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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127785
.OBSERVED TRIALS . 74th ScottishS Days T ix rial Fort William, Scotland nnsto By John Dickinson FORT WILLIAM, SCOTLAJ'JD. MAY 6-11 he Scott ish Six Days Trial is the m ost famous motorcy cle tr ial in the world - it is also one of the old est as the first was staged way back in 1911. 1996 saw the 74th ru nn ing of the SSDT (the World Wars account for the m issin g yea rs) and it was certainly a s tressful one fo r th e organizing Edinbu rgh clu b. Mod em trials bikes, being designed ever lig hter and potentially less durable, were being seen to be less and less sui ted to long-distance eve nts like the SSDT. Last year there were some horren d ou s m e ch anical failures wi t h the majority centered upon the liquid-coolin g sys tem s. Sm all e ngi ne- coo la n t capacity and small rad iators getting blocked with mud on the moors - and then rid ers thrashing the boiling bik e down the road - brought about mechan ical carn age. Red -hot motors buckled cylinder heads, distorted barrels, ruined p ist ons and ev en had ma in-bearings turning in the ir crank cases. On top o f that, entries had fallen to just 185 - a far cry from the late '70s when well over T the allo tted sta r ting num be r of 300 r id ers ha d applied. Was it the begi nn ing of the end for a moto rcycling institu tion? Thankfully, no. At least this is th e ini tia l fee ling . Entries for 1996 were in fact up fro m last ye ar, with a n eve ntual 205 ri d e r s weighing t heir machines in on Sun day, May 5, ready for th e Mon day morning start. And by the end of the week, only a dozen riders h ad re t ired - a n d ha rdl y an y from mechan ical problems. A virtually dry week, weatherwise, and unusu all y d ry con d it ions ou t on th e moors gave the bikes and riders an easy time, and the high finishing rate should ensure an eve n bigger, better entry for the 75th anniversary next year. The wi n wou ld see m ing ly have to go to one of the "Big Three" British rid ers: Doug Lamp kin r id ing his Be ta, winner for th e past three years; GasGas mou nt ed Steve Colley, winner for the previous two years; or the on-form Gr ah am Ja r vis, w ho has for ced th e Fren ch-built Scorpa into th e headlines th is yea r. Outsiders were former fourtim e winner Steve Saunde rs on a GasGas and Beta-mounted Rob Crawford, twi ce runner-up and twice third in the event. The chance of top Spanish riders com peti ng (Ma rc Col omer esp ecially wanted to ride) was th warted by a date clash w it h a Sp an ish Ch ampionship Trial. The fact that Lampkin eventually won with an incredibly low score of just three marks lost for the week just shows the almost unbelievably high standard he is currently achieving. Compare Lampkin's total of three with 10-place finisher SSDT specialist Phil Alderson's 90, and you get some idea of the level Lampkin is currently riding at. The SSDT is based in the highland tow n of Fort William, which nestles under Great Britain's hi ghest mountain Ben Nevis (where Bratieheart was filmed). Each day's multi-mile loops featured road sections and tough moorland crossings with 30 observed sections in small groups along the way . The shortest day - the final one - was 675 miles, while the two longest courses measured no less than 114 miles. In winning last year, Lampkin lost just five marks and as he approached the 1996 trial his thoughts were on staying clean th e en tire week. "1 love this place," Lam pkin said. " It is rea lly special to m e." It is special to th e enti re Lampkin family. H is dad Martin wo n the SSDT th ree tim es on a Bultaco in 1976, '78, and '79. His uncle Alan (Sid) won back in 1966 on a BSA, and un cle Arthur took the win in 1963 on a BSA. Some family pedi gree! Monday's 65 miles for sta rters was designed to ease everyone into the trial with virtua lly no off-road work. The 30 sections were also aimed at easing riders in to the week wit h the exception of the second sectio n at Blackw ater . lampkin kept his clean shee t courtesy of the onl y clean from the 205 att empts on the slip p ery rock slabs that worsened as mo re a nd m ore mud was left on th e rocks by each competitor. Colley parted with his sole mark for the d ay and was matched here by Rob Cr awford, Dan Hemmingway (Dou g's cou sin ) and SSDT first-tim er 17 yearol d D an Clarke . Jarvi s w as cr edited with a 5 which saw him finish the day on a 7, but a protest by his team manag-