September 14, 2003 World Outdoor Trials Championship Round 9 La Cabrera-Valdemanco, Spain Lampkin wins his seventh title in a row Montesa HRC riders Dougie Lampkin rewrote the record books as he became the first rider in the history of the sport to win seven Word titles in a row, by clinching his latest championship at the final round of the series held in Spain. After a season-long battle with teammate Fujinami, Dougie eventually regained his crown in relative comfort as his close Japanese rival failed to produce the results when they were most needed. Despite his 5-4 result over the weekend Fujinami maintained his second position in the series, with Freixa making a clean sweep for the Montesa HRC team by taking third place in the championship. Due to land use issues, the final round of the 2003 World outdoor trials championship made a last-minute change of venue, although in reality the move was not a major one, with the trial shifting only a few extra kilometres north of the Spanish capital of Madrid. Whilst in the same geographic region, the new location of La Cabrera Valdemanco offered far more typical trial terrain than the original race circuit venue. Having already hosted a round of the Spanish domestic series in 2001, many of the leading riders were aware of the severe of the landscape that towers above the two villages that would provide base for this season's closing event. Lampkin made the relatively short trip from his base in Barcelona fully aware that his long reign at the top of World trials was under the most serious threat since he began his domination back in 1997. Ironically although Lampkin expected perhaps his toughest season since he first captured the outdoor title, his pre season thoughts had identified the young Spanish riders as probably posing the biggest barrier in preventing him from achieving a record-breaking seven championships in a row. However with their exclusion from of the earlier rounds due to a blanket ban as a result of an unofficial riders strike, Lampkin found himself literally locked in battle with his Japanese team mate Fujinami. This fierce duel began right from the first round when the Montesa HRC duo shared a victory a piece during the initial two-day competition. While Lampkin maintained his normal consistent form as the championship developed, he rarely shone, and did not win another trial until round five of the series. In contrast Fujinami was brimming with confidence and added two more victories to his tally during the same period. The second of these helped the Japanese rider make history as he drew level with Lampkin in the title race after a strong showing at his very wet home round. Fujinami actually technically headed the championship by virtue of having the most wins and in doing so became the first rider in seven years to topple Lampkin's total domination. World Outdoor Trials Championship Round 9 La Cabrera-Valdemanco, Spain Day 1 1 Adam Raga (Gas Gas) 2 Dougie Lampkin (Honda) 3 Marc Freixa (Honda) 4 Albert Cabestany (Beta) 5 Takahisa Fujinami (Honda) 6 Graham Jarvis (Sherco) Day 2 1 Adam Raga (Gas Gas) 2 Marc Freixa (Honda) 3 Dougie Lampkin (Honda) 4 Takahisa Fujinami (Honda) 5 Albert Cabestany (Beta) 6 Kenichi Kuroyama (Beta)

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