Raga keeps his title hopes alive

Adam Raga - Gas Gas kept his title hopes alive as he took an emphatic win on the first day of the European Trial Grand Prix held at Isola 2000, France. Whilst Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa, who finished as runner-up today, is still the favourite to take the 2011 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship, he must now wait until tomorrow's final counting day to discover his fate. Albert Cabestany - Sherco made it an all Spanish podium by taking third spot, on a day when rain played havoc with the event. Almost identical conditions defined the 2009 GP held at the same venue and as on the previous occasion it was Raga who correctly predicted the arrival of the rain and made a run for home as early as the second section on the first lap. The Gas Gas rider and eventual victor was at section twelve on his second lap when the rain arrived, whilst Bou was running nearly forty-five minutes behind him and suffering as the hazards became incredibly slippery. Raga's lap scores of six and five confirmed he had made the correct decision to race ahead, especially when compared to Bou's tallies of seven and then nineteen. Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa was the second fastest finisher in the World Pro class, but he wrecked his chances of a podium finish after a poor opening lap left him down in fifth position and way off the leading pace. Although the Japanese rider produced a better closing lap performance, the damage had been done and he was unable to move up the rankings. Cabestany rode a calculated Trial to take the last rostrum spot, as Jeroni Fajardo - Ossa incredibly managed to salvage fourth place despite losing nearly an hour to running repairs when his factory machine once again experienced serious mechanical problems. Jack Challoner - Beta recorded his best result of the season to date in sixth position by beating his British compatriot Michael Brown - Gas Gas on a most cleans tie break. Whilst Bou must wait until tomorrow to be potentially crowned champion, Alfredo Gomez - Montesa was in no mood to wait to seal his title as he wrapped up the Junior Championship thanks to his fifth win of the season. Gomez took the victory by just two marks from French rider Alexandre Ferrer - Sherco who gave the home fans plenty to cheer about as he placed as runner-up on the day. Pol Tarres - Gas Gas took an important third spot in the Junior division and now sits only one point ahead of Francesc Moret - Montesa in the general standings as these two Spanish youngsters continue to fight it out to become vice champion tomorrow. Gomez will ride in the World Pro class on Sunday ready for his move to this category next season. With the injured and already crowned Youth champion Jack Sheppard - Beta watching on, home rider Cedric Tempier - Sherco recorded a massive win to claim second place in the championship standings irrespective of his result tomorrow. Steven Coquelin - Gas Gas made it a French 1-2 as he took the runners-up spot today by finishing seven marks in front of Giacomo Saleri - Beta who finished in third position. Bou has a ten point lead over Raga going into tomorrow's final counting day of the 2011 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship. With more rain forecast, all is set for an exciting climax to the series. <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> World
1: Raga 11
2: Bou 26
3: Cabestany 50
4: Fajardo 58
5: Fujinami 59

Junior
1: Gomez 20
2: Ferrer 22
3: Tarres 28
4: Dagnicourt 42
5: Traviesa 49

Youth 125cc
1: Tempier 6
2: Coquelin 21
3: Saleri 28
4: Karlsson 31
5: Cox 58

2011 FIM Riders Championship
World
1: Bou 184
2: Raga 174
3: Fujinami 142
4: Fajardo 115
5: Cabestany 114

Junior
1: Gomez 144
2: Tarres 116
3: Moret 115
4: Dagnicourt 98
5: Ferrer 83

Youth 125cc
1: Sheppard 169
2: Tempier 140
3: Saleri 114
4: Coquelin 112
5: Martin J 87 2011 FIM Manufacturers Championship
Current Standings:
1: Montesa 326
2: Gas Gas 268
3: Beta 148
4: Sherco 138
5: Ossa 115