Idaq Motorsport – Cadwell Park

 

www.idaq.com

Promising Weekend for Idaq Motorsport – Cadwell Park www.facebook.com/IdaqMotorsport     The Idaq Motorsport team had a solid weekend at Cadwell Park this weekend at round nine of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race. Despite an off track excursion while running in 7th place youngster James East managed to salvage some points and finished in 11th place. Peter Ward had some brake issues during the race and finished in 18th and Paul Curran in 23rd.   James East was having a good weekend and topped the time sheets in his group during the wet session on Saturday. He took this confidence into second qualifying which was dry for all sessions and he was able to qualifying the Idaq Kawasaki in 8th place. He got a good start and gained a place by the end of the opening lap, sadly on lap three he ran wide on onto the grass down the back straight. He re-joined in 17th place and had to work hard to get back through the field to finish in a creditable 11th position when the race was cut short and red flagged on lap 10.   James East – “I felt pretty happy about going into the race and the bike was feeling really good. We’d managed to find a good set up that worked well for me at Cadwell, I got a good start and knew I could run with the front runners. I’d looked at passing into Charlies’ the lap before and I went to make the move and he shut the door on me so I was forced to run wide to avoid us both crashing out.   I re-joined but I was pretty angry with myself for making the mistake and in the following laps I was pushing too hard and made some more mistakes. I did make some good passes and got myself back into a point scoring position, I was making up more positions but the red flag came out early and stopped the race so had to settle for 11th but its more points and onwards to Donington.   I need to keep myself focused at the next few rounds and I really want to be finishing the season in the top five and ideally on the podium. My times suggest that’s possible I just have to ensure I can put all the pieces of the jigsaw together and make it all work right.”   Peter Ward was having a steady weekend and was 13th and 10th in his group in the two qualifying sessions but with the combined times this saw him put back to 22nd on the grid for the scheduled 15-lap race. Pete got a good start but suffered with brake problems from early on in the race and he managed to bring it home in 18th.   Peter Ward – “It was another really tough weekend I seem to be struggling a bit with everything at the minute, mainly my confidence. I need one good result to get my head back on a high again. I did have a brake problem during the race right from the off-set of the race and I just had to keep nursing the bike into the corners. I want to turn things around and be able to finish the season on a high note, it’s just working out how is best to go about it and get back near the front end.”   Paul Curran had a good weekend and bettered his times in every session and went faster at Cadwell than he has done in previous years. He qualified in 29th place on the grid and made it through to 23rd by the end of the race.   Paul Curran – “I got an average start in the race and thankfully we managed to fix the niggling clutch problem that I had been suffering with all weekend. Straight from the off though we had a major problem with my rear tyre, I had no grip at all. Every time I got on the throttle the back end was trying to kick out on me so I had to ride the bike differently to what I had all weekend. It nearly caught me out a couple of times and I just wanted to make sure I brought myself and the bike home in one piece.”   