Adam Raga comfortably wins both days of the final WTC of '03!

The main headline from the final two rounds of the Outdoor World Trials Championship of 2003 is naturally the phenomenal achievement of the great Dougie Lampkin, taking his 7th straight World Championship. Dougie finished 2nd on Saturday and 3rd on Sunday. Takihisa Fujinami was the only viable threat for the Title, but after a disapointing 5th place on Saturday, his title hopes for this season were all but over.

The follow up headline was the totally dominant performance of Adam Raga, winning both days, and making him the only double winner of the year. In a season that has had some bizarre twists and turns, this was a notable triumph for Raga and his Gas Gas Pro.

Before the 2003 season even started, it was effectively over for the majority of the Spanish riders. As the result of a protest boycott at the first round of the Spanish National series, the Spanish Federation decided to take away the licences of all those who took part in the protest. This took out Raga, Cabestany, Colomer, Fajardo and a host of others. Without getting into the politics of this decision too much, the Spanish Federation totally overstepped their mark in a decision that affected riders at the World level. A decision affecting the riders in the domestic series would have been more appropriate.

The ban meant that none of the affected riders were awarded points in rounds 1-4. The Factories also decided that there was no point in sending their teams (at great expense) to the Japanese rounds. At many of the other rounds, the affected riders did not fight for the win as they normally would. It took a few rounds for them to come to terms with their ban, and the devastating effect it had on their seasons.

Despite all of this, Adam Raga finished the season in fourth place, having been awarded points in only 12 of 18 events. This is truly amazing, and is a credit to Adam's will, temperament and determination. After becoming the 2003 World Indoor Champion, Adam rightly set his sights on the outdoor title. His final two wins of the year demonstrate that had the ban not occurred, he almost certainly would have been a threat for the Title.

His performance on Sunday in particular raised many eyebrows. Adam finished on just 17 points for the day, with loops of 4 and 13. Marc Freixa finished second on the day, with a total of 32 points... almost double Adam's score! This is almost unheard of at this level. The next best single loop score behind Adam's 4 point first loop was Freixa's 11 points on his second loop.

Gas Gas and Adam Raga are very excited at the prospects for 2004. Having dominated the 2003 Indoor series, and finishing the Outdoor season in dominating fashion, Adam is poised for more Championships. The Gas Gas Pro model reaches its third year of production in 2004. Many of the improvements seen on Adam's bike this year have already made it onto the Adam Raga Replica, and many will be seen on the 2004 model Pro's. Stay tuned!