With a superb week long display of skill, concentration, fitness and dedication, Dougie Lampkin (Vertigo) recorded his fourteenth win in the Scottish Six Days Trial held in the highlands around Fort William last week.
The forty seven year old was faultless through one hundred and seventy four of the one hundred and eighty sections, riding with the confidence which his younger rivals could not match.
Having said that, Billy Green (Scorpa pictured on Thursday) matched the master throughout the week and he also bounced with confident rides through the sections and finished just two marks adrift, after shedding two marks on the final long day.
Enjoying a return to top class competitive riding, Michael Brown (GasGas) eventually took third a further two marks adrift, using all his knowledge and skill in the event which was much more testing that the results look on paper.
Faced with having to change the traditional route in the lead up to the event, Clerk of the Course Davie Dignan found it necessary to include more moorland crossings this year and the Tuesday and Wednesday course was particularly hard for the Clubmen riders who made up the majority of the entry. However, the balance of sections was just right as the winners six single dabs proves. He enlarged, “There were planned and unplanned changes for this year and the Tuesday course was the emergency route which unfortunately unbalanced the week. Saying that I would like to think there was something for everybody throughout the week remembering that the event is made up of Observation, Endurance and Reliability.
“Of course we will reflect on the week that was, and given what we had to overcome I believe we were not far away.
Jack Peace (Sherco) stayed on the pace for the first four days showing his balancing skills to the large, knowledgable crowd on most accessible sections, but as his earlier start number came into effect on the final two days he slipped from the joint lead to eventually finish fourth.
Tom Minta (GasGas) made an impressive transition from Extreme Enduros to have a very consistent week to finish fifth, enjoying the time riding a close proximity to team boss, John Shirt.
Lampkin was never headed throughout the whole event, being the sole leader with just a single mark shed at Glen Stockdale on day one. Carrying the leaders yellow plate for the rest of the week, he followed this up by sharing the best day performance on day two, which included many new sections, with Green, Franz Kadlec making his debut in the event and Peace. Harry Hemingway took the best performance awards on Wednesday and Thursday on his 125cc Beta which contributed to him winning the Best Newcomer award at the end of the week.
Green showed his determination with a clean sheet on Friday as the remaining two hundred and fifty riders took in the ride through Glencoe before another long moor crossing to the final six sections of the day at Fersit.
The final day was the traditional loop out the Mamore road, taking in sections around Kinlochleven before the final moor crossing up to Spean Bridge and nine sections on the lower slopes of Ben Nevis. With the rotating start times, Green was running over an hour in front of Lampkin. The Scorpa rider needed two dabs to see him through the day and then he had to wait for Lampkin to breeze through the final groups -and Town Hall Brae, which was slightly harder than usual – before the news came through that DL12 was clean, which gave him the win!
Outside of the top five, the competition was still close with Harry Hemingway growing with confidence as the week progressed to claim sixth to accompany the Newcomer Award, which Jack Dance (GasGas) just missed out on one mark adrift, but taking the Best 125 Award. Ross Danby (TRRS) finished eighth ahead of a three way tie involving Jack Challoner (Honda Montesa), Alexz Wigg (Vertigo) and James Fry (Sherco).
With all three riders finishing in the top ten, Yeadon Guiseley A took the coveted Club Team Award.
The full results can be found on the SSDT website, whilst daily action can still be viewed on the Jitsie platform.