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An in-form Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa got his latest campaign off to a solid start as he scored a narrow victory over Albert Cabestany - Sherco at round one of the 2011 SPEA FIM X-Trial World Championship, held at the Palasport Fiera di Genova arena in northwest Italy. Adam Raga - Gas Gas completed the podium on a night when the top three riders were separated by just five marks.
A lively and passionate Italian crowd were treated to a spectacular double-header as the re-branded SPEA FIM X-Trial World Championship joined forces with the FIM Indoor Enduro World Championship to launch a new season of indoor racing. Bou looked steady from the start and, along with Cabestany, Raga and Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa, failed to drop a mark during a low scoring XQ qualification session over a series of hazards constructed from local slate and marble.
Nineteen-year-old debutant Jack Challoner - Beta was less fortunate. The current SPEA FIM Junior Trial World Champion dropped ten marks over the four sections in qualification. He was eliminated alongside fellow Brit Michael Brown – Sherco, who made a welcome return to the series after a one-year hiatus, and Italian wildcard Francesco Iolitta - Beta.
James Dabill - Gas Gas who finished on the podium at the first round of the 2010 series in Sheffield last January, failed to repeat that fine performance in Genoa. The British favourite scraped through qualification with a one-mark margin over compatriot Brown before his luck ran out and he failed to make the grade in the XT Semi Final. Dabill’s exit was less dramatic than Fujinami’s, as the entertaining Japanese rider crashed hard, flying over his handlebars in the tense double lane race.
This left Bou, Cabestany, Raga and Jeroni Fajardo - Beta to battle it out for overall honours in the XT Final. An inconsistent Fajardo was outclassed early on, which set up a three-way fight for first place between his fellow Catalans. After an impressive XT Semi Final in which he dropped just five marks, Bou’s triumph never really looked in doubt. He kept his composure to claim a relatively comfortable victory. Cabestany did not drop a single mark in the final three sections to finish a close second, while Raga’s slip on the last hazard confirmed his third place.
The result in Italy sets four-time champion Bou on course for a fifth consecutive crown, but his triumph was not without serious challenges from his closest rivals Cabestany and Raga. With a pause before the season resumes in January Bou’s countrymen have time to regain their composure and launch a fresh challenge on the 2011 series at round two in Marseille, France.
