On The Pegs July 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 7 | Page 127

On The Pegs
FIM Trial World Champion-
ship - where after a clean
opening lap that was nothing
short of sensational he kept
his cool to win on a score of
just eleven, less than half that
of Adam Raga - TRRS and an
incredible nineteen ahead of
reigning champion Toni Bou -
Repsol Honda.
Fajardo, who jumped ship
from Vertigo at the end of last
year, was World number four
in 2017 - and has been ranked
as high as third in 2012, 2013
and 2015 - but the result still
sent shockwaves through the
sport.
Sure, he had finished third
at the opening round at Cam-
prodon in Spain the previous
month, but the Girona-born
Vol. 3 Issue 7 - July 2018
rider had been thirty-two
marks behind Bou yet here
he was - less than two weeks
later - demolishing the elev-
en-time champion.
You could argue that it was
purely down to good fortune,
but there was nothing lucky
about a clean opening lap
that claimed eighteen marks
off both Bou and Raga who,
between them, have won the
TrialGP title for the last thir-
teen years.
He slipped to fourth on
day two in Japan, but two
weeks later he was back up
front again - this time leading
Bou into the final section of
TrialGP Andorra which should
have been a formality having
been cleaned by every rider
P 127
in the top seven on the open-
ing lap.
Whether it was down to the
pressure of knowing he was
one clean away from the FIM
Trial World Championship
lead or just a momentarily
lapse in concentration, but
Jeroni recorded a maximum
that dropped him to third.
As bitter a blow as it surely
was, he will head into TrialGP
Portugal this coming week-
end with his confidence at an
all-time high knowing if he
can hold his nerve and ride at
his very highest level then he
potentially has what it takes
to dethrone Bou and end his
compatriot’s dream of twelve
consecutive titles. n