Takahisa Fujinami, aged 41, emerge victorious in Italian TrialGP

Michelle Liew

June 14, 2021

Takahisa Fujinami, at 41 years of age, has claimed a stellar victory on the second day of the Italian TrialGP with Toni Bou clinching runner-up.

Takahisa Fujinami wins the Italian TrialGP.

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Takahisa Fujinami is no stranger to the TrialGP albeit his last win in Lourdes, France was five years ago in July 2016. The Japanese ended the weekend in full glory as he made his return to the top step of the podium sealing victory number 34 in the Italian TrialGP.

The Repsol Honda Team rider took over the town of Tolmezzo, gradually improving through the day. He overcame the challenges and picked up just four marks on an extraordinary second lap to capture the final victory. “Fujigas” now holds third place overall, eight points behind leader and teammate Toni Bou.

Despite starting the day somewhat worse for wear after yesterday’s huge victory effort, today Toni Bou once again performed well and was able to finish in second position. The Repsol Honda Team rider leaves Italy leading the world championship, after yesterday’s win and today’s (Sunday) second place.

The TrialGP World Championship continues on July 3 at a one-day-only event in Charade, France.

Takahisa Fujinami (Repsol Team Honda)- As It Happened

“Yesterday, I felt comfortable on the bike, but the results didn’t materialize. In general, these last few months I have trained hard and I have felt very good with the bike. Yesterday, I did not expect to finish seventh, but the truth is that I was close to fifth and with room for improvement. What I did not expect was to be able to win today! I was looking for the win, but not 100%. I’m very happy. At 41, I don’t think anyone was expecting it, not my team, nor Toni, and I don’t think I was. It was terrific to be able to achieve it. I felt like I did in 2004 when I was 24 years old. Thank you very much to the whole team for always supporting me and helping me, this victory is a gift for all of you.”

Toni Bou (Repsol Team Honda)- As It Happened

“First of all, I want to congratulate my partner Takahisa Fujinami. What he has done today at 41 has been incredible. He works a lot and does such a good job with the whole team. As for me, I am happy with the weekend in general. Today in section 6 I hurt myself a bit, I made a mistake with the line and wasn’t able to secure my foot. Even so, I got a very good result. I hope I haven’t done too much damage and hopefully I will be able to recover fully for the second round of the world championship.”