2000 Hawkstone Park
We all love attending a ‘Home’ world championship event, and never more than when one of your favourite riders is doing the winning. Yorkshire’s Dougie Lampkin was dominating the world, having won his first FIM World Trials Championship in 1997 on the Italian Beta. In 2000 he had moved under the arm of the mighty Montesa trials team and looked unbeatable; a rider at the very top of his chosen profession. Great Britain had a lot to be proud of in the world of trials; Steve Colley and Graham Jarvis were also in contention at every round having their eye on that top spot of the podium.
Hawkstone Park needs no introduction as a world-class off-road motorcycle venue that hosted world-class scrambling (or motocross events as they would come to be known) before the world championship trials arrived in 1995, and enduro events in more recent times.
Located close to Market Drayton, north Shropshire, its heavily wooded hillside is littered with rocks and climbs has a very loose sandstone base making for challenging riding conditions across all disciplines of off-road motorcycling.
With good spectator access, the FIM World Championship rounds first introduced Hawkstone Park to the series in 1995 as a one-day event when Spain’s Jordi Tarres (Gas Gas) gave everyone a riding lesson on his way to his last world title. A young Dougie Lampkin won in 1996 at the two-day event but, with no UK world round in 1997, the patriotic crowds would have to wait until 1998 to welcome him back to his winning days. He won again in 1999 still on the Beta.
FIM – ACU
Working closely with the FIM in promoting the world championship trial at Hawkstone Park, the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain, the ACU, had attracted sponsorship for the event from Automint. The two-day event did not disappoint the vast crowds running into the thousands who turned out to see the best riders in the world. The facilities at Hawkstone Park were already in place due to its hosting of Grand Prix Motocross events, and the mid-country location made it an ideal magnet for the trials-riding enthusiast to attend.
With help from the local trials clubs, 15 hazards were set out, with a man-made one located in front of the VIP area to keep the invited guests entertained under cover of a large marquee. These 15 hazards would be ridden over two laps, giving the crowds excellent value for money.
Another large marquee would act as the start and finish area with a podium for the prize-giving ceremony on both days. Running over the weekend of the 15th and 16th April this would be the last world championship event before the small break for the Scottish Six Days Trial in May. The world championship would start again on May the 20th in the Czech Republic.
THE SERIES SO FAR
Having won his first FIM World Championship in 1997, Dougie Lampkin had continued his domination and was the defending world champion. In a well-published move, he had left Beta and moved to the Montesa trials team for 2000, run under the expert guidance of the respected former Spanish rider Miquel Cirera. He was in charge of a very strong team that had returned to world championship glory in 1996 with Marc Colomer, who was still on the Montesa alongside Lampkin. As the twostroke, Montesa Cota 315 used the Japanese HRC supplied engine he also had the exciting Japanese rider Takahisa Fujinami in the team.
Lampkin was the runaway series leader with 117 points in the bag even at this early stage in the championship, winning five of the six opening rounds with a 23-point lead over Colomer. In third position was Fujinami on 81 followed by the winner on day one in Belgium Marc Frexia (Gas Gas-ESP), with Graham Jarvis on the new Sherco in fifth position on 50 points.
What is interesting is that in two of the opening rounds, Lampkin had won on the tie decider, such was the high level of riding.
LAMPKIN DELIVERS
Both days were run in ideal trials-riding conditions, with fine but cloudy weather and fantastic crowd support. Lampkin had one thing on his mind, and that was winning. He duly delivered on both days much to the crowd’s delight.
On the Saturday he had been pushed all the way by Marc Colomer, eventually taking the victory by a single mark.
On the final step of the podium was Steve Colley, who showed the kind of form everyone knew he was capable of, with Jarvis fourth and Fujinami rounding off the top five.
As we have seen in the past with Lampkin, on the second day of competition, he simply moved the goalposts beyond reach. Second was Fujinami as David Cobos put the new Sherco on a world podium for the first time in the UK. Fellow Sherco rider, Graham Jarvis, was forced to retire when in the closing stages on day one on his way to fifth position he had crashed and damaged his knee, creating an injury that would force him out of trials until 2001. As the doors closed on two days of action, Dougie Lampkin had further increased his championship lead as he looked towards securing yet another world title and his first for Montesa.
HOW GOOD
Anyone who attended any of the FIM World Championship rounds at this famous venue will agree just how good they were. They created the perfect atmosphere with a good selection of hazards so different from what you would usually find at a world round, making it unique. As the world changes and we learn to cope with the effects of Coronavirus how good would it be to see a world round back at this iconic venue in 2021! Over to you, the ACU and the FIM.