Silsden's Dougie Lampkin made a disappointing debut on his factory Beta, as he finished a lowly seventh place at the opening round of the 2008 World Indoor Trials Championship held in Marseille, France, on Saturday.
This was Lampkin's first competitive outing for the Italian team since joining them earlier this month.
Two cleans in the opening two sections gave Lampkin a solid opening, but four fives in the remaining five hazards soon pushed the Yorkshireman down the order and left him with no chance of qualifying for the all important final.
A dejected Lampkin was forced to watch the three-man final from the sidelines as Spaniard Toni Bou went on to win the competition.
Lampkin will spend the next two weeks continuing with further testing and training, including a trip to Italy ahead of the second round of the series which will be held in Barcelona on the first Sunday in February.
Lampkin said: "It was hardly the start I was looking for. It's strange as I have been riding well over the last couple of weeks and felt good coming here tonight."
l On Sunday Silsden girl Danielle Whitham won her class at a wet and muddy Tong venue where Horsforth Motor Club staged their first championship trial of the season.
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