On The Pegs November 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 11 | Page 116

On The Pegs P 118 On The Pegs Vol. 3 Issue 11 - November 2018 P 119 Spain stormed to a fantastic fifteenth consec- utive FIM Trial des Nations victory today at a wet, wild and spectacular Sokolov venue in the Czech Republic with their three-man team of Toni Bou - Repsol Honda and Gas Gas team-mates Jeroni Fajardo and Jaime Busto reigning supreme in the Men’s World Championship category. It was a much closer-fought affair in the Women’s TDN class where, competing alongside the men for the first time in the competition’s rich and illustri- ous history, Great Britain’s Emma Bristow - Sherco, Donna Fox - Montesa and Jess Brown - Scorpa regained the title they lost last year to Spain. JOSH TOTH GRABS A HANDFUL DURING TEST FOUR. THE FMF/KTM RIDER ROUNDED OUT THE PODIUM IN MICHIGAN PAT SMAGE HELPED TEAM USA TO A RUNNER-UP FINISH IN THE INTERNA- TIONAL DIVISION BEHIND THE WINNING HOST COUNTRY THE CZECH REPUBLIC QUALIFYING The 2018 FIM Trial des Nations kicked off at Soko- lov in the Czech Republic with a hard-fought quali- fication session designed to determine starting order for the main event. A hugely impressive twenty-three nations con- verged on the historic town in the west of the country near the border with Germany for the Olympics of Trial. Each country fielded two riders for qualification with the fastest, lowest-scoring run of the pair counting. In the World Championship category Japan tri- umphed with veterans Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Honda and Kenichi Kuroyama - Yamaha just edg- ing out defending champions Spain in a nail-biting showdown over the fast, man-made section that ended with a huge leap requiring courage and commitment in equal measure. In the end it was Fujigas’ full-on assault that swung the balance away from Toni Bou - Repsol Honda and Jaime Busto - Gas Gas with his time of 0:33.54 less than half-a-second ahead of Busto who