Team Manager Colin Wright – “Many thanks to the Idaq Motorsport for welcoming me into their team.  We seemed to hit it off straight away! We have a bit of work to do before winning races but, I sense the team have all the right ingredients so it won’t be long before we enjoy a drop of champagne.”   Team Principal Mark Roebuck – “Cadwell Park was a great event. This weekend I welcomed Colin to the team as the new team manager and could immediately see the effect he was going to have on the setup. For me the star of the weekend was James, 1st in qualifying 1 and 3rd in qualifying 2 for his group was a fantastic achievement. It was a shame about his incident on the third lap but he managed to recover 6 places and score points, which was impressive to watch from the pit lane.”     Superstock 1000 Calendar   Venue Date     Donington Park 6th – 8th September Silverstone 4th – 6th October Brands Hatch GP 18th – 20th October       www.britishsuperbike.com   ** Notes   Idaq offer Dedicated & Virtual Servers, domain name registration, web hosting and reseller hosting. They have some of the most competitively priced hosting products in the UK and aim to offer the best technical support in the business. Idaq are now in their 10th year and operate their own datacentre in Sheffield. Because Idaq own and operate every aspect of their service they can provide a level of service that other hosting companies, who generally use 3rd party datacentres, simply cannot match. Idaq operate their own fibre optic network between Sheffield, London and Manchester, have invested in the latest resilient power, cooling and security systems for their datacentre and have staff available 24/7 to ensure smooth operation of their systems.   Idaq can provide a suitable hosting platform for any purpose from small personal web sites, shopping carts, forums etc. up to high bandwidth video streaming and load balanced server solutions. Idaq have thousands of customers from around the world and currently or have previously provided services for companies such as Endemol (the company that makes Big Brother), Tiger Aspect www.tigeraspect.co.uk (the company that makes TV shows such as Benidorm), Rolls Royce, Greenpeace International, Hostelling International, Mica Paris (TV Presenter and Singer),  Martha Lane Fox (the founder of lastminute.com and the UK’s Digital Champion) and Severn Valley Railway to name a few.   If you are in need of a hosting company look no further, click on the link below to get started.   http://secure.idaq.com/redirector.cgi/ID,7b0b2a4045   2013 Team Sponsors   Idaq GB Racing Chase Accident Samco Renthal Tsubaki Arrow Knoxx Motorcycle Essentials Silkolene B&C Express Kawasaki Finesse Hospitality Reactive Engineering Promach   Paul PCR Daytona Bitubo Arai Eurotech Autosmart Cross fit Cannock   James ToiletSpares.co.uk Homechoice Carpets Leeds GHM Services Bikers Division R&G Racing Cougar Leathers Racebikebitz Paul ‘Noddy’ Brown   Pete King Dick Tools Comptec Daytona Boots HJC Helmets Oxford Products Ixon Leathers Sapphire Glass     Pictures by www.whitelineimages.com            CR PR Freelance www.carlyrathmell.com www.facebook.com/CarlyRathmellPR Twitter – @CR_PR_18

