22-23/5/2004 |
World
Trial Championship Round 3 Twin Ring Motegi, Japan |
He made it! Takahisa Fujinami stood on top
of the podium 2 days in a row to achieve the perfect win in front of
his home crowds at Motegi Japan, which was the moment he waited for
5 years.
Day 1 - Saturday, May 22nd
It was the 5th time that Twin Ring Motegi
hosted trial world championship round. Basic configuration of the sections
remained the same as the previous years. It was mostly cloudy on Saturday
with occasional light rain provided friendly stage for the spectators,
heavy rain prior to the event due to the typhoon Nida made originally
slippery soil at motegi more difficult to handle for the competitors.
It was the first time for Fuji to proceed
to Japanese round at 3rd in the point. "This is the year to capture
the championship", Fuji commented at the beginning of the season,
3rd wasn't the place he should be happy about. Then it was clearly
his goal for the round to move up in the ranking and to be on top of
it. To do so, Fuji needed to set up the perfect victory by winning
2 days in a row. Fuji had never done it before, and it had been considered
as Fuji's jinx for sometime.
Fuji picked the 3rd from the last for his
starting position by ballot, with Raga and Lampkin, two of his strong
oppositions behind.
At the very beginning of the lap at section
1, Raga looped and fived. It wasn't particularly difficult section
to
score clean, but it showed
there was always a risk to end up with the maximum penalty. Taking
no chance, Fuji footed when he felt losing his balance to finish
the section with 1 point. Freixa and Cabestany scored clean, but
it didn't
bother Fuji so much.
They proceeded to Zone B, a set of long
uphill for section 2 and 3. Fuji saw a young Japanese rode to score
gracefully
at section
2, and
it gave him an idea that it wouldn't give him a lot of troubles.
He demonstrated his specialty by giving a full throttle to climb
up to
score clean on both sections.
Freixa and Cabestany continued to
score clean, but again Fuji wasn't anxious about it because he believed
Raga and Lampkin
would be
his real threats at the later stages.
Zone C was located in
the woods on a typical slippery Motegi surface. Section 4, a muddy
slope looked to be easy, but Freixa
made his
first mistake of the lap and added 1 point. Fuji tried to
focus again and
rode carefully to mark clean.
Section 5 turned to be one of
the toughest challenges with the waterfall at the beginning of the
section refusing many
to go
through. Tomoyuki
Ogawa, Fuji's long time friend who was in charge of Honda's
4-stroke debut at the round scored clean, so as Fuji's
seniority rider
kenichi Kuroyama. Fuji also succeeded to score clean. Cabestany
became
a victim of the waterfall and fived with Lampkin struggled
to score 1 point,
Fuji, Freixa and Kuroyama stayed on top with a single penalty
point.
Spectator areas were located very closely
to the starting area of the section 4 to 5, a huge vocal support from
Japanese
local
fans
pushed
Fuji to thrust forward.
Section 6 was another tricky section
with a moderate slope with enormous amounts of slippery and unstable
rocks, but
most of
the top riders
scored clean.
Section 7, a long and very slippery muddy
slope, Freixa footed and added another point. Jarvis who is known
to be very good
at slippery
surface added 3 points too. Fuji and Kuroyama both
managed to score clean to keep their lead.
Many spectators
were thrilled by the jumping stage at the beginning of the section
8, but following
slippery and
unstable rocks
were the real challenge for the riders. Fuji added
another
point when
he was
about to stick in between the rocks. Kuroyama added
2 points while Lampkin scored clean, expected pair
stood
on top
of the scoring
board.
Section 9 and 10 at the end of Zone C, very
tough challenges with many rocks were accumulated in
a complicated form.
Spectator areas
were
very close to the sections, and the fans were
furious when they saw Fuji marking clean on both sections,
the only
rider who managed
to
do so. Fuji enjoyed having support from a huge
crowd that pushed him to do better, fans on the
other hand
enjoyed
watching Fuji
at his best.
Lampkin added 2 points at section 9, allowed
Fuji to be on top in point.
