Bou rules on opening day

Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa moved a step closer to clinching his fifth consecutive oudoor title with a win under difficult conditions in the seventh round of the 2011 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship held at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan. Bou made the most of the course, which had been soaked by overnight rain, to beat fellow countryman Adam Raga – Gas Gas by a single mark at the end of the overcast and humid day. Raga made two critical errors early on the second lap that put him at a deficit from which he was not able to recover. Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa finished a popular third in front of his countrymen, though he wasn't happy with his riding. Fujinami got off to a difficult start and played catch-up the rest of the day. He took a five by touching a flag in the marks-taking section three on lap one, then he took another second five when he failed to clear the first boulder in section four. By the end of the lap he was twelve marks down on the leader and fighting for third. He earned his fifth podium of the year by one mark when Jeroni Fajardo – Ossa took a five in the last hazard, the stadium section that ended the lap. Kenichi Kuroyama – Yamaha was also in contention for the final podium spot until he took fives in the final two sections. Kuroyama was the first of the local Japanese riders. French rider Loris Gubian – Gas Gas finished sixth in front of Fumitaka Nozaki – Yamaha, the team-mate of Kuroyama. Tomoyuki Ogawa – Honda improved with his second lap to finish eighth and edge out series regular Michael Brown – Gas Gas by a single mark. The last rider in the top ten was Japanese rider Tsuyoshi Ogawa – Honda. Bou and Raga went head-to-head, with Raga finishing the first lap with fourteen marks, the day's lowest lap score and one better than Bou's first lap. It was an especially impressive score since Raga was the first rider out and had to deal with the two or three centimetres of mud that lined the hills. But after the entire field ravaged the hazards ahead of the second lap, the conditions worsened considerably. Raga's chances for victory were compromised early on lap two. In the first half of the fourth section he was brilliant, but he was foiled trying to clear a boulder in the section's second half, resulting in a five. That, and a one in the following section, were the marks he most regretted in his single mark defeat. The victory was Bou's sixth in eight counting days this year and his sixth in the last seven days in Japan. Toni now holds an eighteen point lead over Raga in the general standings. In the Junior class the rostrum was led by Gianluca Tournour – Gas Gas, the Italian showing his experience to the mostly Japanese field. Tournour finished with ninety-eight marks to one hundred and ten for Yoshiaki Nomoto – Beta and one hundred and twenty-seven for third placed Hikaru Takiguchi – Scorpa. Jack Sheppard - Beta continued a season of all podium finishes by taking his fifth win in eight counting days in the Youth category. Sheppard easily outscored second best Jesus Martin – Gas Gas by turning in the two best laps of the field. With only tomorrow's Trial and the final round in France remaining, Sheppard stands poised to win the Youth title in twenty four hours time. Ignacio Martin – Gas Gas finished third, ten marks behind fellow Spaniard Martin.