2006 Trial World Championship Round 5-6
Twin Ring Motegi, Japan 3-4/6/2006 - Attendance: 16,500
No Podium for Fuji in Motegi
Fujinami started the 2006 Outdoor season having a major physical drawback;
a broken left index finger. He fought against the big pains, and more
importantly, not being able to control the clutch well, but he finished
sixth at the opening round in Spain. A week later, he surprised many
people in Portugal when he grabbed the first victory of the season.
Broken bone didn't heal much in a week, but he had a strong mental
strength and the physically very fit other than the broken bone to
make up for the problem.
Just thought things began to go upward - taking the first victory
and his favorite US rounds were to follow - Fuji got sick and the condition
got worse. He participated in the Spanish championship round before
the US rounds, but he felt so sick that he had to withdraw from the
event. It was the first time to retire from the trial event in Fuji's
career.
He rested up for the US rounds, but the condition didn't improve so
much. It was another touch fight as the opening round, and he said
he almost collapse at some stages. Although results weren't so good,
it was a fine achievement for Fuji to complete those laps alone. Sixth
and fifth finishes were great results considering the condition at
the time.
He then flew back to Japan for the very important rounds of the season,
Japan GP in Motegi. For the past six seasons, Fuji never missed the
podium in Japan. Including some victories, he has been the man to beat
at his home ground. For this year, although his physical condition
got better than it was at the previous rounds, it was still very far
from what he wished it be for his home coming rounds.
The broken bone hadn't made a full recovery by the time of Motegi
either. His finger slightly bent after being used before healing up.
The team Montesa prepared a special attachment on Fuji's clutch lever
to ease the burden on the injured finger. There were also rapid and
big improvements of the clutch system taken place in order to give
Fuji less stressful riding too. Even though he had some problems, he
determined to have good battles for the team and staff giving him a
big support, as well as his loyal Japanese fans.
Saturday
It was Fuji's turn to pick the first starting order among the top
riders in Japan. As most of the riders starting before Fuji unable
to conquer many of the difficult Motegi sections, there were a lot
of soft, slippery and trackless sections waiting for him. Fuji showed
some fine rides at the beginning of the Lap1, dabbing a single point
at the section two, and he stood on top when he marked beautiful clean
at the section four. It was Cabestany who made an early charge too,
and he took the first spot at the section six. The surface of the sections
was still young, and it was difficult for everybody staying away from
errors. Another word, everybody had a chance to move up at the stage.
And of course, Fuji was one of the riders very close for taking the
victory at the moment. Three sections later, Cabestany fived to give
away the top spot to Fuji again.
At the section eleven, it was Fuji who made a five points error, and
Bou in turn took the first spot. Fuji continued to be within a reach
of the top spot until at the end of the lap, but at the section fifteen
Fuji lost his concentration to step into junior and youth section.
It was a dicisive mistake for Fuji, and he finished the lap at fourth
place with five points gap to the leader.
Bou was strong and continued leading on the Lap2. Fuji, on the other
hand, was under the big pressure from Cagestany, Raga and Lampkin on
the lap. It seemed that Fuji was competing good old battles against
his rivals, but truth was, he was so busy fighting his own battle against
the sections. He didn't have any room to think about the evolution
of the game at the time.
At the section twelve, Fuji was still lying at second with five points
gap behind Bou. The following section, both Bou and Fuji added five,
and the gap remained the same. It was a small mistake for Fuji failing
to climb the small step at the section, but in fact, he was almost
riding beyond his limit by then. The mistake at the end of the lap
also allowed Raga and Cabestany moving up in front of Fuji. When the
two laps of competition were over, it was Bou who took the victory
on Saturday. Fuji finished with 28 points - 5 points down from Bou
- but he had to settle for fourth for the day.
Sunday
Severity of the sections eased off on Sunday, as there was no more
virgin surface lying for the riders. Fujinami unusually looked tired
before the competition, as if he used all the energy on the previous
day. Still, after twelve sections of Lap1 were over, he was first sharing
the same points with Cabestany.
Fuji had two more fives before the end of Lap1 to finish fourth with
twenty points - eight points behind the leader Cabestany. He rode well
on Sunday, but rest of his rivals brought the bar higher too.
After two laps of the competition were over, Fuji was fourth again
missing the podium spot. The winner of the Day1, Bou couldn't repeat
his performance on Sunday to finish seventh behind Kuroyama and Ogawa.
The championship leader Raga finished second on both days, building
more gap against the rivals, who all having ups and downs season so
far.
U.S.A. and Japan - the rounds which had been good for Fuji in the
past - turned to be very disappointing rounds for him this year. Championship
leader Raga now stands with one hundred and eight points - thirty one
points ahead of Fuji - and the battle for the 2006 title looks to be
very difficult for Fuji. Still the season just reached the half way
point, and there are six more rounds to go before the season is over.
Fuji returned to his home in Spain hoping to make a full recovery for
his fight back for the coming French round.
Quote from Fujigas:
World Championship 2006 |
R5 |
Pos. |
rider |
Make |
L1+L2+TO |
Pts |
CL |
1. |
Toni Bou |
Beta |
23+21+0 |
44 |
16 |
2. |
Adam Raga |
Gas Gas |
30+15+0 |
45 |
13 |
3. |
Albert Cabestany |
Sherco |
27+20+0 |
47 |
14 |
4. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
Montesa |
28+21+0 |
49 |
14 |
5. |
Dougie Lampkin |
Montesa |
27+25+0 |
52 |
14 |
6. |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
Scorpa |
43+32+1 |
76 |
9 |
7. |
Marc Freixa |
Beta |
42+38+0 |
80 |
8 |
8. |
Tadeusz Blazusiak |
Scorpa |
47+40+0 |
87 |
7 |
L1: Lap1 L2: Lap2 TO:
Time Over Pts: Penalty Point CL:Clean |
R6 |
Pos. |
rider |
Make |
L1+L2+TO |
Pts |
CL |
1. |
Albert Cabestany |
Sherco |
12+2+0 |
14 |
23 |
2. |
Adam Raga |
Gas Gas |
13+5+0 |
18 |
22 |
3. |
Dougie Lampkin |
Montesa |
16+10+0 |
26 |
17 |
4. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
Montesa |
20+13+0 |
33 |
17 |
5. |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
Scorpa |
28+14+0 |
42 |
15 |
6. |
Tomoyuki Ogawa |
Honda |
21+24+0 |
45 |
10 |
7. |
Toni Bou |
Beta |
26+23+0 |
49 |
16 |
8. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
Gas Gas |
31+20+0 |
51 |
14 |
L1: Lap1 L2: Lap2 TO:
Time Over Pts: Penalty Point CL:Clean |
Point Standing |
1. |
Adam Raga |
Gas Gas |
108 |
2. |
Dougie Lampkin |
Montesa |
90 |
3. |
Toni Bou |
Beta |
87 |
4. |
Albert Cabestany |
Sherco |
82 |
5. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
Montesa |
77 |
6. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
Gas Gas |
65 |
In order to use a PDF file, Adobe Reader (no charge) is required.
Please click the banner. |
|
RESULTS TOP | PAGE TOP |