Be Wiser Kawasaki – Cadwell Park Podium

 

www.bewiserkawasaki.co.uk

Podium for the Be Wiser Kawasaki Team Cadwell Park  www.bewiserkawasaki.co.uk   Round nine of the Pirelli National Superstock Championship took place this weekend at Cadwell Park. The Be Wiser Kawasaki team had a great weekend at their local circuit and Nick Anderson secured their first podium of the season in the Stock 600 class. In the Stock 1000 class both riders Josh Wainwright and Josh Day scored solid Championship points and Wainwright gained 6th place and Day in 14th.   In the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class Nick Anderson was having a strong weekend and qualified in 6th place on the grid for the scheduled 12-lap race. He got a solid start and got his head down working hard and pushing his way through the pack and ended up fighting with James Lodge for second place in the race, eventually settling for a stunning third place.   Nick Anderson – “I’m absolutely over the moon with getting a podium this weekend, the Be Wiser Kawasaki team have worked so hard all season and to be able to repay them with a podium is a great feeling. We changed a number of things this weekend on and off the bike and it seemed to work well, I was able to qualify in sixth place and was very excited for the race.   I got a good start and was able to break away at the front and I was locked in a couple of tight battles with Jordan Simpkin and then I pushed through to third and I was reigning in second placed man James Lodge but I knew I didn’t want to do anything stupid and for me it was more important to bring home the first podium for the team than make a lunge and it end up in the gravel.   I must say a massive thank you to the Be Wiser Kawasaki team, my mechanics Barry, Mickey, Carl and Ewan my rider coach for everything they have done this weekend and also this season plus Alan and Paul for giving me this opportunity, thank you.”   In the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 class, Josh Wainwright had a great weekend at Cadwell and in an extremely competitive Championship this season the youngster was able to qualify in his best position of the year in second place on the grid. However, nerves got the better of him and he suffered a poor race start which saw him fall backwards through the pack, digging deep and working hard he fought his way back to 6th position.    Josh Wainwright – “This weekend was going so well and I was maybe a little too nervous/excited about getting a good result. I made a huge mess up off my start and by the time I got going again the majority of the pack had come past me. I was about 20th into turn one from 2nd which is more than disheartening, I made up about five places on the opening laps and then I knew I had to really get my head down. I worked hard and managed to get up to 6th place which was good considering the mistake I made. The bike felt good, the team were great and I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me this weekend. I feel confident now I can run with the front boys and looking forward to getting to Donington in a few weeks’ time.”     Josh Day had a difficult weekend after suffering with some form of bug on Saturday which saw him quite sick and poorly and due to this he struggled during qualifying ending up in 16th place. He got a good start in the race and worked hard to get back into the points and finish the race in 14th place.   Josh Day – “It was a very up and down weekend for me, Saturday was a good day for us and I was feeling really confident for the rest of the weekend. We scheduled a short race simulation for qualifying but I was struggling after around five laps with grip and also not feeling 100%, after the session I was pretty sick and all my energy was gone. Luckily I think it was just a 24 hour bug as I felt better on race day and was eager to get going in the race. It was a hard race and there was a lot going on, I made a few mistakes trying to push for better positions which cost me vital time. I’m pleased to have taken more points away from the weekend again, the Be Wiser Kawasaki team have once again done a great job and thank them for all their hard work.”   Team Owner/Manager Alan Grieg – “It was great to come to our local round and leave here on such a positive note and with some very good results. We made a lot of changes to team the week before and there were changes we wanted to implement this weekend for all the riders. We wanted to try things that we know other teams have tried in the past and it was something new and it worked well.   Nick qualified in sixth on the second row which is a much better position than he’d been at some of the previous rounds, we changed the approach to the qualifying session and it worked well. It was a great result with the podium, I was nervous towards the end that he would try and go for second but he was wise enough to bring the bike home and a very solid podium place. Nick’s attitude after the race was very mature and he knew to make the right choice and take his first podium. This has given him the confidence he needed and should set him up well for the remaining rounds.   The big changes we made in the week leading up to the race really worked well in the favour of Josh Wainwright, plus we were able to return back to his old lucky number ‘5’ at the start of the week and all these little things put his head in a good place for the weekend and he was able to qualify on the front row amongst some top class riders. He was unable to take advantage of this and struggled on the start to get off the line, this is just inexperience and nothing to be ashamed about. He was mid pack into turn one and for most people getting back in the points would have been an achievement so to work his way through to sixth was stunning and a massive credit to him.   Josh Day struggled during qualifying and he’s also been fighting some form of stomach bug over the weekend and this sadly effected his qualifying session. This is a competitive class and it’s important that every rider is in full fitness as this shows to be a little under the weather does affect you. He still rode very well in the race and was able to gain some more Championship points.   It was a successful round with it being our local round and we’re looking forward to moving onto Donington and furthering this progress.”   2013 Sponsors   100% Suspension – Activ 8 – Anglia Interiors – B&C Express – Be Wiser Insurance – Bif Racing – Britool Expert – Cups Direct – Dickies – Eazi Grip – Foulger Transport – Garnell Nutrition – GR Race Graphics – GB Racing – HM Quickshifter – HM Racing – Kawasaki Motors UK – University of Lincoln – Maxon Performance – No Limits Track Days – PR Trackbike Hire – Samco – Sani Clad – Tanker & General – The Shires Inn – Venhill   Pirelli National Superstock 600 & 1000 Calendar   Venue Date     Donington Park 6th – 8th September Silverstone 4th – 6th October Brands Hatch GP 18th – 20th October       www.britishsuperbike.com   Follow us on Facebook – www.facebook.com/BeWiserKawasaki Twitter – @bewiserkawasaki   Pictures www.whitelineimages.com                   CR PR Freelance www.carlyrathmell.com

