SSDT Day Four - Brown surrenders his lead
By G2F on 6th May 10
Michael Brown's - Sherco domination of the 2010 Scottish Six Days Trial (SSDT) suffered a major set back this morning when his factory bike failed to start within the alloted minute as he was set to leave the parc ferme. The twenty-three year old from Scarborough received a five mark penalty for this failure. This takes his tally, for the week so far, to ten as he remained clean on observation for the rest of the day.
Brown's mechanical problem has allowed the Beta pairing of Alexz Wigg and Ben Hemingway to take control of the top of the leader board, with them tied on nine marks apiece. Hemingway dropped just a single mark today in the second section of the last group. Twenty year old Wigg needed two dabs to complete his day, one in the sections immediately after the lunch stop and one in the very last hazard of the final group at the Nevis range complex.
James Dabill - Gas Gas, who was the winner of the SSDT back in 2007, continues to ride himself back into contention after having incurred seven time penalties on Monday. Dabill's loss of one mark for the day now puts him just four marks off the lead with two days still to go. Another rider climbing back up the rankings after a poor start to the week is Sam Haslam - Gas Gas, day scores of one and two marks respectively for Wednesday and Thursday mean that Sam is now very much in the frame for a strong overall finish.
In contrast Spain's Albert Cabestany - Sherco continues to slip down the order with another below par performance for the World championship contender. Cabestany had already parted with two soft dabs prior to fiving the final section of the day as he stalled his bike after getting off line and into difficulties. James Lampkin - Beta also came unstuck in the closing hazard as his hand slipped off the handlebars right at the critical moment, his five here took his total for the day to seven.
Two marks for Ian Austermuhle - Beta today, who always raises his game when he rides in the Highlands, means that the part time trials rider now moves ahead of Cabestany in the overall standings after four days of consistent showings. Local rider Gary MacDonald - Gas Gas is now tied in fifth place with Austermuhle after he dropped five marks today.
For the third day in a row Dougie Lampkin - Beta posted yet another clean ride as he looks to make amends for his heavy loss on the opening day. Despite the best efforts of the thirty-four year old ex multi World champion he still sits outside the current top ten, which is perhaps the best result he can hope for come the close of play on Saturday afteroon.
Due to a slight miscommunication between the set up teams, today's trial included an extra section. All thirty-one sections have counted towards the riders' final scores.
2010 Results
Day 4 - Daily Positions / Scores
1: Sam Connor - Beta - 0
2: Dougie Lampkin - Beta - 0
3: Darren Brice - Scorpa - 1
4: Ben Hemingway - Beta - 1
5: Dan Thorpe - Gas Gas - 1
6: James Dabill - Gas Gas - 1
7: Alexz Wigg - Beta - 2
8: Sam Haslam - Gas Gas - 2
9: Ian Austermuhle - Beta - 2
10: John Shirt - Gas Gas - 2
11: Dan Farrer - Gas Gas - 4
12: Michael Brown - Sherco - 5
13: Gary MacDonald - Gas Gas - 5
14: Ben Morphett - Beta - 5
15: Mark Sunter - Beta - 6
Overall Positions / Scores
1: Alexz Wigg - Beta - 9
2: Ben Hemingway - Beta - 9
3: Michael Brown - Sherco - 10
4: James Dabill - Gas Gas - 13
5: Gary MacDonald - Gas Gas - 15
6: Ian Austermuhle - Beta - 15
7: Albert Cabestany - Sherco - 20
8: James Lampkin - Beta - 24
9: Ross Danby - Gas Gas - 25
10: Sam Haslam - Gas Gas - 30
11: Jonathan Richardson - Sherco - 30
12: Sam Connor - Beta - 32
13: Dougie Lampkin - Beta - 33
14: Darren Brice - Scorpa - 33
15: John Shirt - Gas Gas - 33