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·@tonibou_oficial:”It will be a very close MotoGP World Championship, but Marc Márquez always gives his all”
Last night in Nice, France, Toni Bou enlarged his legend even more by securing yet another Trial World Championship, the twenty-first title of his impressive record. The Repsol Honda Team rider achieved his fourth victory in the fourth round of the 2017 X-Trial World Championship, in which he just needed to get into the finale, but he closed in a masterful way, without taking one penalty point. His team mate, Takahisa Fujinami, finished once again just outside the finale, in fifth place and just two points away from entering the last phase.
WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU SECURED THE TITLE AGAIN?
“I’m very happy, because there has been a lot of pressure to win this title. Even winning the first three races, I had to get into the finale and not make any mistakes, because the Qualifying was very easy and any mistake would have been very difficult to recover. We were nervous, but we did it again, so I want to thank the team for the great job they did, it was fantastic”.
SEEING THE FINAL RESULT, WITH FOUR WINS IN FOUR ROUNDS, IT WOULD SEEM IT WAS EASY …
“Yes, it can look like that from outside, but with only four races, we arrived to the last one with the obligation to be in the finale. In Marseille we had a very close victory, just by one point, and if Adam [Raga] had won, we would’ve been forced to fight for the title in the last round, which we already know it would be easy. Every championship has its features and I’m very happy to have been able to win all the rounds again, after two years in which that wasn’t possible”.
DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD WIN THE RACES?
“We knew it was difficult, but I try to think about one race after the other. For me it was very important to win in Barcelona. I was a bit more relaxed in Vienna, because I knew it was a complicated race, which I like and we were able to win. Were we got really nervous was in Marseille, because it’s difficult knowing that you must win if you don’t want to fight for it in the last round. I think I was able to manage it well and I did a good race. We suffered a bit in Nice too, but we did very well”.
DID YOUR RIDING STYLE CHANGE?
“We improved some details. In the Indoor trial, we always had a very high level, with very few mistakes. We did some amazing seasons and improving is always difficult, but that’s what we try to do. With races such as the one in Nice, where we are very nervous, we try to arrive with the bike at the highest level, make the minimum possible errors and it allows you to mature and improve”.
BEING SUCH A SHORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, WITH 4 ROUNDS, DO YOU FEEL THE PRESSURE IN ALL THE ROUNDS OF THE CALENDAR?
“Of course. I’m sure that all riders would prefer a championship with ten rounds, or six or seven at least. With four races, if I hadn’t won in Marseille, where I took the win at the last minute, the winner of the last round would have taken the title and the pressure would have been very high. We get very nervous, as it happened last year, when I lost the first race. It takes you to your limits, but it also makes you improve”.
WHICH WAS THE MOST TECHNICAL OR DIFFICULT RACE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
“Undoubtedly the most difficult race was Vienna. It also was the one where I felt more comfortable and where I won with a wider points margin. I made mistakes and it wasn’t the race where I rode the best, but it was the one where I was calmer. I think we need more races like that, because it’s a great show where the public has fun”.
WHICH IS THE KEY TO KEEP SUCH A HIGH LEVEL FOR SUCH A LONG TIME?
“The key is difficult to say and even if I knew I wouldn’t say it. I enjoy what I do every day, I love improving and I’m very demanding with the bike and as a sportsman. That allowed me to get to my 30 years in great shape and I can still improve”.
YOUR RIVALS MAKE YOU IMPROVE YOUR LEVEL ALL THE TIME?
“Yes, because Adam did a great finale yesterday in Nice and he forced me to do a race without a single mistake to secure the win. He made one mistake in the last zone, but I was first on track and didn’t know what could happen. Rivals like him make me improve and force me to get the best of myself”.
THE INDOOR TRIAL NEEDS TO EVOLVE TO GET TO YOUR LEVEL?
“There will be novelties next year and let’s see how everything evolves, because there is a promoter that wants to change the system a lot. I think there is a positive side and a dangerous one, because I think that a change is needed but what we need to do is make it a show and have the public enjoy”.
AFTER YOUR SHOULDER INJURY IN 2016, WHICH IS YOUR LEVEL?
“The level is the same. It’s true that I lost a bit of mobility, but I can ride at 100% on the bike. When I crash, or descend, it bothers me a little, or even playing some sport like tennis. But I was lucky enough and I can do very well when practising my sport. I’m at 100% which is very positive, because it most probably means that I would not need to have surgery due to this injury”.
HOW DID YOU SEE YOUR TEAM MATES, FUJINAMI AND BUSTO?
“I saw that Busto is improving very fast. He had very few chances to do indoor rounds, but he got into one finale and finished just out of it in another round. About Fujinami, we all know that he’s an outdoor rider and last year he surprised everyone by taking the third place. I think that he didn’t do a bad X-Trial World Championship. He defended his place and that means that he’s strong”.
ARE WE SEEING THE BEST TONI BOU?
“I don’t know, it’s difficult to say. We had very good years, although it’s true that this year we did a lot of races and we won nearly all of them. I’m very happy and I feel very well. We’re doing a good job, but we already had some very good years before, it’s difficult to say something like that”.
HOW WILL YOU PREPARE THE OUTDOOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I’ll start thinking about it from today, because up to know we trained a lot for the indoor. The X-Trial World Championship is very important for me. It’s psychologically very important to have confidence to get to the races in top shape and I only trained for that. Right now, I’m a bit out of shape for the outdoor, but we’ll start training. This year, with the new promoter, luckily the World Championship starts a bit later and we’ll have time to prepare”.
WE SAW YOU IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA WATCHING THE MOTOGP RACE. HOW DO YOU SEE THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I think it’s very exciting. The races that will take place from now I think are good for the Hondas, especially Austin, where Marc [Márquez] is always very fast. We could see that Viñales and Rossi are doing very well and also Dovizioso can be on top. There were even surprises like Aleix Espargaró, or my friend Rins, who did better than expected in his first Grand Prix. I think it will be a very close MotoGP World Championship, although Marc always gives his all and they will all have to do a great effort”.