Johnny Blackshaw – Cadwell Park Points

 

www.accidentadvicesolicitors.co.uk

Points for Johnny Blackshaw Cadwell Park www.accidentadvicesolicitors.co.uk   Accident Advice Solicitors supported rider Johnny Blackshaw had his best result of the year in round nine of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Cadwell Park this bank holiday weekend. In front of a packed ground and in the stunning sunshine Johnny secured 13th place in the cut short 10-lap race.   Johnny had a really good qualifying session and ended up in 18th place on the grid for the scheduled 15-lap race. He got a fantastic start and was up to 15th by the end of lap one he was then locked in a seven bike battle for 12th place. He was fighting hard and made a strong pass on Josh Day when the race was red flagged and cut short to ten laps.    Johnny Blackshaw – “I’m over the moon with the results this weekend at Cadwell and really pleased for all the people who have worked so hard and helped make this happen this year. It’s been a really tough learning year on the Stock 1000 and I’ve had to totally alter my entire riding style from a 600 and get this bike working with me.   Things went really well in every session at Cadwell in the wet and the dry and we finally made some big progress. I’ve always liked Cadwell Park and liked riding here in the past with good results and now it’s finally the place I’ve managed to gel with the big bike. I must thank Adam Jenkinson for his help and advice this weekends it’s really been a massive help.   The race was good, I got a mega start and I was able to be away in a pack and having a real battle for the entire race. I was pushing hard but it felt good and made some good passes and managed to get up into the points which I’m so happy with. We’ve been aiming for it all year and hopefully now I can stay in them for the rest of the season.   Once again I must thank Dave, Dan, Cliffy and my Dad for all the hard work that they put in every weekend and obviously my sponsors who without them it wouldn’t be possibly for me to race especially Tamara and Dave at Accident Advice Solicitors.”   2013 Johnny Blackshaw Personal Sponsors   Accident Advice Solicitors – Forcefield Body Armour – SLP  – Rock Oil – DP Brake Pads – Daytona   Pictures – www.whitelineimages.com   2013 National Superstock 600 Dates   Venue Date     Donington Park 6th – 8th September Silverstone 4th – 6th October Brands Hatch GP 18th – 20th October       www.britishsuperbike.com   Notes   Accident Advice Solicitors specialise in personal injury claims, including:-   Motorcycle accidents Road traffic accidents Accidents at work Industrial disease Trips & Slips   They pride themselves on offering a professional, pro-active approach to your claim, to ensure that you achieve the best outcome in the shortest amount of time.   They understand that being involved in an accident and having to make a claim can be stressful and they will help to take that stress away by dealing with all aspects of your claim for you. They will keep you updated on the progress of your claim by telephone, email or post – you choose how you want to be contacted.   Facebook – www.facebook.com/accidentadvicesolicitorsracing   Twitter – @AccAdviceSol     CR PR Freelance www.carlyrathmell.com

Sofuoglu And Foret Ready For Action Again At The Nürburgring

Courtesy of Kawasaki Racing Team

WSS, Nürburgring, Germany, 27 August 2013
Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India riders Kenan Sofuoglu and Fabien Foret aim for more podium success as the WSS championship heads to Germany and a circuit that brings back recent good memories for each

 

 

Sofuoglu is still well in the hunt for the championship title after winning the most recent two races in the series, and three in total so far in 2013. He is 29 points behind Sam Lowes in the championship standings. With the cancelation of the final championship round in India and no Laguna Seca WSS round scheduled alongside the SBK class for 2013, Sofuoglu has four races left in which to shine, starting with the Nürburgring on September 1.

Fabien Foret was a podium placer at Silverstone, and at the Nürburgring in 2012 as well, so he has his own reasons to be looking forward to the next race in Germany. He has an impressive career total of 43 podiums in WSS racing to his credit, including a win and three other podiums this season so far. He is third overall in the rankings, 30 points behind Sofuoglu.

