DOUGIE Lampkin starts as firm favourite to win Sunday's British trials championship opener at Castlewellan Country Park in County Down - where he comes head-to-head with Graham Jarvis, Steve Colley and Ulster ace Rob Crawford.

As the Silsden world champion is apparently unbeatable at world level there seems little chance of him going down on Sunday, but stranger things have happened in the Emerald Isle.

This season seems set for a repeat of last year, with the top three detached from the teenage hopefuls by a country mile, an on current form generally, that's how it will stay.

Larkspeed co-ordinator Carl Davis has got his mathematics fired up to release the ongoing Larkspeed points situation.

Ilkley head the scoreline, blazing away on 575.3, followed by Sporting Escort with 240.0, then ever-present North Humberside, just 6.4 points behind.

Alwoodley and Airedale, and Pennine, are well in striking distance on 215.4 and 204.2 respectively, sixth and seventh in a tight podium battle.

Apart from lkley, the top seven are split by a mere 36 points so it is tight at the top. Next event is the sprint at Curborough.

Leeds youngsters Henry Moorhouse and James Dabill stacked up championship points at sun-baked Harwood Dale on Sunday during round two of the Auto Cycle Union national youth championship trial.

But the entire event in the dense woods was halted for a while while a nesting toad and its offspring occupied observed section number 15, the last one on the lap.

Competitor's mother Penny Ludgate spotted the creature just as the only girl in the contest, Maria Conway, from Henley, was about to ride through the section.

It was a case of Mrs Ludgate, toad and offspring versus the rest. The toad won when it toppled into the nearby steam and swam away - very much toad out of the hole.

Moorhouse won Class A and the 20 points that went with the victory hoisted him to a good strong third spot behind Sam Ludgate and Shaun Morris. Only point separates the Yorkshire lads with Charnock's Morris five points ahead but there is plenty of time yet.

In Class B James Dabill delivered a good fourth place and now shares third spot with Mika Vesterinen, son of former world champion Yrjo who originally came from Finland but lives near London.

Guiseley's Andrew Carter should have been in the contest but he was nursing a broken collarbone sustained the previous Saturday in the Ilkley Grand National.

He crashed out of the contest right in the middle of the grouse moor, as well as two miles from the nearest road and meant father Brian had to walk out and collect the abandoned Gas Gas. Andrew, of Tranmere Park, should have been number one in the A Class Youth Championship but had to settle for spectating.

Beta importer and Dougie Lampkin's cousin, John Lampkin, (Silsden), was also there watching his GP Beta boys Tom Norton, Mika Vesterinen, Tom Sagar and Richard Matthew Timperley. Robin and Gill Morewood were also flying the flag at Harwood.

Scarborough DMC national youth championship trial, Harwood Dale - Class A: 1 Henry Moorhouse, Leeds (Gas Gas), 22, 2 Shaun Morris (Montesa), 28, 3 Sam Ludgate (Bultaco), 33, Stephen Johnson (Montesa), 58, Sean Robinson (Scorpa), 59, Ashley Bell (Gas Gas), 62, Liam Walker (Gas Gas), 66, Roger Mount (Beta), 67, John Crinson (Beta), 71, James Lovell (Scorpa), 75, Sean Conway (Beta), 82, Scott Brown (B ultaco), 91.

Provisional points: Morris 37, Ludgate 32, Moorhouse 31, Johnson 28, Timperley 23, Farrer 21, Bell and Bayliss 16, Walker 14, Robinson 10, Mark Farrer 5, Wood 4, Nick Skaife 1.

Class B (to 14 years): 1 T Norton (Beta), 16, 2 M Vesterinen (GP Beta), 23, 3 T Sagar (Beta), 25, James Dabill, Horsforth (Gas Gas), 33, Kyle Hayes (Beta), 34, Duncan Staines (Beta), 43, Daniel Smith (Montesa), 43; Matthew McDonald (Gas Gas), 46, Richard Fawcett (Gas Gas), 46, David Wood (Beta), 47; Edward MacIntosh (Montesa), 49, Chris Madigan (Gas Gas), 53, Chris Curtis (Montesa), 56, Gary Burridge (Gas Gas), 57.

Championship Class B (to 14 years) - Provisional points: 1 Norton, 40, 2 Sagar, 32, 3 James Dabill and Vesterinen, 28, Sherwin 20, Staines 18, Curtis and Hayes 15, Daniel Smith 13, Madigan 11, Mcdonald 10; Matthew Hurst and Fawcett 7, Peter Gray 6, Wood 5, McIntosh 4, Matthew Timperley 2, Gary Burridge 1.

At Chesterhills, Co Durham, Paul Winrow won all three national quad championship races on his Laeger Banshee. He will be in action next Sunday when the British championship 'circus' moves to Armthorpe Moto Parc for the second championship round.

Leeds company ATV Direct have signed Stornoway's 18-year-old John Mitchell and he took over a brand new Banshee machine on Sunday at the Durham event, scoring a second and third place but tangling with course marker ropes in his third race.

Ripon MC Jack Leslie Ellis Trophy Trial, Winksley - Joint winners: Dan Thorpe (Gas Gas) and Graham Jarvis (Scorpa), 0 marks lost. Experts: 1 B Hemingway (Beta), 10, 2 James Lampkin (GP Beta), 11, 3 P Alderson (Bultaco), 16.

Intermediates: 1 C Griffin (GP Beta), 27, 2 A Johnson (Bultaco), 29, 3 S Blythe (Montersa), 39.

Novices: 1 D Cockshot (Gas Gas), 54, 2 M Sunter (Gas Gas), 62, 3 N Wright (Gas Gas), 73.

Clubmen: 1, Dave Thorpe (Yamaha), 1, 2 B Hutchinson (Montesa), 7, 3 M Forster (Gas Gas), 7.

Diary dates

Tonight: Ilkley DMC committee meeting, Pool Mills Social Club, Pool (8.00pm), Yeadon and Guiseley MC club night, Guiseley Cricket Club (8.30pm).

Tomorrow: Alwoodley MC club night, The Square and Compass, North Rigton (8.00pm), West Leeds MC club night, The Valley Inn, Drighlington (8.30pm), Spen Valley MC club night, The West End, Gomersal (8.30pm).

Saturday: Bradford DMC trial, Diamond Pasture, Park Rash, Kettlewell (2pm, Yorkshire Classic MC trial, Oakworth (4pm), Scarborough DMC trial, Harwood Dale, Hackness (5pm).

Sunday: Thorne MC moto-cross, Nett Quad championship, Armthorpe Moto Parc (10am), off M18, Ilkley DMC 'President's Run', Pool Mills Social Club, Pool (10am for 10.30am), Third MC trial, Sutton Bank, Thirsk (10.30am), Lightweight MC British Championship Trial, Castlewellan Country Park County Down (11), West Leeds MC trial, Kilnsey (11am), YMSA youth moto-cross, Doncaster Motor Parc, Finningley (11am), White Rose MXC moto-cross, Woodhouse Farm, Great Ayton (noon).

Monday: Airedale and Pennine MC club night, The Rock and Heifer, Thornton (8.30pm).

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