2009 Indoor World Trial Championship Round5

Madrid, Spain - 14/3/2009 - Attendance: 8,000

Finish up with 4th to be 4th Overall

2009 Indoor World Trial Championship ended like a flash as the round five took place at the regular venue for the final round, Madrid.

Toni Bou clinched the title in Italy but the rest of the order still undecided. The championship point interval is one except between first and second, so it was very difficult for them to turn around the position with just one round. Fujinami was fourth in the championship going to Madrid, hoping to climb up a position. The point difference to the direct rival Cabestany was two. He then had to either win or hope that Cabestany would finish two position lower. But at the same time, Fujinami had six points advantage over Fajardo, so it was not realistic that the Spaniard would take over the fourth spot. Fujinami himself was not aware of the point situation too much, and his goal was same as always; finishing on the podium on the highest step possible.

Fujinami had a good rhythm in the Qualification Lap. He was second with 15 points following Bou, who showed another strong ride to finish with three points only. Finishing stronger in the QL doesn't always better, because the order will decide the paring for the Double Lane. Fujinami said later that he actually wanted to finish third or fourth in the QL to avoid riding against Bou. The speed of the champion at the DL is so fast even for Fujinami, who is known to be strong in the speed race. Fujinami didn't give up, but knowing he had to ride with Bou, he prepared to drop two points at the beginning of the Final Lap.

Still, it is possible to erase early disadvantage by putting some good rides at the observed sections. And indeed, Fujinami rode strong to mark cleans at the section two and three. Meanwhile Raga lost his early advantage built by beating Cabestany at DL with two points mistake at the section two.

At the section four Fujinami dropped one point with a point for overtime, thus four points for total. Fujinami figured before the event that six points would be the boarder line for the victory, but top five were riding better than he expected.

Before the section five, the starting order was altered. Fujinami was fifth as he finished the section four, so he became the second rider following Oliveras. At the section five and six, the top five rode strong marking cleans at the both sections, except Raga, who dropped single point at the section six. That made Raga and Fujinami tie with four points. Cabestany had three points including two penalty points at the DL, and Fajardo had two points with two single point time penalties. Bou was continuing his zero point riding.

Sections were forgiving and a single mistake did not easily lead to a full mark error, but there were many tricks and the time allowance wasn't too great either. Fajardo's result showed how strict the time allowance was as he had no footing at all but he could not stay away from the penalty points.

The rule in 09 states that in case of tied in point, the order will be decided based on the time at the final section. Faster one will finish better. The first rider Oliveras rode with three points and he spent a minute and nine seconds. The time allowance for the section was one minute, thus total penalty points for Oliveras were four with one overtime penalty. Fujinami was next, and he planned to dash through the section. He showed a quick clean within 33 seconds.

The next was Cabestany. He was in a battle for second in the championship against Raga, but finishing better than Raga wasn't enough for him to achieve his goal. All he could do was to finish second in Madrid, and hoping that the Gas Gas rider would finish below fourth. Cabestany marked clean at the final section, and his time was 41 seconds by the way.

Next was Raga. He would be tie in the point with Fujinami if he marks clean, but he needed to ride fast otherwise he would lose the position to the Montesa rider, thus losing his position in the championship too. The pressure might have affected Raga's riding, as he could not even ride out the section to drop five points. Fajardo and Bou followed, and they had no problem marking clean at the section with 59 and 53 seconds, respectively. As a result, Fujinami finished fourth and Raga was fifth. Cabestany was third and pleased with the gift of the mistake from the rival to capture the second position in the championship.

At the final round, Bou and Fujinami rode the bike for 2009 Outdoor Championship. Fujinami said he was happy to find the competitiveness of the new bike was high. He also knew his riding was strong, though the result did not show it. There is no use for speaking 'what if' scenario, but Fujinami could have had a chance to fight for the second place or even victory if he did not drop two points at the DL. He then could be tie in the point with Fajardo and Bou, and could finish ahead of them by the riding time at the final section.

Anyway, Fujinami rode steadily in Madrid, but he still hasn't got a little more something to convey his riding to the result in the Indoor series yet. We are only half a month away before the opening of the Outdoor series, where we believe Fujinami will be ready to put his maximum for the very important series.

Quote from Fujigas:

I wasn't happy to finish fourth at all, and I felt awkward when Albert said thank you to me after the event. I am sure I didn't try to help Albert, but everything fell in to be favor of him. He said it was like a winning a lottery. I agree. You can't plan such thing. It may sound funny but my riding was good though the result was disappointing fourth. I am glad to have a good feeling with 09 bike, and my elbow is getting better too. I am very positive and have many reasons to look forward to the opening round in Ireland.