David Salom (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) is entered in the German race alongside his team regular Luca Scassa (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres), with Florian Marino (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) entered as a one-event rider at this round. Scassa is currently sixth overall, Marino 11th and Salom 21st.

Kevin Coghlan (Kawasaki DMC-Lorenzini) is out to make another good impression after his recent top four finish at Silverstone, while Sheridan Morais joins the GoEleven Kawasaki team at this round.

Kenan Sofuoglu: “I have good expectations for the race in Germany, which is not a bad track for me. We won the race there last year and hopefully I can win again. We have one less race in the championship this year than we were supposed to so this is an important stage because we have four races left and I am closing the gap to Sam Lowes in the championship. In the past few days I have been training on my Supermoto track and I reached a strong pace. I am happy about that because I hurt my ribs in an accident on holiday recently but it has not slowed me down. I am ready to race and I have a big resolve to do as much winning as possible before the end of the year.”

Fabien Foret: “The batteries are recharged after such a long summer break and I am happy to go back to the Nürburgring. I finished on the podium, and was fighting for the win until two laps to go, last year. I hope to be on the same kind of page again this year and fight again for the podium places. We were third last time out this season at Silverstone and I feel a little more confident going to the Nürburgring because that track has some good memories for me. I hope to carry my Silverstone podium scoring momentum on into Germany.”

Joe Collier – Cadwell Park

http://www.facebook.com/JoeCollierRacing

Press Release For Immediate Release

Crash for Joe Collier Cadwell Park – Round 9 www.facebook.com/JoeCollierRacing   Joe Collier racing on the Haribo Starmix Triumph was unfortunate to crash out of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship at Cadwell Park this weekend. The youngster was looking strong and set for a podium from the start of the weekend and qualified in a comfortable fifth place on the grid for the 12-lap race. He was running in a strong third place when he crashed out at Charlies.   Joe Collier – “I’m really disappointed to have crashed out today as I was doing well in the Championship standings and now I have dropped back to fourth place. I had been having a good weekend and my lap times were good and I felt confident going into the race.   Qualifying went well and we found a really good set up on the Triumph and I was keen to get another good result. I managed to get a good start and wanted to stay with the front runners, I was sitting in third and making progress to catch up second placed man James Lodge. However, I ran in a bit hot to Charlies and down I went, I’m ok just really disappointed and frustrated that I wasn’t able to gain some solid Championship points.   Onwards to Donington now, it’s my local circuit and we have a set up from when we went their in May so hopefully we can be back on the podium again there.”   National Superstock 600 Dates   Venue Date     Donington Park 6th – 8th September Silverstone 4th – 6th October Brands Hatch GP 18th – 20th October       www.britishsuperbike.com   2013 Personal Sponsors   SM UK – www.smfleet.co.uk, MC Motors, Triumph World, Shoei, RST and Harley World of Chesterfield – KGN Pillinger.    Pics by www.whitelineimages.com                   CR PR Freelance www.carlyrathmell.com

Marquez takes fourth win

Courtesy of FIM NEWS

Following the Warm-Up that took place amid distinctly overcast conditions, riders feared for a wet Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Although spots of rain did briefly fall, prompting the white flags to fly on Lap 14, there proved to be no major changes in the weather. On the front row of the grid, Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow started from pole position for the second time this season.

Marquez’s ride was a mixture of patience, aggression and defence. The 20-year-old had been annoyed during qualifying, but ran second behind Lorenzo as the reigning champion scorched off the start line. The pair would proceed to swap places on various occasions, with the final pass coming at Turn 3 with just under four laps to go. Pedrosa also dispatched of Lorenzo, but two final tours was not enough for last year’s winner to hunt down his teammate who won by three tenths of a second.

