World Outdoor Trials Championship La Rabassa, Andorra
Round 9 Day 1 Sunday (1 day event) - Lampkin
Dougie Lampkin was robbed of a second place finish earlier
today, when time penalties worked against the British rider
to demote him to an eventual and slightly disappointing fourth
position. Lampkin initially looked to have secured the runners
up berth behind the unstoppable Albert Cabestany, on observation
alone, but dropped down the leader board as he incurred marks
on time. This was after he had been assured that the time
limited had been extended due to two separate situations.
Dougie was forced to waiting at least three minutes, along
with two other riders, as officials made a decision to scrap
section ten on the first lap, as a large rock became loose
and very unsafe. The observer controlling the situation notified
Lampkin that they had noted the numbers of the riders affected
by this delay and this would be adjusted at the finish.
The second incident happened late on the second lap, again
as Dougie and two other riders were prevented from riding
the section in question as medics attended to an injured Marc
Freixa, who had suffered a nasty crash just in front Lampkin.
Again officials on the scene advised the riders that an allowance
would be made for this forced stoppage.
However it was only at the finish, and when it was too
late, that Lampkin discover that due to a technicality in
the rules, addition time cannot be added except if it is a
universal extension that affects all riders. With this not
being the case, Dougie was left out in the cold despite posting
the second best observation score on the final lap.
“Fourth place again, but this time I am happy with
the way that I rode, just not with the result. I really needed
to ride well here to restore my confidence after my recent
run of poor results, and after today I know again that I can
be on the pace with the rest of the top guys. I am really
gutted over the time issue, as we were told we would get extra
time after having waited whilst they made a decision to scarp
section ten on the first lap. Also we should have got extra
time, as we had to wait late on the second lap whilst they
removed an injured rider from one of the sections. With out
the time penalties, I would have been second and still would
have held on to third in the championship, now it all comes
down to the final round in Belgium.”
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