  April 4, 2004 |
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World Outdoor Trials Championship Round 1 Ireland
Lampkin takes the early advantage
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Repsol - Montesa HRC riders Dougie Lampkin and Takahisa Fujinami dominated the opening round of the 2004 championship held in Bangor Ireland,
with the duo each scoring a day victory over the two days of competition.
Lampkin heads the championship by four points after recording a 2-1 result,
with Fujinami holding second place after he scored 1- 4. For the third
member of the Repsol Montesa HRC team, Marc Freixa it was not the best
of rounds as he struggled to find his form leaving him with only a 5 6
result after two difficult days, this puts Freixa sixth in the championship
standings.
At 10.00hrs local time on Saturday morning, the new championship declared
itself open and ready for action. The riders¹ pre event inspection during
Friday afternoon had exposed a demanding course with several new hazards
having been added since the series last visited the venue this time last
year. Heavy rain during the very early hours of Saturday helped saturate the
steep rock faces and muddy banks and in doing so instantly increased the
severity of the sections and took the course to a level of difficulty never
originally intended.
It was Fujinami and Raga who made the early running, the duo escaping the
three metre high step in the second hazard with one mark and a clean ride
respectively. In contrast Lampkin again failed at the same hazard that had
caused him problems twelve months earlier, and ironically cost him the
victory on the opening day here last year.
The expectation for Raga to continue the form that recently took him to his second World indoor crown was high and perhaps weighed heavy on the young Spanish riders lean frame as his assault weakened as the lap went on. There was perhaps a similar story of cracking under pressure for Freixa, who after finishing third in the 2003 outdoor championship, had declared he was now ready to challenge for the title.
Typically Lampkin had rode himself back into contention as the surrounding conditions continued to deteriorate due to more frequent heavy showers. His clean ride over the mighty muddy logs in section eight was simply awesome and certainly brought a loud cheer from the large brave crowd who had braved the elements. However this was instantly cancelled out as the reigning outdoor champion then opted to not ride the next hazard and take a maximum penalty in an effort to gain time as the clocked counted down on the first lap allowance of three and half hours. This decision could be considered the winning margin, as Fujinami opted to ride the near impossible section and pushed his Repsol Montesa HRC to the ends cards for a well earned three.
Lampkin compounded his indifferent first lap by fiving the penultimate hazard where Fujinami was brilliant with just a single dab ride. Thanks to this effort Fujinami headed the standings at the halfway point on twenty marks, closely followed by Lampkin on twenty three marks and Cabestany on only one mark more. The Spanish Beta rider had slipped almost unnoticed to take his place amongst the leaders with a series of consistent rather stunning rides during the first lap, leaving Raga down in a distant fourth place at this stage.
The second lap remained a three way battle between Fujinami, Lampkin and
Cabestany with the trio riding at a level above the rest of the field.
Lampkin once again gave himself an up hill struggle by taking another five
at his bogey section two to leave himself trailing early in the lap. His
fight back created a thrilling spectacle for the audience as both Fujinami
and Cabestany maintained a high standard and by doing so demanded that
Lampkin was exceptional to remain in their company.
The capacity crowd filling the grandstands around the final section waited
with eager anticipation as the final scores were posted. Although Lampkin
had posted the best lap score of the day on his second tour, ultimately this
was not sufficient to overhaul Fujinami who would take the initial victory
of the season by a mere two marks. Thankfully for Lampkin his efforts were
not without value, as his closing performance was sufficient to keep
Cabestany on the lower tier of the podium. Raga and Freixa both delivered
much better second lap scores, but this was only enough to give them fourth
and fifth places respectively.
Having drawn first blood, Fujinami was suitably delighted. "It is an
important victory for me here today, when the conditions are so wet and
muddy everyone expects Lampkin to win, but like last year I have again
showed that I can now match him and beat him even when the sections are
very tough. After five seasons of finishing second to Lampkin in the
championship, again I must push very hard to reach my dream. It will
not be easy to take away his crown, but today is a strong start."
Despite a mixed day Lampkin was not too disappointed by his
performance. "Obviously I am not happy not to have won, as I certainly
had more than one opportunity to do so today. Both as a rider and as a
team we have made some mistakes today and those mistakes have been the
difference between winning and finishing second. Section two is
becoming a real pain in my side, but I know I have to conquer that
section if I am to challenge for the win tomorrow. Overall I was happy
with my riding, in places I was back at somewhere near my best."
After a poor indoor series by his standards, Cabestany was pleased to
have returned to the podium. "Although my results certainly did not
show it, I was happy with my riding during the last indoor trials and I
arrived here confident that I could achieve a good result. Although the
conditions were not my favourite I adapted well and I am very happy not
only to be on the podium but to be so close to Fujinami¹s and Lampkin¹s
score as they both rode well today."
Freixa could only reflect on what should have been a better day for
him. "I made too many bad errors during the first lap, and I knew
immediately that this would keep me off the podium. On the second lap,
my performance was much better, so at least I can be happy with that
and I can remember that tomorrow morning. However if I am serious about
my challenge for the title, then I know that my goal must be a top
three position in every trial."
