Spanish Outdoor Trials Championship Tarragona, Spain
Round 2 Sunday 25/03/07
Dougie Lampkin could only manage fifth place at the second
round of the Spanish domestic outdoor championship held near
Tarragona earlier today. Lampkin arrived at today’s
venue, which sits approximately one hundred kilometres South
of the city of Barcelona, in a confident mood, having scored
a convincing victory at an international invitation indoor
event held in France late on Friday night. However despite
his confidence Dougie endured a difficult day, during which
he felt he was ‘harshly’ penalised on two occasions,
which prevented him finishing closer to his rivals.
The course of fifteen sections comprised of nothing other
than dust and dry rocks, with five of the hazards being placed
in the theme park, which hosted the event. These particular
sections proved nothing more than a gesture for the few tourists
who were on hand and who had braved the unusually cold weather.
Lampkin clocked up three maximums on his way to a total of
nineteen marks, which left him someway off the pace of the
leaders at this point.
Having already been docked a five for touching a marker,
Dougie then also fell foul of the new rule in the Spanish
championship, where just touching the boundary tape is enough
to be given a maximum penalty.
Although Lampkin only conceded one further five on his closing
lap, this was not a significant enough improvement to pull
himself further up the leader board.
Once again it was Dougie’s new team mate Bou who was
the clear winner, he put in a clean final lap to beat Raga
by six marks, after the young Spanish pairing had shared the
lead at the halfway stage of the competition. Lampkin currently
holds fourth position in the overall standings, but will not
compete in all the rounds of the championship.
Speaking after the event Dougie said. “ Apart from
the two fives which I would say were doubtful, I feel that
I have ridden OK. The trial has not been fantastic, and nor
was my result. I don’t plan to dwell on what has happened
today, as I would prefer to prepare in a positive way, ready
for next weekend when the World championship starts.”
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