In fourth place, Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi ultimately came out on top after a race-long duel with GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, whereas LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl experienced a quiet ride to sixth spot from Ducati Team duo Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden, locked together once again. The top ten was completed by Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone and Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro, just one second ahead of CRT rival Colin Edwards (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) who had started in front of him.

A second lap collision between Avintia Blusens’ Hector Barbera and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Claudio Corti saw both riders retire, with the Italian later undergoing an x-ray to his right hand. The other two retirements were Came IodaRacing Project’s Lukas Pesek – from his home Grand Prix – and Tech3’s Bradley Smith, who were both out of action on the third lap. There was also frustration for pole man Crutchlow, who crashed out of fourth place on Lap 8, as well as for Czech Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) who was unable to score points at home. Wildcard Martin Bauer (Remus Racing Team) succeeded in completing the distance.

The final race in the ongoing triple-header will be the Hertz British Grand Prix at Silverstone, to which Marquez heads with 213 points, 26 – and more than the equivalent of one race win – ahead of Pedrosa and 44 in front of Lorenzo.

---

Bel-Ray Racers Conclude National Motocross Series at Lake Elsinore

Courtesy of Bel Ray Company Inc.,

FARMINGDALE, N.J. (August 26, 2013) ― The 2013 AMA Pro Motocross Championship series came to a close on Saturday afternoon at Lake Elsinore in Southern California. Temperatures in the triple digits and a rough challenging course combined to make for a difficult day for Bel-Ray’s racers and teams competing there.

Leading the Bel-Ray charge for the weekend was Rockstar Energy Racing’s Ryan Sipes. A crash and subsequent injury suffered at the Millville, MN round has hampered Sipes’ charge toward the front. His 13-14 moto finishes were not indicative of the way he rode but in a class with great talent, a good start is necessary to challenge. Sipes’ starts on Saturday were less than ideal, and the Kentucky native had to come from back in the field to earn his result. 13th overall was not what Sipes had hoped for but going into the off season, he can look back on 2013 positively. “It wasn’t a bad weekend aside from my starts. That part was bad. I feel good though. I’m safe; my lap times were good, even coming from 76th place. Last race of the year; it was a good day, and I’m happy.” Sipes finished 16th in the overall series standings.               Also competing in the 450MX class were Bel-Ray racers Nick Wey and Derek Anderson. Both privateer riders experienced ups and downs throughout the series. Wey was forced to miss two rounds due to an injury but achieved positive results during the summer. He finished in 17th place in each moto, and came in 17th overall. Wey was just outside the top 20 in the series standings, in 22nd place overall. Colorado privateer Anderson has been travelling the series with his girlfriend and recording the riders’ trials and tribulations all summer long on the popular YouTube series Man Vs Moto. Anderson scored points at six rounds this summer and earned 30th place overall in this highly competitive class.               In 250MX racing, Rockstar Energy Racing Bel-Ray-backed Jason Anderson experienced his breakout season. He experienced the first outdoor podium win of his career in Millville, MN and has shown flashes of brilliance all season long. He is expected to be a top championship contender in 2014. His 17th place first moto was hampered by a second moto 32nd place finish. In the second moto, Anderson was in a top three position and riding well, until a handlebar to his ribs caused his demise. Anderson recorded 20th overall for the event and a top 10 overall season finish in 8th place. Anderson’s teammate for the last two rounds of the season, Michael Leib, suffered a hand injury at the previous round in Utah but he came to the final round and attempted to tough it out. Unfortunately, the pain was too much, and he was forced to retire.               With the motocross series concluded, the racers will take a short vacation before resuming preparations for the 2014 racing season.               To learn more about Bel-Ray specialty powersports lubricants, visit www.belray.com/powersports or call (732) 938-2421.               Follow Bel-Ray racers all season long at www.belray.com  Rockstar Energy Racing racers (top to bottom) Ryan Sipes, Jason Anderson and Michael Leib rely on Bel-Ray lubricants to keep their bikes performing at their best. Those same products are found on powersports dealer shelves.