Section 11 to 14 were located at Zone D,
where number of rocks were positioned on a slippery
slope. While
Fuji scored
clean,
Lampkin failed to climb the last rock at section
11, allowed Fuji to build
7 points
lead. All four sections were technical rocky
stretch with muddy soil,
giving no time to relax. Fuji and Jarvis were
the only two to mark clean at all four sections.
The
final section 15 was located at Zone A, and Fuji scored clean again
to finish the lap
with
2 penalty
points. He
had figured
he would keep
the score within single digit, but it was
somehow unexpectedly well, and it would give Fuji an
adverse effect at the
following lap.
Fuji went on to start lap2,
and he footed to add 1 point at section 1 again. But when
he
had another
point
at
section 6,
he started
to wonder if he was not up to his performance
as the previous lap.
Then at section 8,
he was overcautious as climbing up the slippery slope, and
at the
end of the
section he
missed
his ideal line.
He struggled to go through the way, and
marked 3 points. Still he had
7 points lead
over Lampkin.
Fuji showed the perfect
ride at section 9 on lap1, but had to face five on lap2.
It
started
out when
he footed
at the
beginning,
but
following jump on, his rear wheel slid
a little and touched the section marker.
Observer immediately whistled. The
world championship rulebook defines a failure
when "The rider or machine breaks,
removes or knocks over a marker, a
support or tape", but touching
a marker is considered as a failure
in all Japan
championship. Still puzzled by being
fived,
Fuji accepted the penalty and went
on, but his lead over Lampkin narrowed
down
to 2 points.
Fuji added another point
at section 12, which meant only one
point separation
between the
top two.
Fuji managed
to score
clean at
the last 3 sections to finish out Saturday's
competition.
When Lampkin finished the
lap, Miguel Cirera, Repsol Montesa HRC team boss
came to inform
Fuji that
he won the day by
one point
against Lampkin.
Fuji was happy to hear that but waited
for the official results to be announced.
It
took nearly
10 minutes,
but finally the
official put Fuji's name on top of
the scoreboard. Fuji cerebrated the
victory with
Josep, Alex, Santy and Mr. Kamata,
but
he knew it was only the half
way down the road.
Day 2 - Sunday,
May 23rd
Expected sunshine didn't show up,
but the weather turned to be better
on
Sunday. However a lot
times the soil
tends to
be more
slippery
when it is drying than being wet,
it wasn't
easy to say if the condition would
be better than
the previous
day.
Overnight
modifications
took
place at section 3, 10 and 14,
giving less room for an error.
Fuji never believed in a jinx that
kept him from winning 2 consecutive
days.
He knew
it was just
a barrier he
hadn't been
able to break
through yet.
Prior to the competition,
Fuji tried to forget about his victory
on Saturday
to
refresh
his concentration. Fuji
continued to
score clean
at the first 7 sections so as
his teammate Freixa and young Fajardo.
At section 8 where Fuji added
3 points at lap2 yesterday, he
was
overcautious
trying
to line-up
with his line
and lost the
momentum.
He stopped and
concentrated again to continue.
He added 3, where Freixa and
Fajardo continued to score
clean to
be on top in
point, but
there was still
a long way to go, and Fuji didn't
think they would be the real
threats for
him.
At the final rock step at
section 10, Kuroyama fell and hit his
chest very
bad. Top riders
became cautious
and
spent
a long time
to inspect
the section that was altered
from yesterday.
Jarvis fived
at the beginning of the section, so as Raga
for moving
backwards.
Fuji was
next to
attempt and rode
beautifully. He was
so happy and punched the
air as he cleared the section.
Fuji wasted no time to proceed
to the next section. He could
wait to
see
how his rival
could do,
instead he
decided to
play mental
game
with Lampkin, which was to
mark clean at the next section
and
leave a message
to
shake up
Lampkin
when he arrived.
It was uncertain
that Fuji's plan worked out, but Lampkin
indeed
made a big
mistake at section
12.
He touched
the section marker
like Fuji
did at the previous day.
