Ouch, that Erz'!
By TMX Archives on 10th Jun 10
Poland's Taddy Blazusiak claimed a fourth straight Erzberg Rodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble win at the 16th running of the Austrian event, but no fewer than six British riders made it to the end of this year's race with Dougie Lampkin leading the way.
Airlifted to hospital in 2009 when his Erzberg attempt ended in exhaustion, this year Dougie Lampkin finished the toughest of all one-day extreme enduro events as not only the best placed British rider but in a well-deserved third place behind event winner Taddy Blazusiak and Andreas Lettenbichler.
Not quite sure what to expect having never completed the full course before, Dougie delivered the goods on his 400cc Beta despite not exactly enjoying the early sections of the race. Past by several riders during the faster, opening stages of the race, Dougie worked his way back into contention, arriving at the gruelling rock section known as Karl's Diner alongside Graham Jarvis and Andreas Lettenbichler and battling for the runner-up spot.
"I was passed by a few riders at the start of the race, as if I was stood still,” explained Dougie. "There was no way I could ride at their speed and it was around the area where I had a big crash last year. After that things went really well and I got to the Karl's Diner sections in good form. But then I had a nightmare. I never got going and was so tired in the middle that I must have lost 100 meters on Jarvis and Lettenbichler.”
2010 Erzberg Rodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble
Erzberg, Austria
1 Taddy Blazusiak (KTM), 2 Andreas Lettenbichler (BMW), 3 Dougie Lampkin (Beta), 4 Paul Bolton (KTM), 5 Ben Hemingway (KTM), 6 Cory Graffunder (Husqvarna), 7 Jade Gutzeit (Yamaha), 8 Kurt Caselli (KTM), 9 Gerhard Forster (BMW), 10 Daryl Curtis (KTM), 11 Andrew Cripps (Kawasaki), 12 Lee Sampson (Gas Gas), 13 Taichi Tanaka (KTM), 14 Piero Sembenini (Gas Gas), 15 Andrew Reeves (KTM).
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2010
Dougie Lampkin certainly made up for last year with a great third place finish in the toughest of any of the one-day events.