World Outdoor Trials Championship Senez, France
Round 3 Day 1 Sunday (1 day event) 27/05/07
 Dougie
Lampkin made a welcome return to the podium at the French
Grand Prix held at the small town of Senez earlier today.
Despite the positive result Lampkin did not enjoy the best
of days as he fought hard to find any kind of form at what
was a difficult, and at times, a dangerous event. Dougie’s
second rostrum finish in the three opening rounds, still leaves
him in fourth spot in the overall standings, but two points
closer to his team mate Fujinami who currently holds third
place in the series.
Lampkin started well with the loss of just three marks in
the opening four sections, but this was then quickly followed
by four fives in a row as his total soared almost out of control.
Despite two further failures during the later part of the
first lap, Lampkin was still very much in contention with
everyone except Bou, who was simply in a class of his own
through the first fifteen sections.
Again Dougie begun the second lap well, and although he still
never reached the end cards in sections five and six again,
his performance was showing marked signs of improvement. With
the rain threatening overhead, Lampkin looked like he maybe
able to produce a good enough ride to take the runners up
position, but Raga responded brilliantly in the closing hazards
to keep him down in third spot.
The purpose made trials park was both steep and severe, with
the already tough terrain being added to by some human interference,
with various large boulders having been carefully placed to
create some truly spectacular sections. The damp ground and
local river made the rocks extremely slippery, and allowed
little room for error, as Dougie and the other riders soon
discovered.
Lampkin stated: “The result is OK,
but my riding wasn’t for big parts of the day. It has
been a tough trial, where everyone except Toni has really
struggled. After the first lap I was happy to be somewhere
close, as I really thought I was going to be a mile off. Raga
pulled off some fantastic rides late on lap two, which meant
third was the best I could hope for. This time it was Fuji’s
turn to miss out on the rostrum, and after my two near misses
in Guatemala, it was good to be back on the podium again today.”
|
