean |
Ranking |
1 |
Dougie Lampkin |
111 |
2 |
Takahisa Fujinami |
109 |
3 |
Adam Raga |
109 |
4 |
Albert Cabestany |
109 |
5 |
Marc Freixa |
80 |
6 |
Antonio Bou |
77 |
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