19-20/6/2004 |
World
Trial Championship Round 5 Valdeblore, France |
World Trial Championship has returned to
Europe after its expedition to Japan and U.S.A. Coming back to their
own ground, European competitors were expected to show their best in
France and for the rest of the season. It would be crucial stages for
Fujinami for his quest for the championship.
Day 1 - Saturday, June
19th
It was interesting to see if Fuji could
keep his winning streak and stretch his point gap over Lampkin in France.
But competing 2 laps on Saturday, Fuji built up his penalty points
with 5 fives and many small mistakes. He had to face his streak broken,
and realize he wasn't in form to claim a victory that day. Still he
managed to finish 3rd on the podium with small gap between himself
and second place finisher Lampkin. Fuji thought he was lucky to finish
3rd on Saturday though.
There were a number of French riders competing
in the newly formed Youth Trial Cup-125cc class- at the round, and
Fuji among other top
riders found himself in a traffic jam for his lap1, 125 riders were
back for their 2nd lap attempt. 125 riders had long time allowance
and being cautious before their attempt. Top riders on the other
hand needed to rush their way, and had to ask the riders to give a
way.
Having no time to waste, but at the end of the lap Fuji had his front
tire punctured. He spent some time for fixing it, and together with
the time being lost in a jam, Fuji found himself 3 minutes overtime-had
to face 3 more penalty points. It was an unfortunate trouble for
Fuji and the result: his championship lead was slimmed 2 points into
8 over
Lampkin. However, the result inspired Fuji to concentrate more for
Sunday.
Day 2 - Sunday, June 20th
Fuji wasn't really in form again on Sunday.
But when lap1 was over the team inform him that Lampkin would be the
only threat for the day. The previous day's winner Raga lost his rhythm
and finished the lap in 3rd place. Fuji had only one more penalty point
than the leader Lampkin, a very close fighting range. Fuji set his
mind to keep his eye on Lampkin for lap2.
Fuji continued to score clean
and approached section 8, a step from the water, where many fived
including Fuji in lap1. Top riders halted
there to find the better line. Fuji found the line he believed to
work well. Fuji wanted to wait until someone try the line to give him
a
hint, but being started early for the lap, he had no choice but try
to line for the first time. It worked perfectly; in fact it was too
good. Fuji climbed too easily and had to foot to stop as he climbed
over the step. Lampkin was there and watched his rival showed both
good and bad examples. Lampkin followed to attack the section and
scored clean beautifully. Fuji and Lampkin were even in point up to
the point,
for Lampkin had added one point at the beginning of the lap, Fuji
once again dropped one point down from the leader.
Section 13 was another
difficult section where most of the riders added 3 or 5. Again Fuji
tried the section first and succeeded to
score the
lowest penalty point. Fuji thought it was a decisive, but Lampkin
followed once again and score one point. Ironically, Raga was the
only rider
scored clean at the section on lap2, but it was too late or him
to move up.
It was section 14 that 7 time champion made
a fatal error, footing and added another point. Both Fuji and Lampkin
scored clean
at
the final section, that meant they finished the day with 13 penalty
points
each. Just like in Japanese GP, Fuji barely won the day with
number of clean, 24 for Fuji and 22 for Lampkin.
Two days of hard and
close battles were over, Fuji and Raga received 35 points and Lampkin
34. In the end, Fuji stretched his championship
lead one more point, and kept himself in the right direction
for the championship.
For the next world championship round
in Andorra, the Spanish championship will be held on Saturday. It
will be a try-out
event to study 1day
competition of trial championship. Originally Fuji wasn't
going to participate in the Saturday event, but it will be competed
at the
same sections as the world championship round on Sunday,
Fuji
are said to
participate the Spanish round too.
Quote from Fujigas:
It was a close victory on Sunday. I wasn't doing great on Saturday
but somehow finished in 3rd. Both days were close, and I think
I had a decent weekend in France. It was lucky for me that Adam
won in front of Lampkin on Saturday, and my point lead was slimmed
only 2 points. I was hoping that Adam would finish 2nd on Sunday
between Dougie and me, but he didn't help me that time. I have
to say that we are the three in the field that standing out in
the series at the moment. This year I feel different when I ride.
Of course I feel good by winning more than last year, but this
year I can compete better even things aren't going great. I think
my concentration is much higher this year. Please watch me, because
I will try to keep it up for the rest of the season.
2004
World Trial Championship
Round 5 Valdeblore, France |
Saturday |
1. |
Adam Raga |
36 (24+12) 17 |
2. |
Dougie Lampkin |
44 (21+22+1) 13 |
3. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
48 (22+23+1) 14 |
4. |
Albert Cabestany |
54 (33+21) 15 |
5. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
54 (31+23) 10 |
6. |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
55 (34+21) 12 |
Sunday |
1. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
13 (11+2) 24 |
2. |
Dougie Lampkin |
13 (10+3) 22 |
3. |
Adam Raga |
26 (15+11) 22 |
4. |
Albert Cabestany |
26 (23+3) 18 |
5. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
29 (16+13) 15 |
6. |
Marc Freixa |
32 (18+14) 17 |
Ranking |
1. |
Takahisa Fujinami |
176 |
2. |
Dougie Lampkin |
165 |
3. |
Adam Raga |
159 |
4. |
Albert Cabestany |
126 |
5. |
Marc Freixa |
111 |
6. |
Jeroni Fajardo |
101 |
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