Toni Bou won his 15th consecutive TrialGP World Championship at the series finale in Portugal. It is also the 29th straight observed trials title for Bou, including the indoor X-Trial World Championships—a feat unequaled in world championship motorsports. After a seven-year hiatus from FIM TrialGP competition to concentrate on Dakar Rally events, Laia Sanz returned to take the title from Emma Bristow at the final round. Sanz broke Bristow’s seven-year run as TrialGP Women World Champion. Sanz now has 14 World Championships is riding for GasGas Factory Racing.
Bou’s championship run was an impressive one, given he started the season injured. He led the entire year, taking victories in seven of nine rounds. It was also the final year for 2004 TrialGP World Champion Takahisa Fujinami, Bou’s teammate since 2007 on the Repsol Honda Team. Fujinami went out in style, winning round 2 in Italy. For the 14th time in his career, two-time TrialGP World Champion Adam Raga was runner-up to Bou. In Bou’s uninterrupted run of 29 world championships, Raga has been runner-up 23 times. Bou and Raga were 1-2 at five of the nine rounds in 2021.
Bristow went into the final round one point ahead of Sanz in the TrialGP Women standings. In a low-scoring final, it all came down to Section 4 at Portugal. There, Bristow scored twice scored three points, while Sanz cleaned the section twice, and event runner-up Berta Abellan scored a clean and a 1. That was enough to tilt the scales and the title to Sanz.
“This year has been very special for me,” Bou explained, “because, at the beginning, things were very complicated with the injury just a month before the start of the championship. In the end, there will come a year when I will not be able to win—I’ve won for 15 consecutive years—but the fact that I got injured just before the start of the world championship made it special, and I didn’t want to lose a championship in this way. Once again, we battled 100 percent. I tried to get into shape as the championship progressed, and the fact that I had a very good work rate before I got injured also helped me to recover faster. I am very happy to be able to win another world championship.”
“It’s been an incredible day. To win is amazing,” Sanz said. “It wasn’t the hardest trial of the championship, but the hard thing for me was to stay 100 percent focused, so mentally, it wasn’t easy at all. Coming back to TrialGP after so many years away, to return and finally be successful and win another world title, it’s amazing. Apart from section three on the first lap, I think I had one of my best days of the championship today. It’s not been an easy year for me, so I am proud that I have been able to do what I hoped I would.”
“First of all, I want to thank Honda, HRC and the whole Montesa team,” Fujinami said, “including mechanics, minders, and all the people who have helped me over these 26 years. Without all of them, I could not have been in the world championship for 26 years. Today, I wanted to get a good result. In the end, I finished seventh, but I’m still happy with the way I rode today. I battled until the end. Today, I close this stage, but I am sure that the future will be promising. Today was a really special day, thanks to the whole trial family, all the brands, and all the people who were in Portugal today. I am very proud to have shared this day with all of them.”
“Today was also a very special day for everyone,” Bou added, “as it was Fujinami’s last trial. It is very difficult to think of Team HRC without him. I wish him all the best for the future.”
2021 TrialGP World Championship Final Standings (9 of 9 rounds)
- Toni Bou, Montesa, 172 points (7 wins)
- Adam Raga, TRRS, 150 (1 win)
- Jaime Busto, Vertigo, 122
- Matteo Grattarola, Beta, 112
- Miquel Gelabert, GasGas, 95
- Takahisa Fujinami, Montesa, 94 (1 win)
- Gabriel Marcelli, Montesa, 92
- Jeroni Fajardo, Sherco, 80
- Jorge Casales, GasGas, 57
- Benoit Bincaz, Beta, 38
- Dan Peace, Sherco, 20
- Teo Colairo, Beta, 5
2021 TrialGP Women World Championship Final Standings (6 of 6 rounds)
- Laia Sanz, GasGas, 111 Points (3 wins)
- Emma Bristow, Sherco, 107 (3 wins)
- Berta Abellan, Vertigo, 94
- Sandra Gomez Cantero, TRRS, 74
- Ingveig Hakonsen, TRRS, 64
- Naomi Monnier, Beta, 61
- Alice Minta, Scorpa, 55
- Vivian Wachs, TRRS, 46
- Martina Gallieni, TRRS, 39
- Jule Steinert, TRRS, 31
- Caroline Moreon, Sherco, 27
- Huldeborg Barkved, GasGas, 22
- Madeleine Hoover, GasGas, 22
- Alex Brancati, GasGas, 6
- Theresa Bauml, Vertigo, 6