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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127729
'. . .' .OBSERVED TRIALS' S ttishSix D co ayTrial , , (Left) Dougie lampkin scored his second SSDTwin ina row. Should he win again next year, he will tie his father, M artin, with three wins apiece. (Right) Former SSDTwlnner Steve Colley finish ed second overall. By John Dickinson FORT WILLIAM, SCOTLAND,MAY1-6 OUg Lampkin was in absolutely amazing form as he won the 1995 running of the Scottish Six Days Trial. Lampkin, on the factory Beta, not onl y wo n the annual marathon in the Scottish Highlands for the second year in succession, he did it with the almost unbelievably low score of jus t five ma rks for the entire week. In fact, Lampkin went absolutely clean for three of the six days. "That was every bit as hard as winning for the first tim e last yea r," said Lampkin, as he celebra ted with the large Lam pkin clan. "I tried just as hard anyway and it paid off. I was never in any tro uble all week." In second place was Gas Gas factory pilot Steve Colley, who went clean on the last two days but left his push much too late. His finish ing total of 18 was still 13 behind his rival Lampkin's. "I don't like th is place," grumbled D (Right) Steve Saunders cleaned the first day, but dropped to fourth by the end of the event. The popular Brit was edged out by Rob Crawford. Colley. "Let me get to the World Rounds on some really big, grippy rocks, then I'll . show all of them how to rid e." And of th'e winning scores making the trial look ridiculously simp le, contra st Lam pkin's winning five with his cousin Joh n Lam pkin's 98, which was good enough for nin th place. Or how abo u t American Bob Howard , who got his Beta hom e in 111th place, dropping 513 marks . Howard was the best of two Americans in th e tri al, as first-ti me r Keith Roper finished slightly lower on a 611 total. Not too many people saw it as an easy trial . In fact, it was certainly easier than last year, when Lampkin dropped 39 marks in his winning ride, but a lot of this was d ue to the brilliant weather. With warm sunshine on five of the six days, it was amazing for anywhere in Europe, never mind Fort William, w hich often hides behind a wet, cold blanket of cloud, rain and sleet. Only on Tuesday, the second day, did it reveal its true colors with a steady downpour just to remind the 180 starters exactly where they were. And this year there was a big international entry, with almost 60 non- British riders takin g par t. Ma ny gro u ps trave ll ed fro m Spa in , France, Germa ny, Switzerland and Aus tria to take part . The week began at 7:30 a.m, on Monda y, when Scotsman Duncan Mitchell was flagged away from the start to tackle the 9O-mileday one route wit h the rest of the co m petito rs followi ng at onemin ute intervals. The day contai ned lit- tIe in the way of real moorland - that was to come later. The day's big gro up for specta tors was called Lagnaha and the seven creek sections are normally real stoppers. Not this year, though, as the amazingly dry conditions left th e normally slip pery rocks in goo d sha pe leaving Lampki n, Colley and former three-tim e SSDT winner Steve Sau nders to clean the lot. From Lagnaha, competitors then took a short ride on a ferry to cross Loch Linnhe (a sea loch) in the Corra n Narrows to Black Bum, where Colley collected a big five for trying to be too trick and crashed disastro usly off a big rock. Th e fi rst day fi nished wit h both Lampkin a nd Sa u nders clean throu gh the 30 sectio ns with Sco rpa-moun ted