On The Pegs July 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 7 | Page 100

On The Pegs
TONI ON TOP
The opening round of the FIM TrialGP World
Championship was marked by rain which ap-
peared intermittently throughout the week-
end at the Off-Road Park in Pietramurata,
Italy. The sections were muddy and required
impeccable precision by riders to be able to
salvage anything out of each section.
Starting fifth following Saturday’s super-
tough qualification session, the Repsol Hon-
da-mounted Spaniard – who’s aiming for his
13th consecutive title this season – led from
the front and underlined his status as the
greatest rider in the history of the sport with
his final total of 33 marks lost almost half that
of second-placed Jeroni Fajardo on the fac-
tory Gas Gas.
The rain that had made Qualification ses-
sion so tough continued to fall into Sunday
morning and although the sections eventu-
ally began to dry out, grip was hard to find on
the steep and imposing rock-strewn banks as
mud was dragged onto the hazards.
Leading at the halfway stage on a score of
25 compared to second-placed Jaime Busto
(Vertigo) who had picked up 40 penalty
points, Bou then moved up a gear on lap two
to part with just a further four marks to claim
a devastating victory despite four time pen-
alties – inevitable given the conditions – in-
creasing his total to 33.
“I’m very happy with my riding today,” said
Bou. “It is true that on the first lap I made two
serious mistakes by pushing against two ar-
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