goodwood star, dougie lampkin returned to his rightful place at the top of british trials when he romped to an emphatic win at the revamped british expert event held near carlisle, cumbria. lampkin was never really challenged all day, and ran out a clear victor some twenty-one marks ahead of his nearest rival.
making one of his now rare competitive outings in the uk, dougie was serious about winning an event that has previously been dormant during his long and illustrious riding career. held at the same venue that will host the uk round of the world trials championship in 2009, lampkin was also keen to test the terrain that he will face next may.
the large sand stone quarry offered little variation, but served up a strong helping of large rock steps that were often followed by equally fearsome vertical drops. lampkin signalled his intent to take top honours with a dominant early showing that saw him clean no less than the first eight sections to leave the rest of the field in his wake.
fellow world contenders james dabill and michael brown had no answer to dougie's display of brilliance, and had basically conceded before even the first lap had been completed. even though dougie took a flag out at the eleventh hazard on his first lap, as he tried to correct his line as his rear wheel slipped away on an angled slab, he was still well clear of the pack at the halfway point.
with only eight marks to show for his initial tour, lampkin allowed himself to relax a little on his second lap as he enjoyed the rare opportunity of riding in front of his home fans. again it was not until section nine before dougie parted with any marks, but on this occasion his first loss of the lap was a soft five.
despite this slight set back, lampkin forged on and maintained his comfortable lead that suffered one last dent prior to the finish. whilst dougie escaped injury as he miss-selected a gear in the penultimate section, his ever-present minder father martin, was left with a nasty cut and severe swelling above his eye. the wound was treated on site, with no hospital visit needed.
dougie's second lap total of eleven marks took his tally to nineteen for the day, which was less than half the score recorded by eventual runner up brown, who demoted dabill to the lower step of the podium.
a delighted lampkin commented. "apart from trying to kill my father, it has been a great day. it is always good to ride in front of your home fans, especially when you are riding well."
"with the type of sections, i really thought that james could be hard to beat, but as it turned out it was a very comfortable win for me. hopefully i can repeat the same kind of form next weekend." dougie concluded.
2008 british experts trial
1: lampkin - 19
2: brown - 40
3: dabill - 47
4: morris - 82
5: haslam - 88
6: danby - 112
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