Round five of seven in the Women’s Motocross World Championships (WMX) in Italy, at historic Maggiora at the weekend, delivered intense racing, mixed with tough conditions, for all competitors.
Despite all of these factors, Schmicker KTM Racing’s Lynn Valk rose to the occasion to win the one-race round and her first overall of the season at the same time.
The first race was stopped by red flags due to the treacherously muddy conditions, before half of the race had been run, and it was therefore cancelled, so all hope for the riders to get on the podium fell to the second race on Sunday in an intense one-race round.
It all began the following day with a tremendous start for Larissa Papenmeier from SYE Racing Team 423 who remained on a high after winning her home round in Germany.
The German led the race in front of Valk, RFME Spain National Team’s Daniela Guillen and MXFONTA Racing’s Kiara Fontanesi.
New Zealand’s defending world champion F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Courtney Duncan fell in the first corner and had a mountain to climb but was incredibly back up to 5th already on the opening lap with the red plate De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Lotte Van Drunen coming not far behind in 7th after a poor start.
Ceres 71 Racing’s Danee Gelissen took her chance early on as she got a good start to get to 5th and ride a large part of the race on her own, but Duncan was closing the gap.
Still in the opening lap, Papenmeier lost traction before the finish line jump and Valk leapt past into the lead.
On lap 3, Fontanesi, with the crowd right behind her, stormed through on the top corner before the elevator shaft to take the 2nd spot off Papenmeier. The Italian looked comfortable and only three seconds behind the leader.
Papenmeier then crashed on the big uphill after the start and gifted her third place to Guillen with the bike completely stuck to the muddy track and her struggling to get back to it.
The German picked up finally her bike up in fifth place, just in front of Van Drunen.
Meanwhile, Duncan crashed out again of 7th and got back to it in 16th place which was a hard one for the defending championship.
The Kiwi legend still managed to get back up to 11th in the end and she is settled in at seventh overall in the title chase, well below what we all know the four-time world champion is capable of.
Meanwhile, with goggles’ roll-off film trailing behind her, Fontanesi closed in on Valk, desperate for a win in front of her home fans, just like she achieved in 2015.
However, it was then Fontanesi who fell around the back part of the circuit, losing ground but retaining second position. That also reduced the gap to eight seconds with 3rd-placed Guillen.
In the end, the race was stopped by a red flag after 22 minutes 20 seconds.
This meant that Valk clinched her first overall win of the season thanks to her solid race.
Fontanesi got a well-deserved 2nd overall place to get acclaimed by the home fans on the podium.
Guillen showed once again why she is right in the mix for the championship title with another podium.
She also closed the gap with Van Drunen in the series to 3 points following the Dutch rider’s 6th place-finish.
Gelissen stayed strong the full race after a great start to finish to a great 4th place and in front of series leader Van Drunen.
Lynn Valk: “It was definitely a good weekend for me. Today I took a good start. It was difficult to pass but Kiara (Fontanesi) was riding very well and pushed me from the back as well as Larissa (Papenmeier).
“There was a good clean line and the uphill was tough so I’m so happy to have won. My brother won last week* and now it’s me so I’m super happy and want to thank my team Schmicker Racing, my family as they do everything for me and my sponsors.”
*Cas Valk won the overall EMX250 round in Latvia.
© Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com
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RESULTS & STANDINGS AFTER 5 OF 7 ROUNDS:
WMX – Race 1 – Classification:
Race cancelled due to track conditions.
WMX – Race 2 – Classification:
1. Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), 17:46.625; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:19.232; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), +0:33.961; 4. Danee Gelissen (NED, Yamaha), +1:13.455; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Honda), +1:19.755; 6. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Yamaha), +1:24.328; 7. Giorgia Montini (ITA, Honda), +1:42.540; 8. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:48.082; 9. Alexandra Massury (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 10. Elena Kapsamer (AUT, GASGAS), -1 lap(s).
WMX – Overall Classification:
1. Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), 25 points; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 22 p.; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 20 p.; 4. Danee Gelissen (NED, YAM), 18 p.; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, HON), 16 p.; 6. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 15 p.; 7. Giorgia Montini (ITA, HON), 14 p.; 8. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 13 p.; 9. Alexandra Massury (GER, KTM), 12 p.; 10. Elena Kapsamer (AUT, GAS), 11 p.
WMX – Championship Classification, after five of seven rounds:
1. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 198 points; 2. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 195 p.; 3. Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), 166 p.; 4. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 163 p.; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, HON), 138 p.; 6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 128 p.; 7. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 108 p.; 8. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), 96 p.; 9. Danee Gelissen (NED, YAM), 93 p.; 10. Shana van der Vlist (NED, YAM), 89 p.