Dougie Lampkin is the world indoor trials champion for the fourth time.

The Silsden rider sealed the title in the huge Bercy Arena in Paris for Radson Montesa.

The championship was virtually secure once Dougie qualified for the final run-off. All he had to do was finish the course to score an unbeatable 20 points.

His closest rival Marc Colomer's bike ground to a halt with the drive chain on the stadium floor, leaving him no chance of overhauling Lampkin.

Lampkin said afterwards: "I was a little nervous in the qualifying heat, but once I settled down I knew I could win not only the championship, but the trial as well. With the pressure off I rode well in the final.

"It's a great way to finish the series, especially in front of so many people from Radson who came to support me."

Lampkin's victory had not been worry-free though.

He suffered a fractured hydraulic brake pipe on Friday night in Vienna - the penultimate round of the series - and had to switch to his spare machine for the vital Paris trial.

Arch rival Colomer went to Austria hoping for a miracle, but Lampkin was not put off by his mechanical troubles.

Colomer won a narrow victory over the Yorkshireman but it was not enough to blow the championship wide open.

Seven thousand packed the Vienna contest in which Takahisa Fujinami and Bruno Camozzi came good to secure third and fourth places.

The world outdoor trials championship starts in Cordoba, Spain, this weekend.

The two-day events will see the world's top riders going head to head until September and the word is that Fujinami will pose a major threat to the British contingent.

Results

Vienna: 1 M Colomer (Spain) Montesa, 0; 2 D Lampkin (Silsden) Radson Montesa, 3; 3 T Fujinami (Japan) Honda, 6; 4 B Camozzi (France) Gas Gas, 11.

Non-qualifiers: S Colley 12; D Cobos (Spain) Bultaco, 12; G Jarvis, R Hitzler (Austria) 30.

Paris: 1 D Lampkin 3, 2 T Fujinami 12, 3 G Jarvis 12, 4 M Colomer 13. Non-qualifiers: Colley 8, Camozzi 11, Cobos retired.

Final world standings: 1 Lampkin 185, 2 Colomer 171, 3 Colley 142, 4 Jarvis 126, Cobos 90, Fujinami 81.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.