Dougie Lampkin reinforced his legendary status within the sphere of global off road motorcycle sport, as the veteran trials rider stole a late and heroic victory at the famous Hell's Gate Extreme enduro held in Italy. Lampkin overcame a painful and restrictive ankle injury, sustained at last weekend's FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup event in Barcelona, Spain to defeat fellow British rider Graham Jarvis in the closing metres of this ultra tough competition.

Confirming the sheer severity of this almost perverse test of man and machine, Lampkin and Jarvis were the sole two finishers from the one plus entry that begun the day long battle deep in the Italian hills. Dougie passage to victory was anything but easy and was a true story of pure grit and determination on the behalf of the ex multi FIM Trial World champion. It was unclear if Lampkin would even start the race after he suffered ligament damage to his left ankle and attended hospital last Sunday evening, but having made it on to the famous Hell's Gate podium twelve month's ago at his first attempt Dougie was adamant that he would return to fight for the win on this occasion.




Conditions were typically tough for this annual early season gathering, with heavy rain in the days before the event leaving the ground soaked and slippery in places, whilst parts of the course still remained frozen solid following the recent bout of severe winter weather. Undeterred by these factors, the thirty-three year gritty Yorkshireman used every inch of his great off road experience to keep in contention throughout the day despite obviously being in considerable pain and being hampered by his injured ankle.

Dougie qualified for the afternoon's main event in fourth place behind event favourite Tadeusz Blazusiak, Jarvis and Andreas Lettenbichler after three gruelling opening laps. Lampkin should have placed higher at this stage of the proceedings, but a crash in the last special test saw him lose valuable time as the trials legend struggled to retrieve his bike from the rugged landscape following a potential event ending crash.

Battered and bruised even at this point in the day Lampkin was not confident that he was in good enough physical shape to survive the toughest part of the competition where riders are eliminated lap by lap if they fail to stay in touch with the leaders. Blazusiak was an early casualty soon after the mid afternoon start, with the recently crowned FIM Indoor Enduro Cup champion and twice winner of this event retiring as a result of his fall.

With the Polish rider out of the running it looked like Jarvis had the win within his grasp as he held an eight minute lead over Lampkin in what was now a straight head to head battle, with these being the last two riders standing. Dougie dug deep, knowing that anything can happen in this unique event, and made one last effort to close in on his countryman as they came in sight of the final climb known locally as Hell's Peak.

With adrenalin masking his true pain, Lampkin passed Jarvis on the early part of the hill before pushing his way to the summit where a screaming Italian crowd played their traditional part in dragging the eventual winner to the top. The relief and jubilation was clear to see as Dougie realised the sheer scale of his achievement.

Totally exhausted Lampkin stated. "I really can't believe that I have won, as the odds were certainly against me. Earlier in the week I was not sure if I was going to be able to ride, but I decided to come and see how it went. But even after qualifying this morning I was still not convinced that I was going to be able to make it to the finish."

Dougie continued. "Although I pushed hard on the last lap I never really expected to catch Graham, but when I saw him stopped on the last hill I knew it was my moment. Reaching the top was a special feeling and ranks right up their amongst the other things I have won in my career. What makes the victory even better is winning in Italy for Beta, as they are so passionate about this event, so I am really pleased for them too."

"My ankle has swollen to the size of my thigh, but hopefully I can be somewhere near fit for the Tough One back in the UK later this month, as this is another event I would love to win." Lampkin concluded.

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