On The Pegs June 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 6 | Page 86

On The Pegs uncharacteristic mistakes allowed his young compatriot to close in the second half of the event. However, any hopes Bus- to may have entertained of a shock win were crushed in the closing stages and a five on the final section of the Trial - plus an additional four on time compared to Bou’s single time penalty - left him seven- teen marks adrift at the end. Still, his second-placed finish equals his career-best results in Andorra and the USA last year and prove he is adapted well to the switch to two-stroke power this sea- son after parting company with the Repsol Honda team. Jorge Casales - Vertigo was third follow- ing the opening lap on a total of thirty- three, but fellow Spaniard Jeroni Fajardo - Gas Gas reeled him in on lap two to claim the final step of the podium by one mark on seventy-five. Two-time World Champion Adam Raga - TRRS got his season off to a shaky start when he slumped to fifth, one mark be- hind Casales, with James Dabill - Beta the first non-Spanish rider home in sixth on a total of eighty-two. He was followed by veteran Spaniard Albert Cabestany - Beta on eighty-eight and Japan’s Takahisa Fu- jinami - Repsol Honda who was eighth, a further fourteen marks back after winning a tie-break with twenty-year-old Britain Jack Price - Gas Gas who matched his career-best finish achieved on day two in Japan last year. ADAM RAGA