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World C h a mpionship Tria ls S e r ie s Round s 1 5- 1 6 : F ren c h T r ia l al s o a c h ie v e d b y Lampkin . whil e Colom er m anag ed to hold on to his second runner-u p s pot with six po ints dropped on the loo p. In th ird was th e Japanes e rider Fu jinami. eN French Trial Valdeblore, France Results: June 24-25, 2000 ·C A Y 2 O rgan izer s mod ified three sect ions in orde r to m ak e th em e a s ie r. Th e c o nt rov e rs ia l seve nt h sectio n , ' where Fujinami had lost 10 po ints on S aturd a y. wa s m ade simpler by widenin g th e narrow path b efor e a slippery stone in a strea m . Though some s ec tions we re n ow m or e m akeable fo r e very body. Lampkin was still the best eve rywhe re . At ha lf c om p et itio n , he wa s a he a d with e ight p oin ts , whil e Al bert Ca be st a ny a n d C ol om e r almost do ubled his s core with 15 to share se cond. Afte r a m ed iocr e first la p , Fujinam i rod e s upe rbly on la p two , drop pin g a p altry fo u r p o in t s . Tha t m ark wa s S TORY A ND PHOTOS BY M A RIO CAND ELLON E VAlDEBLORE, FRANCE. JUNE 24-25 it h th e ye ar no t eve n ha lfwa y com p leted, t he first FIM Wor ld t it le of t h e ne w m illenni u m h a s al ready be en ha nded out. Not s urprisingly. th e reciepien t is Briton Dou g ie Lampkin . who c linched the World T ria ls Ch ampion ship with two stops a nd fo ur rounds sti ll re main ing . La m p k in was u n int ent io n a lly assisted in his a tta inment of a nothe r t itle by Mo ntes a te amma te T a ka h is a Fu jina mi who ha d a s ub -pa r pe rfo rm ance in the south of Fra nc e. Actua lly th e c linc h ing wa s s o ea rly t ha t it c a u gh t m an y b y s u rp r ise ( mos t ass um e d "F ujig a s" wou ld be ab le to h ol d o ff La m pk in u nt il t h e It a lia n stop ). a nd th e re wa s no celebratio n pa rty p re pa red. Wit h Ad am Ra g a h a vin g a lrea dy clinc he d the J unior title at the prev ious sto p. the a tte nt io n now tu rns to who will be th e ru nne r-up in the pr e mi er class. th ou gh it had been a ppare n t from th e first c o u ple o f round s that this wo uld be the c as e ba rring a La m p kin inj ury o r an a ct of God . W CAY 1 Fu jinam i sta rted ba d ly a n d wa s disappoi nted by some judgements he thought too severe. including the five taken in sect ion one . La m pk in , 32 JULY 12. 2000' cue I e Co lo me r a n d Ra g a pr o c e e de d very we ll. los ing just a few points . S e cti o n s e ven wa s qu ite difficu lt th an ks to a big wa ll at th e beg inning. followe d by a rive r c rossi ng a nd a hill covered by s lippery s ton e s . Th e bes t th e first ride rs co uld do was a difficult th re e . but th en La m p k in earne d e nt h u stiast ic appl au s e wit h a n e legant one. Lampkin wa s a head at the e nd of the first loop. scoring o nly 11 ma rks . Marc Colom e r was in s econ d pl a c e with 2 0 po int s . wh ile in t hir d sat a s urp rising Am os Bilba o . only guilty of 22 m istake s . No s urprise to find Ma rc Fre ixa in fourth po s ition . but the fa ct that he s hared th at spot with J unior c la s s r id er Ta ic hi Ta n a k a w as a s hocker. Be c au s e t he sections were qu ite d iff icu lt (t h o u g h not da nger ou s) . m uc h tim e was s pent in the first loo p. a nd the second circu it was run ve ry qui ckly . All th e top riders wo rsene d th e ir sco re s . Lam pk in was st ill the best. s coring 18 po int s . a nd he won eas ily. Colom e r s c o re d 23 a nd kept the runne r-up