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World Championship Observed Trials Series, Round 7 Doug Lampkin continues to dominate the World Trials Ser ies with unbel ievable consistencey. Lampkin once again too k the doub le win, this time in Andorra. By John Dickinson File photo by John Dickinson Sk\ff JI 3UA, Al,1XlRRA, JULY 4-5 ' oug Lamp kin storm e relentlessd lyon tow ard his second successive World Championship as the se ries made its stop in An dorra, a tiny principali ty nes tled be tween Fra nce and pain in the Pyrenees mountains, where th e British Beta rider once again landed a double win on the weekend . It w as his fifth double of the series, and of the 14 individ ua l days of rid ing, Lampki n has won 12. The o ther two days? Lampkin was seco nd both times - and says it ea ts at him! Th e tri a l in A nd o r ra poses se veral difficulties, the most sig nifica n t being the altitude, whi ch is so me 7000 feet. As a result, a gre at d eal of engine tu ning is required to keep the engi nes runnin g at a nywhe re near peak o u tpu t, a nd m ost top teams usuall y juggle with d iffer ent cy linder heads, jetting and exha ust sys- D terns to compensate for the thin air. Both d ays o f the trial w ere graced with beautiful weather - brig ht sun and warm tempera tures . Th e opening section - set in woods and loca ted near the start area, which is ac tually the largest clay-pigeon shooting ra nge in Euro pe - featu red an awkward tu rn leading in to a steep, rocky cli m b. La mpki n was pun ch e d for a thre e , alt hough he laughed a nd cl a im ed he h ad o n ly d abbed tw ice . H e m a d e it throug h with two the next time aro und for a total of five . Marc Co lorner, on his way to seco nd place o n his Montesa , needed a thr ee and a one , but bes t of the lo t on Sa tu rday w as Cas C as rid e r David Co bos, wh o s ty lis h ly a n d su pe rbly fired up for a o ne and a tw o. Th e rest took threes, in an effort not to en d up wi th fives . Sec tio n tw o was also a m ajor mark stea ler and fea tu red an awkward jumble of rocks that Lampkin attacked in third gea r. Th e tactic worked and he made it through her e for single d ab eac h time. Colomer to ok a th ree t he fi rs t tim e th rou g h, bu t then bagged the only clean of the day here o n his fina l la p. . The sectio ns then eased considerably, be ing set on the hillsid es and in a creek. Th e eig hth was interesting. thou gh, as it was set in a wide, flo w ing river a nd it climb ed ou t up a stee p bank. Ther e were slippe ry, subme rged rocks, so there w as d efinitely an elemen t of cha nce in ge ttin g th ro u gh thi s o ne okay. B,u t if ge tting through was a lottery , Lam pkin had the wi nn ing ticket, as he mad e it with a two and a cl ean - a lt ho ug h thi s w a s to p p ed b y Co lo mer, wh o ' s na ked th rough w ith a o ne a nd a clean . Steve Co lley ; no t on his best form, did w ell to sco re a one and two . Th e ninth se ction rather surprisingly extracted a d ab from Lampkin as it was d ou ble-eleaned by a host of riders. Th e sections rem ained fairl y easy u ntil the final two, w hich were bo th rea lly stee p climbs fea tu ring b ig steps th at sto ppe d the vast m a jorit y of ri ders . La mpkin, Co lomer, Kenichi Ku royama - who we re to finish 1-2-3 - mastered them bo th bri lliantly the first time throu gh , but no o ne mana ged to clea n them bo th o n the seco nd circu it. "They were both big-time sections with the problem being ther e was only one lin e - m iss th at and vou were in tro uble," Lampkin said. ' In the e n d, La m pkin led the way with an ope ni ng lap of just seven marks, putting him three a head of teammate Kurova ma and five ahead of Colomer. Hu gel y d isa ppo inted w a s Cra ham Jarvis, w ho had come to Andorra threatening Co lomer's seco nd" in th e champions hip bu t w ho fini shed the day in sevent h, w ay off th e pace. The stiff ear ly and la te sec tions were the cause of the Scarpa rider's problems and on the fina l two sections he totaled 18 marks of a possible 20 o ver the tw o laps. On the seco n d d a y , the sec tio ns a p pea re d to be a little harder to rid e, a lt h o ug h co n d itio ns w ere id e nti ca l. La m p ki n s ta r ted o u t well but th en dropped a tot all y un expected maximum on the eas y sixth section and then fived th e river section at eig ht to complete his o pe ning loop for 17 marks, three more tha n his previous da y's total. Co lomer was even worse on 18, following a surprise series of threes in the easy middle su bs, leaving David Cobos to tak e the lead with a brilliant lap of 12. Kuroyama, mean while, had a di sastrous loop, taking a mi ghty 25. But as in vari abl y happen s when Lampkin is s t u ng, h e bl a sts b a ck stronger than eve r and he did this yet again to cruise the last lap for the lowest score of the w eek end - just six marks, to total 23 for the da y. Co lomer also go t his scor e down to a single figure - a n eight bu t was still des tin ed to finish in second place. Cobos d rifted to 18 for the fir st lap, but eve n thou g h Kuroyama got his act togeth er for a more tha n acceptable ] 0, th e damage hap already been do ne and Cobos switched overall p laces with him from the previous day. Tak ah isa Fujinami moved up followin g a la ck lu ster o pening d a y , whil e Spa nis h te en a g er Al b e r t Ca besta ny sh oc ked e ve ryo ne as Jarvis suffered ano the r miserabl e day. H e didn't mak e it to the ends cards once in the final tw o sectio ns. With the final two rounds to be held in Scandinavia (Finla nd and No rwav) in August, Lampkin need s a mere seven po ints, or one ninth place, from a po ssible 80 to clinc h th e title, w hich of course means that , yes, he is 73 po int s a head of Co lome r. And even if Colom er were to tie Lampkin, th e Brit wo uld still w in on a number-of-clean s tie breaker. Not that Lampkin wrill let that happen - as he ha s sho w n, he is happy with no th in g les s than full po ints a t each a n d eve ry round. 1":\ Andor ra World Trial Sant Ju lia, Ando rra Results : J uly 4-5, 1998 (Roun d 7 of 9) Sa turda y O /A : 1. Do ug Lampkin (8",t) ; 2. Ma rc Co lome r (Me n): 3. Kc nichi Kurovama (Be t) : 4. David Co bos (GG); 5. Marcel Iustribo (G-G). Su nday O /A : 1. Dou g Lampkin (Bet ); 2. Marc Co lo me r (Mun ); 3. Da vid Co bos (G~G ) ; 4. Keni ch l Kuroyama (Be t) ; 5. Tckahisa Fu jinami Il-lon). O BSERVED T RIALS WO RLD CHAM PIO NSHIP PO INT ST AN DINGS (Atter 7 of 9 ro unds); I. Do ug Lam p kin (274 /12 wi ns) ; 2. Marc Colome r (201/1 ); 3. Kenichi Ku roya ma 0 6Q/1); 4. Craham Jarvis (166); 5. Taka hisa Fujinami (52). 49