World Outdoor Trials Championship La Chatre, France - Lampkin
Round 5 Day 1 Sunday (1 day event) 25/06/06
Dougie Lampkin made his dream of an eighth outdoor World
title become more like reality when he won the French Grand
Prix held at La Chatre earlier today. This was Lampkin’s
first victory of the season and took him seven points closer
to Raga in the title race, as the current championship leader
slumped to fourth place today.
In typical Lampkin style, Dougie absorbed the immense pressure
of knowing that he had to clean the final section of the trial
to take the win from his team mate Fujinami on a most cleans
tie break, with the pair having tied on fifty two marks apiece.
It was certainly a trial of two very different halves for
Dougie as he languished down in sixth place at the mid point,
after having notched up seven maximums on his first lap, four
of these being in the initial four sections.
Torrential over night rain had killed the extreme temperatures
of Saturday afternoon, but this heavy down pour had also nearly
killed the trial, with the wet adding severity to a course
that was already seen by many of the top riders as being far
too difficult even when dry.
Lampkin’s loss of just seven marks up to section
eleven on his second visit was one of the rides of the season
and saw him hoist himself up the leader board like a script
from Hollywood. Four slack marks in the sections twelve and
thirteen created a dramatic climax, one where Dougie would
eventually take a well deserved victory.
“It was very important for me to win this weekend
if I am to have a chance of taking the title. Raga came here
with a good advantage in the championship, so with him having
not made the podium today, it has really helped me to start
to close the gap on him.”
“It was a difficult first lap, but I felt I was riding
well so I used the second lap like I was starting a new trial.
I am really happy with how I rode on the second lap, it shows
just how strong we can be and is a big credit to the team
for all the hard work they continue to do.”
“The good news is that despite two not so good rides
I have still managed to pull off a couple of reasonable results.
And with two different winners and a mixture of other results
for other riders I am still very much in the hunt for the
championship.”
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