Dougie Lampkin saw his chance of
collecting his sixth win at the World famous Scottish Six
Days Trial and of extending his current run to three
successive victories disappear on the opening day of the
event. Lampkin suffered a rare and strange electrical fault
on Monday that resulted in him losing twenty-seven marks on
time, and which effectively ruled him out of the top order
before the trial had even got underway proper.
Dougie arrived in the Scottish Highlands
looking to rewrite the history books by becoming the first
ever rider to record a second run of three wins in this
unique and classic competition. Whilst the thirty sections
per day are now of a level not to really trouble the top
riders, the route across mainly rough land that exceeds over
one hundred miles on some days remains a real test of man
and machine. The trial was originally introduced to measure
the reliability of the machines back in the early part of
the twentieth century, and with the modern era of trials
bike designed for much shorter courses, durabilty continues
to be an important part of this event.
Dougie looked to have put himself very
much in contention with the loss of just six marks coming
into the final group of sections on Monday afternoon, but
just as he was about to ride the last double sub hazard his
factory Beta spluttered to a halt. Although Lampkin
frantically tried to identify the fault, it was not until
nearly three quarters of an hour later that it was diagnosed
as being the HT coil.
With a new coil fitted the thirty-four year old veteran
rushed back to the parc ferme after riding the last two
sections, but found himself well over his alloted time. This
put Dougie outside the top fifty as the first day results
were published due to the hefty time penalties he had
incurred through no fault of his own.
Ever the true professional the ex multi
FIM Trial World champion did not let this effect the rest of
his long week as he set about salvaging some pride by
climbing up the leader board and putting on a show for the
many people who had made the trip to Fort William to see him
in action.
Lampkin completed the closing five days
for the loss of a mere two marks, this included four clean
days and just two dabs on Friday during his early day.
Dougie's total of eight marks on observation for the week
was the best of the two hundred and seventy riders who
started the trial and would have been good enough for his
sixth victory if it was not for his time penalties.
Incredibly Dougie pulled his way up to eighth spot come the
finish and even beat Albert Cabestany thanks to another
clean ride on day six.
Although Dougie had still managed to
enjoy his week in the Highlands he was understandibly
disappointed about what had happened. "I am pretty
gutted about Monday as without the problem I would have been
there or there abouts. Scotland is tough both on the riders
and on the bikes, but having an HT coil pack up is not
something you can prepare for."
"The Scottish is one of my favourite
events of the year, so I am disappointed not to have had the
chance to extend my winning run. After Monday I just rode
for fun, and enjoyed the opportunity to ride with my cousins
without any pressure. The battle between Alexz (Wigg), Ben
(Hemingway) and Michael (Brown) was a close one and I would
like to congratulate them all for riding well and creating
such a tense climax."
Lampkin ended. "Despite my disaster, it was still a
great week and a good result for the Beta team."
