Sheffield, UK - Friday 29/12/06
By G2F on 1st Jan 07
Dougie Lampkin left Sheffield arena late last night both gutted' and empty handed, with the multi World champion finally slumping to fourth place after having led his home event for the majority of the evening.
Lampkin may remain the overall ‘King of Sheffield', with eight wins in the last twelve years, but the British favourite has now been without a victory in what he still regards as one of his most important competitions each year since January 2004.
Dougie produced a performance that was reminiscent of the man at his very best during the opening lap, this brought much noise from the near capacity crowd as they sensed another epic home victory in the making. Lampkin absolutely dominated the early action with a display that contained skill and determination in just the right balance.
Even reigning indoor and outdoor World champion Adam Raga had to play second fiddle on this occasion as Dougie finished the first lap for the loss of just two marks, which was one better than his Spanish rival. Both of Lampkin's marks came in the ultra difficult log section, the Yorkshireman needing one steady dab and one on time to complete this testing hazard.
Dougie's dominance continued through much of the second lap with the Montesa mounted rider pulling four marks clear of the field as the trial headed towards its closing stages. But disaster was about to strike as Lampkin picked up three consecutive fives in the last three sections, before crashing heavily in the final race when his right hand footrest broke as he landed on the face on the second steel jump. This final piece of cruel luck robbed Dougie of the last podium place and of a better result, which would have at least been justice for his efforts and determination throughout the evening.
"I am absolutely gutted. I just can't get my head round how I have ended up fourth when I was leading with just three sections to ride. I really felt good out there and the way things were going I really thought it could have been my night, but that proved not to be the case. One minute Adam and I are battling for the victory the next thing is we are handing it to Bou. Not only am I disappointed for myself, but also for all my fans, who were absolutely brilliant tonight. I can only apologise to them how it ended up.” Commented Dougie immediately after the event.
Attendance: 6,800
Results: Lap 1 + Lap 2 = Total
1: Antonio Bou (SPA-Beta) 6 + 7 = 13
2: Adam Raga (SPA- Gas Gas) 3 + 14 = 17
3: Takahisa Fujinami (JPN-Montesa-HRC) 4 + 23 = 27
4: Dougie Lampkin (GBR-Montesa-HRC) 2 + 26 = 28
5: Albert Cabestany (SPA-Sherco) 5 + 24 = 29
6: James Dabill (GBR-Beta) 10 + 31 = 41
Dougie Lampkin's next event: 14/01/07 Sunday – Granada, Spain – Rnd 1 World Indoor Chp
Issued by: G2F T: + 44 (0) 161 763 6660 F: + 44 (0) 161 763 6663 E: worldpress@g2f.co.uk