ONLY a drowned bike prevented Silsden's Dougie Lampkin from recording back-to-back wins at the world-renowned Scott Trial, which celebrated its 100th anniversary at the weekend.

The Red Bull rider finished in third place as just six marks separated the top three in what remains the toughest single-day event of its type.

Lampkin was best on observation in the sections, despite his mechanical difficulties, but lost out when time penalties were added to the totals.

The 38-year-old was bidding for a fifth Scott victory that would have taken him clear of the four wins that he shares with his father Martin, who was, as ever, on hand to support his eldest son in his latest bid for success.

But Dougie could not hide his disappointment as he crossed the line, knowing that his water-filled engine had more than likely cost him the win in an event that he had targeted and trained for.

The event was won by fellow Yorkshireman James Dabill, from Cookridge, on 43 marks, Michael Brown taking the runners-up spot on 47, with Lampkin next on 51 after more than five fast and furious hours in the saddle.

Dougie said: "I am absolutely gutted to have been so close to taking the win, especially with it being the centenary edition of the Scott, but I kind of knew that the marks in the last few sections when the bike would hardly run would have probably cost me.

"I made a couple of mistakes early on that I wasn't happy about but after that I really settled down and felt strong for the rest of day until I managed to submerge the bike underwater in between sections after the sixth and final fuel check.

"It took a bit of getting going, and with the amount of mud that was caked around the 'carb' I knew it was too much of a risk and was going to take too much time to strip it down."

He added: "From then on, it was just a case of trying to keep it running and to try to get through the remaining sections, but I knew I was in trouble when I had to push out of three of the last six sections, and it is those nine marks that have cost me.

"It obviously wasn't to be, but I would like to finish off by saying well done to both James (Dabill) and Michael (Brown), who have both ridden well today."

With little time to rest his weary body, Lampkin is visiting the Infiniti Red Bull Racing F1 factory this week and completing filming of a separate Red Bull project before he heads out to Milan early next week to unveil the new Vertigo Trial bike that he has been working on during the last year.