words courtesy of FIM photos by Pep Segales / FIM
ROUND 4 – CAHORS , FRANCE – AUGUST 28-29
Following his shock thirdplaced finish last time out in Andorra , superstar Spaniard Toni Bou ( Repsol Honda ) returned to the top of the podium with a comfortable victory at today ’ s second French TrialGP of the season – round four of the 2021 Hertz FIM Trial World Championship – at Cahors .
On a low-scoring day Toby Martyn ( TRRS ) led home Trial2 with an incredible clean sheet , Jack Dance ( GASGAS ) took the Trial125 title with his third victory of the season and Gael Chatagno ( Electric Motion ) made it four wins from four starts to claim the crown in Trial-E .
A big turn-out of fans basked under a blazing sun and were treated to the sight of Bou bouncing back to his brilliant best . The defending champion – who ’ s on course to make it 15 consecutive TrialGP titles – parted with three single dabs in the first four sections of the trial set in a disused quarry and then remained clean for the remaining 20 .
“ I looked at the sections yesterday and knew it would be a low-scoring trial so I had to concentrate very hard ,” said Bou . “ I made a few mistakes on the first lap but was clean on lap two and it ’ s a great result for me after not the best weekend in Andorra .”
Fresh from his first win of the season at round three , Adam Raga ( TRRS ) led by a mark after the opening three sections but a maximum on the fourth – and then another on the eighth – effectively ended his hopes of back-to-back victories . A second-lap total of two still earned the two-time world champion the runner-up position , a single mark ahead of Jaime Busto ( Vertigo ), as the top-three gapped the field .
With many of the sections composed of imposing , imported slabs embedded along a riverbed , Bou was in his element as he hopped , skipped and jumped his four-stroke through the hazards . His fourth win of the season means he now leads Raga by a healthy 11 points with just three scoring days to go .
Miquel Gelabert ( GASGAS ) completed the all-Spanish top four but his final total of 28
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 56