On The Pegs June 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 6 | Page 167

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 6 - June 2019
167
The season, race by race
The 2019 X-Trial Championship kicked off in Budapest, Hungary in mid-January
with an excellent ride by Toni Bou, who won the opening final of the year de-
spite still recovering from an injury, picked up in Japan in December, which had
left him with two fractured ribs. Fujinami was unable to qualify for the second
phase of the X-Trial.
In Barcelona, the second date of the year, Toni Bou fell in one of the sections,
taking a hard blow in the back. This put an end to the run of twelve straight vic-
tories on home soil. The second final position proved to be a respectable result,
keeping Bou’s championship chances well alive. Team-mate Fujinami narrowly
missed out on making the cut for phase two.
The third date of the season was also in Spain. Bilbao got its X-Trial world
championship premier a fortnight after the Barcelona event, with Toni Bou tak-
ing top honours by a narrow margin. Even without being at 100% physical best,
the Repsol Honda rider was able to dig deep to finish top and return to the head
of the overall leader board.
Just a week later, X-Trial – indoor’s top flight category – returned to the city
of Granada with a demanding course where Toni Bou looked at ease in a final
which he dominated in despotic fashion. From the top of the rostrum, with his
sixtieth victory in hand, and his chief rival to his left, Bou had the championship
table all set for a celebration in the following event.