Lewis preparing for the World Junior event
Dougie and Tayla, Only a few days before the event he was unsure if he was even able to ride due to some huge crashes in the Erzberg Enduro. He amazingly ended up 4th only 2 points off Bou for a podium! Jeroni had some good rides and was only 7 points off a podium, Tayla must of inspired him because the following weekend he recorded his first World Round win.
Laia was as amazing as ever, she was also back from a lengthy injury break but you certainly cant tell by watching her! Jeroni and Dougie at the practise area, Ivan the factory Beta mechanic is behind Dougie tuning his bike.
Lewis in practise under the watchful eye of Joan Pons, Lewis had just travelled 17 hours by plane and 16 hours by truck, certainly makes some of our long trips to events back home look like nothing! All the top guys practise in the same area, as you can see Adam Raga in the background.
Toni Bou mucking around in practise! He was the only rider pushing hard. No one else even bothered looking at his practise sections because they were insane, but as usual Toni can ride them as calm as ever. The other photo is of Francesco Iolitta, he is a local Italian rider. Its hard to tell but he got to the top of the big rock and both of his minders missed him, He and his bike come crashing down hard! There were a few Italian words exchanged, even though I can't speak Italian I know they were not compliments.
Fujigas is popular everywhere, He always had groups of people around him. He rode really well. Unfortunately he had an average second lap which cost him the win. Raga took the win and was a league ahead on the day. His score was made up from a lot of silly mistakes. The last section on lap 1 Raga somehow crashed on flat ground? He also made silly errors on the easier section which the lower riders were cleaning, but he made it count on the difficult section and deserved the win.
Just thought i would chuck this picture in, I was amazed that they still use steel poles for section pegs! No wonder the world guys are so good, if they don't get up the rock they will get impaled! The commentator having a word with Joan, Not to sure what he said but he was probably stirring up Lewis.
Lewis up on the starting podium, as usual the commentator asked if he rides kangaroos. Also Lewis lining up for section 3 on lap 2. He had an awesome ride on the first 2 sections but i think i may have put him off because i think he got 5.
I just had to put these photos in, Casey kicking Rossi's arse at his home! It was SWEET!