Sunday morning brought the announcement that two sections had been changed
overnight, but in reality these alterations did little to reduce the real
severity of the course. Thankfully for the fifteen thousand fans that had
once again turned out there was only one slight rain shower early in the
morning, although the lack of water overhead actually made the ground in the
hazards more slippery than before, as mud once again got dragged on to the
steep rocks.
When Lampkin cleaned section two on his first visit today, it signalled he
meant business and went someway towards making amends for his two failures
here yesterday. However Lampkin was not about to have it all his own way, as
Fujinami almost matched him mark for mark until the Japanese rider had a
disaster in section twelve when he stalled his bike and colleted maximum
marks. The Repsol Montesa HRC pairing headed the standings after the
first lap, Lampkin leading on eleven marks followed by Fujinami on sixteen.
Raga and Cabstany completed the top four respectively, with Freixa down in
fifth spot after experiencing three fives.
With conditions worse than ever Lampkin took the game to a new level matching his earlier performance despite the total lack of grip throughout most of the hazards. Lampkin almost completed his second tour with a single digit score, but was robbed of the perfect lap when he stopped within a few metres of the ends cards after smashing his gear level in the penultimate section to take his tally to eleven. It was clear with this kind of riding that Lampkin would be a decisive winner, so the question was now, who could be second. Through consistent riding Cabestany deservedly rode himself into the runners up position ahead of Raga and Fujinami respectively, after the Japanese rider experienced a nightmare final circuit. Freixa bad weekend turned even deeper black when he lost fifth place to Fajardo after losing out on a tie break.
Lampkin could not hide his elation as he returned to the top of the
podium. "That feels much, much better, I was desperate to win in front
of my home fans today after missing out yesterday and with Fujinami
finishing fourth it has also let me open up a small lead in the
championship. As I predicted yesterday, everyone has really raised
their game today so I needed to be at my best. It was so important for
me to clean section two this morning as that really set me up for the
day. Apart from the five in section fourteen on the last lap, it has
been a near perfect day."
Having not been able to repeat his victory, Fujinami was frustrated
with his fourth place result. "During the first lap I felt that I was
riding well and kept within reach of Dougie, but I made a bad mistake
towards the end of the lap and from this point the day started to go
wrong. With three more failures on my second lap I cannot expect to be
amongst the leaders. I am a little angry with myself, as I thought I
could do the same as I did yesterday. I had the chance, but this time I
was unable to be at my best."
Freixa was reluctant to comment after his title campaign has already
taken an early set back. "I do not want to say to much right at this
moment as I need to have time to think about the real answers to the
questions I must ask myself after the poor results this weekend. There
has been no problem with the bike, just the way I am riding it."
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World Outdoor Trials Championship Round 1 Ireland
Day 1 
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| 1 |
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Takahisa Fujinami (J-Honda) |
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| 2 |
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Doug Lampkin (GB-Montesa) |
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| 3 |
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Albert Cabestany (E-Beta) |
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| 4 |
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Adam Raga (E-Gas Gas) |
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| 5 |
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Marc Freixa (E-Montesa) |
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| 6 |
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Jeroni Fajardo (E-Gas Gas) |
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| 7 |
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Kenichi Kuroyama (J-Beta) |
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| 8 |
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Tadeusz Blazusiak (POL-Gas Gas) |
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| 9 |
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Graham Jarvis (GB-Sherco) |
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| 10 |
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Josep Manzano (E-Beta) |
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| 11 |
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Antonio Bou (E-Beta) |
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| 12 |
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Jordi Pascuet (E-Gas Gas) |
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| 13 |
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Sam Connor (GB-Gas Gas) |
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| 14 |
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Steve Colley (GB-Gas Gas) |
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| 15 |
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Shaun Morris (GB-Gas Gas) |
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Day 2
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| 1 |
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Doug Lampkin (GB-Montesa) |
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| 2 |
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Albert Cabestany (E-Beta) |
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| 3 |
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Adam Raga (E-Gas Gas) |
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| 4 |
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Takahisa Fujinami (J-Honda) |
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| 5 |
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Jeroni Fajardo (E-Gas Gas) |
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| 6 |
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Marc Freixa (E-Montesa) |
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| 7 |
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Kenichi Kuroyama (J-Beta) |
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| 8 |
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Graham Jarvis (GB-Sherco) |
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| 9 |
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Antonio Bou (E-Beta) |
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| 10 |
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Josep Manzano (E-Beta) |
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| 11 |
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Steve Colley (GB-Gas Gas) |
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| 12 |
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Shaun Morris (GB-Gas Gas) |
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| 13 |
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Tadeusz Blazusiak (POL-Gas Gas) |
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| 14 |
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Jordi Pascuet (E-Gas Gas) |
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| 15 |
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Sam Connor (GB-Gas Gas) |
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