HELL'S GATE EXTREME ENDURO
LUCCA, ITALY
SATURDAY 12/02/11
Thirty-four year old Dougie Lampkin - Gas Gas continued his strong run of results at the formidable Hell's Gate extreme enduro as he placed second behind fellow British rider Graham Jarvis, as the trials duo once again were the only two competitors to make it to the finish after an epic day of true off road riding.
After winning this classic Italian event last year Lampkin returned to the scene of his victory as one of the favourites to lift the trophy for a second year running, but came up against a strong and determined Jarvis who was more than worthy of his win on the day.
The morning qualifying session already began to show the form for the day as Dougie took second spot behind Jarvis after six furious laps of more traditional enduro going. Riding his factory Gas Gas CC300, Lampkin found himself nearly a minute down on Graham as qualification came to a close, but over thirty seconds ahead of Xavier Galindo and fellow Gas Gas runner Alessandro Botturi as only just over fifty riders make it through this initial phase of the competition.
After a short break to refresh both bodies and bikes, only the select group of higher placed qualifiers were then allowed back out in to the dense forest that defines this event, for the competition proper where literally only the really brave survive. Even with conditions much drier and warmer than when Lampkin claimed victory twelve months ago, the event proved much tougher than on previous occasions with many riders failing to complete one lap of the afternoon / evening session.
Lampkin was almost amongst the early casualties as he managed to loop out on one of the many steep climbs and feared the worst as his red machine flew above his head and crashed heavily back down the hill below him. Whilst Dougie lost valuable minutes reclaiming his bike from the bottom of the hill, he was thankfully uninjured and was able to continue having only done minor damage to his two-stroke mount.
With darkness having now descended on this evil Italian hillside, only Jarvis and Lampkin remained out on the course for the fifth and final lap as thousands of passionate fans lined the route to the final summit, waiting to see whose headlight would emerge first from the valley below. Whilst Dougie had famously overtaken Graham on this final stretch last year, this time around the ex multi FIM Trial World champion had to be content to follow his compatriot home after a day long battle between the two British riders.
Speaking after the event, an exhausted Lampkin explained. "I had no answer to Graham today, he has ridden a really strong race so I am quite happy to have finished second after what has been an incredibly tough event. When I crashed on the first lap in the afternoon I really thought my day was over, and although I lost a lot of time there, I was really lucky not to have injured myself or to have broken the bike. When you realise that we have done nearly ten hours riding today, perhaps people will understand why only two of us have made it to the finish and how stubborn
