OBSERVED TRIALS
FlM IND O
O RTRIALS WORLD
CHAMP N HIP
IO S
By John Dickinson
26
SHEFFIELD,ENGLAND, JAN. 3
ou g Lampki n began the defense
of h is Ind oo r Trials World
Champion ship with a thrilling
win over d epos ed k in g Ma rc
Colome r wh en the 1998 series got under
way at Sheffield in northern Eng land,
not far from the Lampkin family ho me.
Consequently, the sellou t crowd of 8000
in th e s po r ts are n a - h o m e to th e
Sheffield Steelers ice hockey team - were
Lam p ki n supporters to th e last man,
and a lt hough th ey weren't hostile to .
Colomer, th e Spania rd sure knew he
wasn't in Spain!
Just six sections plus a hig h jump and
two races had been set up in the stadium, the cou rse mast erminded by Lamp-
kin' s dad, Martin , co-promoter of th e
eve nt. Each section wa s brand-new, big
and not for the fain t-hearted.
Sheffi eld '98 was a two-day affair,
with tw o sepa ra te even t s . Frid a y
evening's w as an In ternational are n a
trial, w ith Saturday' s even t bei ng th e
World Cha m pi ons hi p ro u nd. Th e sections on Friday were mad e easier to give
th e less er riders a chance to m ake it
th rough without hurtin g themselv es.
Fr ida y' s lin eup non eth el es s h a d the
stars in it, including British riders Lam pki n , Steve Colley, Grah am Jarv is,
Spaniard Ma rc Co lomer, Ja pa ne se ace
Kenichi Kuroyama, Belgian Fred Crosset and Finn Joachim Hindren. Hind ren
came in as a last-minute replacemen t for
injured European champion Marc Catt-
lao
