Doug is Le Star in Hell
By TMX Archives on 11th Feb 10
The International racing season kicked-off with a vengeance last weekend and editor JD takes a quick run through the three main events that made it such a busy couple of days...
WELL, what a weekend that was to launch us into 2010 on the International front! Mantova Starcross MX, Hell's Gate extreme enduro and the monster Le Touquet beach race. That was just for starters. Just why the FIM decided to run all three on the same weekend, followed by precisely nothing this coming weekend, will no doubt remain one of life's little mysteries...
What a result Hell's Gate produced only two finishers and both of them British. Dougie Lampkin and Graham Jarvis who incredibly finished in that order. A truly awesome ride to win for Doug as following the previous week's Barcelona Indoor Enduro he wasn't at all sure he would make Hell's Gate after damaging his ankle. And it is no coincidence that both lads have been Britain's top trials riders over the past decade and a half. The extreme enduro boom is a heaven-sent boon to experienced trials riders. The current leader of the pack, Polish ace Taddy Blazusiak, served his time over several years in the World Trials Championship. OK, he was no Dougie Lampkin but Taddy rode to a very high standard (top 10) and it was a standard that saw him take the extreme events by storm just as soon as he decided to have a go. But you still can't say enough about Doug's ride. Yes, he's seven times World Trials Champion but there's no comparison whatsoever between riding a lightweight trials bike through a section and riding a full-on enduro mount over a truly extreme course. It's chalk and cheese.
Just checking-out the top ten qualifiers at Hell's Gate, no fewer than seven are former International trials aces. Taddy, Doug and Graham, German Andreas Lettenbichler, Luxemburger Mikael Vukcevik, Italian Daniele Maurino and young Spaniard Dani Gibert. That tells its own story.
MOVING on, it looks like KTM has really come up with something with its new 350cc four-stroke. It always looked a good theory, with the 450 seen as too powerful' and possibly over-tiring when raced over a full GP distance. The theory is that a carefully designed 350 should be much closer to a 250 in the rideability stakes and as the likes of Cairoli can ride a 250 flat-out all-afternoon they should be able to do virtually the same on the 350.
As I said, good theory. But good theories are two a penny and they really don't always work anywhere near as well in practise as on paper. The old adage when it came to racing motorcycles was: A good big un will always beat a good little un! But KTM has had the bottle to put its money where its mouth is and the early indication is that the 350 was a good horse to back. It's not done and dusted just yet but Cairoli has said, if the 350 performs as well on hard-pack as in the soft stuff then his choice for the GPs is made!
No doubt everyone will be following the progress of KTMs 350 very closely as the season progresses, including its rivals.
It is also all very well for a super-fast natural' rider like Cairoli to win on the 350, but will it prove as effective in the hands of a privateer? Given that many riders these days are choosing to ride a 250F rather than a fire-breathing 450F the chances are that the answer to that question is yes' but that's jumping the gun.
The 350 is certainly the most interesting thing to hit the scene for several seasons and it will no doubt keep us talking all year.
FINALLY Le Touquet. This is without a doubt one of the great motorcycling spectacles to watch and one of the toughest events in which to compete. But for some reason the big French beach blast has fallen out of favour as an event to ride in for the Brits.
I managed to catch some on TV sometime Sunday evening and as in previous years found it absolutely mesmerising to watch as the fast guys make it look like a speeded-up video game, firing left, right and centre round the poor mortals who struggle to make any kind of progress in the deep, soft sand. I like watching the event because it is a true beach race, with much of it in the soft dunes. It is a killer for the riders.
Can't say anything about the result but I bet its safe to say that there was much raising of Gallic eyebrows and much shrugging of French shoulders not to mention some choice words when the guy who crossed the line first was penalised for noise infringements.
All I am prepared to say is I am mighty glad that it wasn't a British rider who crossed the line first and was then booted off the podium for an alleged noisy bike...