po sit ion . wh ile Bilb a o dr op ped to 10th for doubling his first loop score wit h a 4 4 . Gr abb ing th e fina l s te p of th e podium was Ju nio r World Champi on Rag a . ju st e d g in g out Frei xa . As for Fujlnam i, he fin is he d out in eighth. and very disap pointed with the observe rs . n e vv s DAY 1: 1. Do ug ie La mp ki n ( Mo n ) ; 2. Ma rc Colemer (Mon); 3. Adam Raga (G-G); 4 . Marc Freixe s (G-G); 5. Steve Colley (G-G); 6. David Cobo (She); 7 . Ken ich i Kuroyam a (Bet ); 8 . Ta kahi sa Fujin a mi (Ha n); 9 . Brun o Camozzi (G· G) ; 10 . Amo s Bilbao (Man). . DAY 2: 1. Dou g ie Lam pk in (M on) ; 2. Marc Co lome r (Mon); 3 . T ak ahi sa Fuj in am i ( Ha n) ; 4 . A lbert Cabestany (Bet) ; 5. Kenichi Kuro yama ( Bet) ; 6. Adam Raga (G-G); 7. Amo s Bilbao (Mon): 8. Marc F reixe ( G· G); 9 . .Jc se -vta nual Alca raz (Mon) ; 10 . Ma rce l J ust ribo (Mon) . FIM WORLD TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 16 o f 2 0 round s) : 1. Do ugie Lampk in* ( 30 8 /1 4 w i ns); 2 . T eka hl se Fuj ina mi (228); 3. Marc Colomer (227); 4. Marc Freixe (179/1 win ) ; 5. Kenic hi Ku roy am a (169/1 win ) ; 6 . Steve Colley ( 160); 7. Marcel Justribo (134); 8. Adam Ra9" (128) ; 9. David Cobos ( 111); 10. Al bert Cabestany (109). * position clinched Upcomin g Rounds: Round s 17-18 - Pila , Italy. Ju ly 1-2 Fi n al Round s - S aint Ju l ia , And o ra , September 2-3 (Left) Dougie Lampkin (c enter) was so dominant this season t hat he clinched the World Trials crown w ith four rounds still to be run. Here, he celebrates on the day-two podium with Marc Co lomer (left) and Takahisa Fuj inami. (Right) Recently crowned Junior World Champion Adam Raga made the Senior-class podium on Saturday, finishing an impressive third. BRIEFLY••• Valdeblore is a small mount ain village 37 miles fro m Nice. Cot e Azur. Last year a round of the European Championship was held there. The organization was great as is typical in France. There were speakers in all the sect ions to explain the rules to the public and to provide news on each rider. The pits were also we ll-organized. and enterta inment was prov ided for the specta tors. There was also a big dinner offe red on Saturday evening for all the peop le involve d. Both days were graced by good weather. with sun shining and temperatu re in the mid-80s faranheit . Thus. the spectator s we re happy. though the riders were a bit less so since the secti ons were very long and required good phy sical conditio ning. All of the hazards we re in an area of about half a square mile. mostly along a stream. so all the fans (w ho paid the French franc equivalent of about $7 .50 each day) co uld easily acce ss them. Only the last zone was separate from the rest. as it was an indoor-sty le sec tion near the start. Among the specta to rs (about 4000 on Satu rday and 8000 on Sunday) was G r a ha m J arvi s . disappointed by his still-inj ured knee. The Brit on will be operated on again next week and expects to re cover w ell by next season. There w er e 39 ride rs atte nding, many of them yo ung Frenchmen. Rec ently crow ned J unior World Cha mpion Adam Raga won his class both the days. and even made the podium w it h t he big boy s on Saturday. Bruno Camozzi risked having his license suspended by p u n ching his riva l Gr egory Eyries in a fight that happened at the last round of the French national series. First the French Federation suspended his licence. but then he appealed because of the fact that the incident occurred at 8 p.m .. aft er the co mpe tition. .