17-18/4/2004 |
World
Trial Championship Round 2 Gouveia, Portugal |
Trial
World Championship
round 2 was held at a beautiful city in Portugal called Gouveia. Sections
are divided by three groups; group 1 for section
1 to 6, group 2 for section 7 to 14, and group 3 for section 15. This
final section was located near Start/Finish area after a long mountain
trail from section 14.
Day 1 - Saturday, April 17th
Fujinami wasn't
discouraged by finishing 4th on Sunday at Northern Ireland, because
he knew he found the clue for the coming competition.
He had arrived Portugal on a positive note, only to see him finishing
5th on Saturday.
What took the wind out of Fuji's sail was
machine setting. Fuji and the team had set up the bike intensively
prior to
the competition,
but when he arrived at section 1 on Saturday, the bike acted
differently. There was a good distance from the practice area to the
competition
areas, and having about 1000ft difference in altitude must have
affected
carburetion.
Fuji and the crew continuously tried to
make the bike better in between the sections, but the motor refused
to perform
at
its best
with fouling
spark plug. Having a problem with the motor ruined Fuji's chance
to get on the rhythm, and it would continue to affect his riding
throughout
Saturday.
Thanks to the mechanics, the motor became
better on lap2. Fuji quickly showed a better performance, and he kept
the score
low. Still, Fuji
didn't feel comfortable, and he thought he was lucky to score
clean at some the sections. At section 12, where most of
the top riders
scored clean, Fuji fived. It was a decisive mistake for Fuji,
and he lost
a chance for moving up. As competition was over for lap2,
Fuji scored 10 points, shared the 2nd best with Freixa, next to
Raga who had
5 points. But 21 points on lap1 put him at the 5th in Day1
result.
Day 2 - Sunday, April 18th
On reflection
of the previous day, Fuji and the team extensively carried out an
adjustment work, which foreseeing the condition
at the section
areas. It paid off, and Fuji would finish 4th at lap1.
With only one point difference between 4th and 2nd, it wasn't
too difficult
to move
up.
Finishing 5th on Day1, Fuji started early
on Sunday. It would give him a small confusion later on, because
he had
to ride
without knowing what the main oppositions such as Raga
and Lampkin were
at. Fuji didn't even know
how we finished on lap1, but he had a good feel and believed
he did well. Then there
was a
shocking news
for him that
a rookie Fajardo had scored 15 points and finished
ahead of
him. Fajardo showed a brilliant ride for the first
time for his career
at lap1,
which Fuji didn't know. It was a natural calculation
for Fuji to expect he had a bad finish, which soon
he found
was wrong.
Fuji was clearly on the rhythm on lap2,
but when he was at section 3 machine trouble struck him. The motor
started
to
how hesitation,
and it became very hard to ride. Fuji managed to
finish the section with a big difficulty.
They did not know exactly
what was wrong, but they figured it was an electrical problem. The
only way
to fix it
was a complete
transplant
of the unit from a mechanic's bike, and it would
take time.
Fuji came up with a decision not to fix
the problem to save time. He rode with the throttle wide open
in order
to compensate
hesitation.
It turned out that Fuji scored only 8 points,
which was the best run
on lap2. After all he was able to finish 2nd
on Day2 with one point separation from Day2 winner
Raga.
Lampkin finished 3rd on Day2, which was
unexpected result for Fuji. Fuji saw Lampkin making five
at section 6 on
lap2, and
he thought
Lampkin would finish worse. That showed how
formidable Lampkin was and the
way the champion was supposed to fight.
Quote from Fujigas:
I was completely off on Saturday. It didn't feel like it was me,
nor feel like it was my bike. It was one of the toughest days
that you would experience once in a year I guess. I had a tough
day on Sunday too, but it was much better compared to Saturday.
It was frustrating that I lost Day2 by one point, but considering
I was at the bottom on Saturday, I should be happy that I recovered
to be 2nd on Day2. I should had done better if I didn't have
setting and engine trouble, but I know it is no use saying such
things. You can't turn the clock back, so I will focus again
to make it perfect at the next competition.
2004
World Trial Championship
Round 2 Gouveia, Portugal |
Saturday |
1. |
Adam Raga |
19 (14+5) 20 |
2. |
Marc Freixa |
23 (13+10) 14 |
3. |
Doug Lampkin |
25 (14+11) 17 |
4. |
Albert Cabestany |
28 (17+11) 17 |
5. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
31 (21+10) 16 |
6. |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
40 (21+19) 17 |
Sunday |
1. |
Adam Raga |
23 (12+11) 20 |
2. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
24 (16+8) 17 |
3. |
Doug Lampkin |
25 (15+10) 16 |
4. |
Albert Cabestany |
36 (22+14) 18 |
5. |
Marc Freixa |
37 (25+12) 16 |
6. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
39 (15+24) 18 |
Ranking |
1. |
Doug Lampkin |
68 |
2. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
67 |
3. |
Albert Cabestany |
61 |
4. |
Adam Raga |
58 |
5. |
Marc Freixa |
49 |
6. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
40 |
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