A hard-fought season for the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championships wrapped up at Imola, in Italy, at the weekend with local woman Kiara Fontanesi collecting her sixth world title.
It was a title that was virtually handed to Fontanesi after the series leader, New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan, crashed out of the series last month.
Otago’s Duncan had been leading the series by a massive 21 points after four of six rounds, but an injury sustained in a non-GP event in France ruled her out of the final two GPs of the season.
The Kiwi hero, the competition frontrunner for the past three seasons and blighted by bad luck each time, has already turned her focus to next season.
Meanwhile, both races of the women’s final round in Italy at the weekend were watched closely with the home crowd rooting for the MXFONTA Racing Yamaha Team rider Fontanesi.
Fontanesi faced her closest competitor, fellow Yamaha star Nancy Van de Ven, who came into race one with only an eight-point deficit on the defending champion.
Van de Ven took the lead early on Saturday and after tight racing with back and forth action. Van de Ven took the win, while Fontanesi took second and lost three points on her rival. The top five never shifted positions in any of the laps recorded and was rounded out by Larissa Papenmeier, KTM Silver Action’s Amandine Verstappen and Stephanie Laier.
On Sunday, Papenmeier and her Suzuki led off the start and on the opening lap with Van de Ven in second and Fontanesi third. However Fontanesi made quick moves and passed Van de Ven before the first official lap was complete then dove inside of Papenmeier at the finish to be marked the leader of the first official lap.
The move stopped Fontanesi from making the jump and immediately gave the lead back to Papenmeier.
Less than a lap later Fontanesi was back past Germany’s Papenmeier, as was Van de Ven, who jumped her way into second. The race was then on between the two title contenders and a game of cat and mouse ensued.
Fontanesi’s lead grew to around three seconds by lap five, but, with seven minutes and two laps to go, Van de Ven was back applying pressure, less than a second and a half behind.
Fontanesi found relief though as Van de Ven came up short on the uphill, triple bouncing and missing her line. Then, only a section after the first mistake, another missed line from Van de Ven allowed the gap to grow a full second.
With only two laps remaining, Van de Ven had again chipped into the lead of Fontanesi, but the Italian stayed strong to take the race win, the overall and, most impressively, her sixth WMX World Championship.
Photo courtesy Yamaha Europe
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RESULTS & FINAL STANDINGS:
WMX Race 1 Top Ten:
1. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), 24:34.838; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:05.287; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki), +0:07.374; 4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), +0:43.625; 5. Stephanie Laier (GER, KTM), +0:44.968; 6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +1:34.274; 7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:36.777; 8. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +1:42.286; 9. Mathilde Denis (FRA, Yamaha), +1:45.675; 10. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:49.327.
WMX Race 2 Top Ten:
1. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), 23:52.229; 2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:01.873; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki), +0:30.222; 4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:38.200; 5. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), +0:38.601; 6. Stephanie Laier (GER, KTM), +0:58.056; 7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:22.743; 8. Virginie Germond (SUI, KTM), +1:26.310; 9. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:27.492; 10. Mathilde Denis (FRA, Yamaha), +1:28.691.
WMX Overall Top Ten:
1. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, YAM), 47 points; 2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 47 p.; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, SUZ), 40 p.; 4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Stephanie Laier (GER, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Mathilde Denis (FRA, YAM), 23 p.; 9. Virginie Germond (SUI, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Justine Charroux (FRA, YAM), 20 p.
WMX Championship Top Ten:
1. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, YAM), 260 points; 2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 252 p.; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, SUZ), 231 p.; 4. Courtney Duncan (NZL, YAM), 184 p.; 5. Stephanie Laier (GER, KTM), 183 p.; 6. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), 180 p.; 7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 150 p.; 8. Natalie Kane (IRL, HON), 132 p.; 9. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 119 p.; 10. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 102 p.