Team Japan ready for 2011 FIM Trial des Nations

With the 2011 FIM Trial des Nations now fast approaching, many riders from around the globe are preparing themselves to travel to the host town of Tolmezzo, Italy. One nation that will be eager to put a turbulent year behind them and record a strong result at the twenty-seventh edition of this team event will be Japan.

Despite falling victim to one of the World's worst earthquakes and subsequent tsunami during early March, Japan is already showing to the World that it is back in business and ready to compete even at the highest level. Made up of Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa, Yoskiaki Nomoto – Beta, Tsuyoshi Ogawa – Beta and Akira Shibata – Honda, the squad includes three new faces alongside their ever popular captain. Their aim will be simple, to produce a good performance and hopefully a result that does justice to their homeland.

The Trial des Nations was first established in 1984 and is a team-based competition in which countries go head to head against each other. Although Japan has never previously won this prestigious event, with ex FIM Trial World Champion Takahisa Fujinami spearheading their campaign the squad will arrive in Italy well prepared for the task that lies ahead of them.

In readiness for the forthcoming Trial des Nations, all four members of the Japanese team recently competed in the seventh round of the 2011 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship, which took place on home soil. Whilst podium regular Fujinami claimed an impressive 3 – 2 showing on home soil, Ogawa finished inside the top ten of the World Pro class during both days with Shibata recording two eleventh place finishes.

Despite the treacherous weather conditions that featured at the Japanese GP, twenty-three year old Nomoto revelled in the mud, recording 2 – 1 in the ever competitive Junior category. Whilst it is clear that veteran campaigner Fujinami remains an amazing talent, all four riders have shown that they possess the kind of talent and determination that the Trial des Nations requires.

Following the Japanese GP Fujinami commented, "Yeah finally the Trial des Nations is nearly here. This year the Japanese team has three young riders as well as me. They are not so experienced and are not top riders, but they are youthful and are proud to compete for their country."

"We will try to make the same result as like last year when we finished fifth, though maybe we can try hard to push for fourth place this time. To be on the podium is perhaps impossible for us. We are sure that the conditions will be very difficult for the Japanese team, however we will try our hardest to make a good result. We are looking forward to coming to Italy soon."