On The Pegs August 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 8 | Page 101

On The Pegs
Vol. 3 Issue 8 - August 2018
P 101
Referred to as ‘the little Monaco’ of TrialGP, the visit
of the series to the Belgium town of Comblain au
Pont proved to be rich with action and was certainly
one of the highlights of the 2018 season to date. The
town center location added to the occasion, with the
paddock being squeezed into the narrow main street
and qualification taking place on the cobbles in the
shadow of the imposing hill that defines this special
venue.
Glorious weather and the absence of Belgium from
last year’s calendar brought the fans out in their
thousands to line the sections and to add to the over-
all atmosphere. Despite feeling the effects of a knee
injury sustained during practice on Saturday, Toni
Bou - Repsol Honda finally clinched the win, but only
in the dying moments as Adam Raga - TRRS pushed
him right to the final sections.
Bou put on a fine display of riding prowess in Bel-
gium, where despite starting with an injury, he was
able to outclass his rivals in the fight for the title.
Takahisa Fujinami occupied the third step of the po-
dium, proving to be Repsol Honda Team’s first ros-
trum double so far this season.
Bou injured his right knee on Saturday in the quali-
fying round and after a medical check-up had to
spend the night bandaged up. The champion, nev-
ertheless, came out guns blazing, keen not to let
the injury be a hindrance. Leader by the end of the
first lap, in the second he kept his adversaries firmly
in check to score a brilliant first place. This is victory
number 100 with the Montesa Cota 4RT since joining
the team in 2007. Bou extends his overall advantage
in the TrialGP World Championship to twenty-three
points over the nearest second place rival.
The course of this sixth event in the top flight cat-
egory was a demanding one that invited easy mis-
takes. In addition, the heat proved to be one of the
day’s main protagonists, forcing the riders to con-
stantly hydrate to not lose strength on the longest
fifteen-section course of the trial calendar.