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A confident and relaxed looking Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa strolled through qualification during the first-leg of a two-night trials extravaganza at round three of the 2012 FIM X-Trial World Championship, held in Marseille, France. Bou's dominance during the qualifying stages sent a clear message to his rivals, who had no answer to the five times Indoor / X-Trial World Champion's clinical display.
The Catalan skipped through seven difficult sections at the expense of just four marks, two of which he picked up for going over time. Adam Raga - Gas Gas was second with nineteen marks, the margin highlighting Bou's accomplishment. Behind Raga the field was much closer, with Albert Cabestany - Sherco, Jeroni Fajardo - Beta, Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa and Loris Gubian - Gas Gas each separated by a single mark.
Gubian, on twenty-four, was in fine form in front of his home crowd and thoroughly deserved his place in the Saturday night programme. Eighteen-year-old Pol Tarres - Jotagas was seventh on his JTG debut, the talented youngster showing glimpses of real potential. One mark adrift of Tarres in eighth was Alfredo Gomez - Montesa, while Michael Brown - Gas Gas and Alexandre Ferrer - Sherco were both disappointed with their less competitive early exits, as they finished ninth and tenth respectively.
The stage is now set for Bou to snatch his third victory from as many rounds unless one of his rivals wakes up on Saturday morning with some new-found form.
2012 FIM X-Trial World Championship
Round 3 Marseille, France
Qualification
1: Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa 4
2: Adam Raga - Gas Gas 19
3: Albert Cabestany - Sherco 21
4: Jeroni Fajardo - Beta 22
5: Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa 23
6: Loris Gubian - Gas Gas 24
Non qualifiers
7: Pol Tarres - Jotagas 32
8: Alfredo Gomez - Montesa 33
9: Michael Brown - Gas Gas 35
10: Alexandre Ferrer - Sherco 40
Semi-final and final will start at 21.00hrs local time on Saturday 28th January.
