Lampkin Looks Back At 2015 Scott Trial

Britain's ex twelve times FIM Trial World Champion Dougie Lampkin came very close to adding even more silverware to his already packed trophy cabinet as a technical problem robbed him of what would have been a fifth win at the famous Scott time and observation trial. Despite being by far the best on actual observation, thirty nine year old Lampkin eventually had to be content with third position after he lost decisive minutes and incurred costly time penalties when he carried out running repairs on his prototype Vertigo Combat machine.

Looking to beat his father Martin's tally of four Scott wins, Red Bull athlete Dougie again trained hard to be at the sharp end of the action as he made one of his now rare returns to the sporting arena. Lampkin's last competitive outing was his record extending ninth victory at the Scottish Six Days Trial (SSDT) back in May. With this triumph still being fresh in his mind, despite the months that have passed, Dougie was eager to make it an historic double for Vertigo as he looked to re-capture the famous Scott trophy that he last won back in 2013.

Losing just twenty five marks on observation over the seventy six testing sections, scattered far and wide around the almost eighty mile lap course set in the rugged North Yorkshire moors, some fourteen less than his nearest rival and eventual winner Ian Austermuhle, Lampkin again confirmed that he has lost none of his pure riding class.

This kind of strong riding, that also included two unfortunate fives during the later part of the trial, saw Dougie control the event for most of the day before disaster was to strike for the veteran campaigner as he dashed away from the infamous Bridge End sections. It was here that the battery on Dougie's prototype bike failed. Despite being able to rectify this rare fault Lampkin lost valuable time that would ultimately cost him an historic fifth win as he finished just seven marks off top spot after incurring almost as many time penalties as he dropped on actual observation.

Although completely gutted to have seen the win slip from his hands, Dougie still spoke positively post event. "At my age the chance to win a major event doesn't come along very often, so to have missed out today in the way I have is quite hard to take, but is all part of the Scott."

"I was desperate to win the Scott for Manel (Jane) and for the whole Vertigo team as it would have been a great feat for the new brand and the new bike, but perhaps wanting to win the two biggest events outside of the World Championship itself in our first year was a bit greedy."

"I have always said you need a bit of luck to win the Scott and today luck was not on our side. I want to say well done to Ian Austermuhle on his win as he is a guy who works so hard for this event. From Vertigo's point of view we have again shown that the bike is capable of competing at the highest level and the fact it pulled a near forty year-old around for a lot less marks than the younger riders hopefully shows how easy the production version will be to ride for the average guy."

Closing off Dougie remarked."With the season now over, I am now looking forward to being at the Dirt Bike Show in a couple of weeks time and to have the chance to display the Vertigo Combat to the UK audience."