After the jubilation of a well-deserved second place in yesterday’s competition at the Grand Prix of Great Britain, the fourth round of the 2010 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship, Dougie Lampkin endured a day of polar opposites and was only able to finish in sixth place today. The former world champion found it difficult to establish a rhythm and bike problems cost him time and forced him to rush the final part of the second lap.

Not surprisingly, expectations were higher perhaps even than yesterday after the podium result but from the start, it was clear that it wasn’t to be Dougie’s day. By his own admission, he set off badly, fiving sections two and three and catching the marker tape in section six, gaining another five.

He then picked up a puncture in section thirteen and the tyre came off the wheel rim, adding another five to his tally as he approached the end of the first lap. By the time he set off on lap two, he was in seventh place, with thirty marks to his name.

The second lap began better than the first but despite this, it was still to prove tricky. As he left section thirteen, the engine locked up and he was forced to freewheel down the Nevis Range world cup mountain bike track to the paddock, where the Beta mechanics repaired the bike for the final two sections.

By the end of the trial, he had managed to climb one position to sixth overall, thanks to his effort on the second lap.

Commenting after the end, Dougie said: “Today was an absolute nightmare, to be honest. I set off really badly and although I had a lovely clean on section five and a nice ride on six, by the time I got there, I had already broken the tape and flattened a flag. Nothing seemed to be rolling at all and I was struggling. Then I got the puncture in thirteen and it just felt like one thing after another.”

“I felt like I was riding right on line but I still seemed to be dropping into all the holes. I just couldn’t get anything right and the score was just racking-up. It was a very disappointing day when nothing went right.”

“What’s most frustrating is that I feel, generally, that I’m riding well at the moment. It’s been a difficult training schedule recently, what with the Scottish Six Day Trial, a month of Enduro training, a couple of weeks of Trial practice and then back to Enduro. But I enjoyed this weekend, even though I couldn’t get it rolling today. It was one of those trials where if you started well, you carried that momentum with you but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me today.”

Dougie’s next outing will be next weekend, when he returns to the World-famous Goodwood Festival of Speed at the invitation of Lord March. He will again be given free rein to roam the grounds during the three days of the event, demonstrating his skills in a variety of terrain.

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