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Saunders . Colley, always a nervous
starter, parted with a prod early on, while
Saunders and Lampkin looked set to go
clean for the d ay. Saunders eventually
put his foot down in the 16th section at
the Black Bum Group, while Lampkin after d efeating all the day's tough sections - succumbed to a d ab in the easy
24th section at Meall Nam Each.
All in all, it was an eas y start to the
week, bu t things were guaranteed to get
tougher.
(Above) Rob Crawford kept the
pressure on the two favorites
throughout the - k , but ended up
third. (Above right) Three-time winner
Steve Saunders finished fourth. (Right)
Nearly 250 riders took pert In the
ScottIsh Six Days Trial.
TUESDAY
Day two followed a very similar pattern, with dry weather and another fairly
easy course. It ought to have been a tough
cross-country route, but a wet Scottish
winter has seen the peat bogs saturated,
so an alternative road-based-only day
was quickly organized. Thi s probably
pl eased many riders who had a real
cushy day compared to the moorland
slog on a tight time schedule that they
were really du e!
None of the abo ve made any difference to the battle for the lead as Lampkin,
Saunders, Colley and Crawford finished
in that order. The youn gster was slowly
but surel y stringing the field out behind
him. Lampkin's one area of vulnerability
was in the uniquely Scottish, loose rolling
rock sections, and two marks lost in the
WEDNESDAY
The first real moorland crossing of the
week greeted riders on day three. Riders
had a tough morning ride through the
Ounes Forest. The afternoon saw another
classic Scottish ride over more moors to
the Blackwater sections. For once, lampkin wasn't the best, although he was the
favorite to be until he suffered a surprise
five in a section at the end of the day that
was cleaned many times by others. This
slip let in the Gas-Gas pairing of John
Shirt Jr. and Cornish rider Jason Lawyer,
who both dropped three marks over the
30 sections. Also moving up a gear was
Yamaha-mounted Phil Ald er son, w ho
finished the day with five. Lampkin had
to settle for a loss of seven, bu t this still
saw him increase his lead over new second -place man Colley, who was just a
final two hazards was at least enough to
prove to his rivals tha t he might just be
beatable, after all.
What-is the SSDT?
T
he first week in May is the most important of the year for many thousands of
trials enthusiasts, as it means only one thing: The Scottish Six Days Trial.
As more and more modem trials move an to ever-shorter courses, especially
a t the International World Championship level, th e Scottish event is almost an
anachronism, caught in a time warp unique to itself. Yet it remains the best event in
the calendar for many - riders and spectators alike.
Taking place in the moorlands surrounding Fort William, deep in the Highlands,
the Scottish contest remains the ultimate tri als test. Each daily run cons ists of
around 100 miles of mixed terrain. There is plen ty of roadwork - often singletrack
coun try lanes and plenty of long moorland crossin gs which can be very hard work
for riders not used to such terrain.
Un til the last five years, all the top World Championship riders would attend the
Six Days . Unfortunately, the advent of the big-money indoor events, which are
much more of a lure these days, leaves the Brits scrapping for the win, themselves.
No t tha t the 250 or so private entrants worry too much about the non-participating foreigners. They still know which is the best event in the world. And included in
this are still plenty of foreign riders who travel from all points of the globe to ride.
This year there were Japanese, Australians, Spaniards, Swiss, and Canadians, plus
French, Andorran, German and Kiwi riders on hand. Of the latter, New Zealander
James Lawton proved to be a very useful rider, indeed.
One of the most famous names in Scottish history is, of course, the Lampkin family. Brothers Arthur, Alan and Martin all won the SSDT - a record all by itself. Yet
1994 was to witness another Lampkin record as Martin's son, Doug, collected the
win in only his second attempt, making for the first-e ver father and son winning
team.
single mark adrift on the day. It was a
disaster of a day for Saunders , though,
who not only lost 14 poin ts in th e sections, but also saddled himself with 12
time penalti es . Later in the week, the
four-time SSDT winner managed to get
the marks removed, but by then the damage had been done.
THURSDAY
Thursday followed the very traditional route around the Moida rt Peninsula,
and most of the course was on pa vement.
There are still 30 sections, of course, but
these involved only mino r excursions off
road. Lampkin lost six points in the very
first group, which was, in fact, cleaned
only by Montesa pilot Wayne Braybrook.
The hardest single section by a long way,
probably of the week for that matter, was
the sixth section at Pipers Bum. An awkward wa te rfall brought virtually the
entire field to a standstill. The sole clean
was claimed by an absolutely inspired
Jason Lawler, while Short escaped for a
two as he motored to his second Best On
Day performance. Short moved into third
place w ith h is daily total of nine, yet
Lampkin, on 16 for the day, still edged
further ahea d of a lackluster Colley.
FRIDAY
What a d ifference a day makes. For
mos t of Friday, Lampkin cruised confid ently around, dropping just a single
mark until the 25th section of the day at
MeaIl Choire Glais - a wonderful Celtic
name. The Beta just tucked its head in
and had Do ug right off. "I had no
chance," said Lampkin.
The second half of the day's route was
changed, as Highland Pass was covered
in s now. Co ll ey and Crawford had
excelled and lost a mere two marks, while
Lampkin had a disaster at 10. The scores
of the leading three as they went into the
final da y were: Lampkin, 38; Colley, 39;
Crawforo,~.AllofLampkin's painstak-
Crawford, ~. All of Lampkin's painstakingly-earned lead had been w hittled
away, and a real battle on Ben Nevis - the
traditional end to Scottish week - was
eagerly awaited.
SATURDAY
The popular opin ion w as tha t the
experienced Colley was now the favorite,
and th at Lampkin had lo st h is cool.
Crawford was still looked on as a dark
horse.
When the action got und erway, however, Lampkin pu t on his race face and
literally took the sections apart. Just a sin- .
gle dab in the difficult third sub of the
day was all that sullied his scorecard. The
fans poured onto the lower slopes of Ben
Nevis to witness the final six sections of
the day. The third and fourth sections had
been set out as stoppers, and anything
could have happened up until the final
moments. But Lampkin had a plan, stuck
to it, and carried it out to the letter, controlling the events like an old master. Up
to the last group, Lampkin had been content to follow Colley, but at Ben Nevis he
showed extreme confidence and attacked
the difficult sections first, leaving Colley
and Crawford to realize that they had
been beaten.
It was a classic d isplay of skill, temperament and gamesmanship all rolled
into one.
'1 don 't really believe that I've won,"
sai d Lam pkin. "I thought I'd be somewhere near, but I didn't expect to do it
this year!"
C'I
SCottish Six Days Trial
Klnlochleven, Scotland
Results: May 2·7
OVERALL:I. Doug Lampkin 39 (Bet); 2. SteveCoUey
47 (Bet); 3. Rob Crawford 48 (Yam); 4. Steve SaUnd"", 59
(G-G); 5. John Shirt 60 (G-G); 6. Gra ham [arvis 88 (Sa» ; 7.
Wayne Bcaybrook 96 (Man); 8. Jason Lawler 112 (G-G); 9.
Phil AIde