BUSY SCHEDULE FOR LAMPKIN
MANCHESTER, GREAT BRITAIN
THURSDAY 01/09/11
Whilst still recovering from a nasty ankle injury picked up in May, thirty-five year old Dougie Lampkin remains committed to a busy calendar between now and the end of the year. Although the Gas Gas teamster has been forced to sit out of this weekend's European Grand Prix in France, which marks the final round of the 2011 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship, his main focus will now fall on becoming fully fit in time for the forthcoming FIM Trial des Nations in Italy.
Taking place in the northern town of Tolmezzo, Italy during the weekend of 17/18 September, the FIM Trial des Nations remains one of the most prestigious events to feature on Dougie's racing schedule. Although the team-based competition has been dominated by Spain in recent times, the seasoned campaigner has assisted Great Britain to victory on no less than four occasions.
"My first major competition after initially damaging my ankle was the World round in Fort William, Scotland and it soon became clear that I needed more time to recover. I had to compensate for my injured left ankle too much and I found that my right leg just cramped up badly. I don't want to do the same again in France this weekend, but I can still play an important role within the Gas Gas team."
"I need to make sure I'm fully fit for the Trial des Nations in mid September because it is a really important event for me. Spain has been really strong over more recent years, though we have been able to push them on a number of occasions. I see that Japan has entered a team this year, which is great. We've had some brilliant battles with them in the past so hopefully we can do the same this time around."
As well as representing his country in Italy, Lampkin is also preparing himself for the famous Scott Trial, which takes place in October. Established in 1914 the Scott Trial remains one of the most notoriously demanding off-road motorcycle events in the World and is won on a mixture of marks lost and overall fastest time.
Similarly to the Trial des Nations, the Gas Gas factory rider has reached the top step of the Scott Trial rostrum on a number of occasions throughout his long and illustrious career, most recently in 2007. "I've got an entry for the Scott Trial in October and I'm looking forward to competing again. It's a really tough trial so obviously I need to be really on top of my game, it remains one of my favourite events so all being well I'll be fighting for the win."
In addition to his trials commitments, Lampkin also plans to compete in selected extreme enduro events. Using his immense motorcycle skill Dougie finished runner-up in the 2011 Erzberg extreme enduro during June, this is the kind of result he will look to repeat later in the year. On top of the Red Bull athlete's already crammed competition schedule, he will spend considerable time in Spain at the Gas Gas factory, helping to develop the new model range of both enduro and trial machines.
Whilst Lampkin's injury may have stopped him from competing in certain events this season, his incredible ability to adapt himself to a variety of situations recently saw him assist team-mate Adam Raga to his third Trial GP victory of the year. In what were some of the toughest conditions of the series to date, Dougie helped Raga produced a pair of accomplished performances during the two day Japanese GP, finishing 2-1 over the weekend.
Praised by Raga after the Trial, Dougie explains what made Japan so difficult, "The weather was absolutely unreal. In the morning I put my waterproof trousers on, but the rain hit the ground so hard I just got soaked straight away. Adam was one of the first riders away and that should have made it even more challenging, but his riding was brilliant. I would say his two performances in Japan were probably his best this season, so it was good to be there to be apart of it." 
