There was no change in the lead in the 2019 Scottish Six Days Trial today as both James Dabill (Beta) and Dougie Lampkin (Vertigo) completed the thirty observed sections without dropping a single mark. This means James continues to lead Dougie by just three marks with their total scores remaining at two against five.
Michael Brown (Gas Gas) dropped from joint second with Lampkin to a close third overall as his one mark for the day, dropped in the second section at Gorton gives Lampkin the advantage.
Sherco's Dan Peace dropped two today and while he retains a fine fourth place overall, the very low marks being lost this week meant that he lost just that much ground from the leaders and exactly the same goes for Jack Price (Gas Gas) who remains just one mark behind Dan.
There was one more clean ride today which went to Welsh ace Iwan Roberts (TRS) who has worked his way back to sixth overall after slipping to eleventh on Tuesday following a bad day.
The route for Thursday, day four of the 2019 SSDT, was the second longest of the week at a mighty 101 miles. From the start in Fort William the route headed to Kinlochleven on the Mamore road before looping round the head of Loch Leven and heading down Glencoe. After the well-known groups of sections at Chairlift and Ba House the trial faced the longest stretch of off-road with the crossing of Rannoch moor, bringing the riders eventually to the final group at Fersit and then a 20 mile run on the road back to the Parc Ferme.
Back at base, the general concensus from the leading riders was that it had actually been a surprisingly easy day in the sections and this was borne out when the results were announced with no fewer than 34 riders managing daily scores in single figures.
Many sections were familiar but with the very dry conditions on the course they simply proved easier to ride. Enduro ace Tom Sagar (Montesa) enjoyed a near perfect day joining Michael Brown, Jack Peace (Sherco), Dec Bullock (Gas Gas) and Spaniard Francesc Moret (Montesa) on just one mark for the day.
Andrew Anderson (Scorpa) enjoyed a single figure ride, losing just seven marks to ease away from the TRRS mounted duo of Joe Dawson and Calum Murphy in the titanic battle for the title of Best Scottish Rider.
Emma Bristow (Sherco) continues to impress with a convincing lead in the Ladies and holds 31st place overall.
Friday will see the traditional ride round the Moidart peninsula, a 95-mile ride, mainly on the road except for several short off-road stretches. This gives the tiring clubmen some respite while it is great for spectators with most sections set just off the road.
Images courtesy of
trialscentral.com and Trials UK Media