ABOUT BEL-RAY COMPANY, INC.   Bel-Ray Company, Inc.was founded in 1946 and is a privately held, woman-owned business serving the lubrication needs of powersports, industrial and mining customers worldwide. Bel-Ray is recognized as the leader in the specialty lubricants industry for setting high standards of quality and performance with products formulated for the motorcycle, automotive, aviation, energy, food, marine, military, mining, OEM, industrial steel, and textile industries. “Flex Your Engine” with Bel-Ray’s superior Powersports line that delivers top quality Made-in-the-USA products to motorcycle and recreational vehicle enthusiasts around the world. Bel-Ray products are available at powersports dealers worldwide. Visit Bel-Ray.com for a complete dealer listing. Find the right lubricant for your equipment with Bel-Ray’s Lubricant Advisor. Like us on Facebook.com/BelRay or follow us on Twitter/Bel_Ray.

Bou ready to collect his seventh crown

Courtesy of FIM NEWS

If all goes to plan Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa will wrap up his seventh successive FIM Trial World Championship at the French Grand Prix this weekend to add to the seven FIM Indoor / X-Trial World Championships he already has to his name. A seventh outdoor title for Bou will confirm him as one of the three great riders of the modern era, with him having every opportunity to go on to surpass the seven FIM Trial World Championships won by both Jordi Tarres and then Dougie Lampkin. If Bou reaches his goal this weekend he will also match Lampkin not only in the total number of outdoor titles, but also by having won all seven in a row as Lampkin did up until 2003.

The debate regarding Bou being the best rider of all time will continue amongst those in the paddock and his many thousands of fans around the World, and whilst that particular point remains subjective his winning record can not be disputed in any way. Since Toni joined the FIM Trial World Championship aged sixteen years, five months and eighteen days at the Irish GP back in 2003 he has always recorded point scoring rides, his debut outing earning him a single point as he finished in fifteenth place. The following season Bou had established himself as a regular top ten finisher with his highest placing coming at the final round in Switzerland on route to him being ranked ninth overall.

Just a year later and Bou had moved into the top five in the World and was showing great consistency including achieving his first podium places in America and Germany, which was to serve as an early warning to the higher ranking riders. The start of the 2006 season saw Toni claim his maiden GP win at his home round, a feat he was to repeat in Japan later in the year as he maintained fifth place in the general standings for the second season in a row. A move to the mighty Repsol Montesa squad during the winter of 2006 shocked many and some in the paddock questioned if the four stroke machine would hinder Bou’s progress.

Five back to back GP wins to open his 2007 campaign soon silenced those critics, as Bou marched on to take the first of his FIM Trial World Championships as he was only twice defeated during his victorious run. Although Adam Raga – Gas Gas managed to disrupt Toni’s winning ways on a more regular basis in 2008, he could not stop Bou taking his second outdoor title. It was a similar story throughout 2009, 2010 and 2011 although Raga did push Bou to the wire in the latter of these three battles, but ultimately had to watch on as Bou collected his fifth straight FIM Trial World Championship.

Bou was simply in a class of his own during 2012, as he only lost out twice, once to Raga and once to Cabestany before eventually collecting his sixth outdoor crown by a massive sixty-three points. However things were about to change within the sport as no-stop rules were re-introduced for this year’s FIM Trial World Championship. The new rules have certainly upset Bou’s consistency this season as he has fought a season long battle with Raga, which he only really got the upper hand with following his two wins at the previous GP in Great Britain.

A point Bou was quick to acknowledge ahead of this weekend’s final encounter. “It has been difficult for me this year with the new rules. Many times I have felt very nervous and this has shown in my results especially when the Trials have been easy. Adam (Raga) has been very strong this year and maybe has adapted to the rules better than me. Finally thanks to the results at the last GP I have my best advantage of the season. There is still work to do in France, but I now feel the most confident I have done all year, so hopefully it will be a good weekend for me.”

---