For 7 times world champion
it wasn't
easy to
accept such
penalty, but prior
to the
competition, officials
strictly pointed out the penalty for
touching the
marker. Lampkin
added 3
more points at section
13, and the
point gap stretched to
12 points in a
short time. Fuji meanwhile
continued to mark clean,
and finished the
lap with 3
points,
the only penalty
he had
on the lap
at section 8.
Fuji was clearly
on a roll on day2 as on
Saturday.
He built
5 points
lead over
2nd
place Freixa,
9 for Lampkin
and
14 for Raga.
If he
could keep the momentum
going, his jinx or a barrier
would
be break
away at later in the aftersoon.
Fuji
score all clean for the first 5 sections of
lap2. He
added 1
point when
he lost
a balance at
section
6 but it
didn't hurt
him
a bit. Freixa
added 3 points at section
8, and Fuji's advantage
became 7.
At section 10
where Fuji was the only rider to
score clean
on the
previous
lap, yet
he made
a mistake
and jammed his
foot between
the bike and
the rock. He added
3 points there but still
kept his
advantage over then
2nd place
Lampkin by
5 points.
Following
section 11, Fuji made the biggest
mistake
of the day,
which
was a similar
mistake to Lampkin's
on
Saturday. "All
the sudden I was
very tight. The timing
was
off and couldn't
give enough gas either." He
added 5 more penalty
points, which meant
he and Lampkin were
even in point. For
the last four sections,
Fuji concentrated
again and rode
impressively to mark
all clean to finish
the lap.
Again Lampkin
was the last to
finish the
lap, in fact,
he rode
flawlessly
to mark
15 straight
cleans
on lap2.
Although
Fuji
was told that he
had won day2 by
a couple cleans, it
was hard
for Fuji to believe.
There
was a chance that Lampkin might
be lodging
his protest
against the
penalty at section12.
It was a
long and quiet
moment once again
at the podium
area, with spectators
breathlessly
waited for further
announcement.
Finally
the results were posted,
Fuji won day
2 by number
of clean, Fuji
for 26 and
24 for
Lampkin.
Fuji
achieved the perfect
victory by
winning
2 days in
Japan, which he had
waited for
5 years.
Furthermore, Fuji moved
up to the
top of the ranking
by number
of win,
Fuji
for 3
while 1 for
Lampkin.
It
was also a very emotional
moment
for Yoshitaka
Fujinami,
the father
of Fuji,
who has
been supporting
Fuji
for his
world championship
challenge
from the
beginning
for 7 years.
Quote from Fujigas:
So the "jinx" are finally gone, but I rather like to think
that I have accomplished the thing I haven't been able to do. I feel
like I am building up know-how to win each time. Some people say
Dougie is losing his supremacy, but I don't think it is true. As
he had 15 cleans at lap2 on Sunday, he is still a very strong rider.
I even think he is stronger than ever. Although I won 3 times this
year Dougie ties in point with 1 win. He is the only rider who never
missed the podium this year, and it shows how stable he is. I had
some up and down results so far, but I will try my best to be on
the podium every time at the rest of the season to push Dougie to
the edge. I like to thank you very much for the warm support especially
my Japanese fan this time. I hope your continuous support.
2004
World Trial Championship
Round 3 Twin Ring Motegi, Japan |
Saturday |
1. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
13 (2+11) 23 |
2. |
Dougie Lampkin |
14 (9+5) 25 |
3. |
Adam Raga |
18 (15+3) 21 |
4. |
Graham Jarvis |
28 (12+16) 18 |
5. |
Marc Freixa |
30 (10+18+2) 16 |
6. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
36 (17+19) 17 |
Sunday |
1. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
12 (3+9) 26 |
2. |
Dougie Lampkin |
12 (12+0) 24 |
3. |
Marc Freixa |
13 (8+5) 24 |
4. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
18 (13+5) 23 |
5. |
Adam Raga |
20 (15+5) 20 |
6. |
Graham Jarvis |
22 (16+6) 22 |
Ranking |
1. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
101 (3 wins) |
2. |
Dougie Lampkin |
101 (1 win) |
3. |
Adam Raga |
94 |
4. |
Albert Cabestany |
76 |
5. |
Marc Freixa |
75 |
6. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
63 |
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