intu-Xanadù – ARROYOMOLINOS (Spain) 16 October – The penultimate round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship has concluded with defending Champion Courtney Duncan of Bike it MTX Kawasaki taking the overall victory at the Spanish round ahead of Nancy Van De Ven of Ceres 71 Racing and Kiara Fontanesi.

The WMX championship is heating up, which was evident during today’s action-packed races that saw plenty of excitement from the title contenders.

In the first race, it was Shana Van der Vlist who took the holeshot ahead of Fontanesi and Van De Ven. Van De Ven was quick to jump into the lead, while Fontanesi also got around Van der Vlist for second.

Series leader Duncan started the race in around fifth and a lap or so later was already in third after passes on Van der Vlist and Gabriela Seisdedos of RFME WMX Team.

Fontanesi continued to lead the race with a 1.711 second advantage to Van De Ven, as Duncan started to close in on the Dutch rider ahead of her.

Seisdedos was having a strong beginning to the race but was forced to DNF as she was seen walking back to the paddock.

Duncan then set the fastest lap of the race as she began to close in on Fontanesi and before we knew it, we had an intense battle for the lead. The two banged bars which resulted in Fontanesi going down. The Italian managed to pick herself up in third.

And as it looked like Duncan was going to take a race victory, she crashed big while pulling a tear-off, which allowed Van De Ven to take the lead and go on to win the race, as Fontanesi caught on to the back of Duncan in the final laps but could not make a pass stick, therefore finishing third.

In race two, it was Larissa Papenmeier of Yamaha Racing 423 who got the holeshot ahead of Van De Ven and Duncan who got around Van der Vlist for second and third. Meanwhile Fontanesi was fourth.

Duncan then took second position from Van De Ven, who looked to respond immediately, but the New Zealander was able to secure the spot. She then went after Papenmeier for the lead.

As Duncan led, Sara Andersen was going after Van De Ven for second, as Fontanesi got by Lynn Valk for fifth, after making a mistake.

Duncan then set the fastest lap of the race as she extended her lead to 6.153 seconds over Van De Ven, while Fontanesi got Papenmeier for fourth. The German tried to respond but Fontanesi was already well ahead.

Fontanesi continued her charge forward as Papenmeier came under pressure from Daniela Guillen of RFME WMX Team, this of course sent the Spanish crowd wild.

Fontanesi then made another mistake as she lost ground to Van De Ven as Duncan went on to win the race and the Spanish round, with Van De Ven second in the race and on the podium, while Fontanesi joined the pair on the podium to finish third.

Heading into the final round in Pietramurata for the round of Trentino, Duncan leads the championship by 16 points over Fontanesi and Van De Ven, who is a further 12 points behind.

Courtney Duncan: “I was under a lot of pressure today. The second race was pretty good. I was able to make some good passes on the first lap. I thought I did not too bad out there and rode pretty smooth. So obviously I am happy today with another overall. My plan is the same as always. Just give my all, deliver my best performance and do everything I know how to do like I always do. Also, go in open minded and be ready for tough scenarios. It will be what it will be”.

Nancy Van De Ven: “I was struggling during the whole season, but race by race I am getting better and feeling better. Actually, I took a good start in the first race, I was riding my own race with a really good rhythm and I could take advantage of two riders’ mistakes. That allowed me to take the win and ride my own race easily. During the second race, I was riding and feeling okay, not as good as I was feeling in the first race though and I was just trying to stay in the second place because Kiara and Andersen were pretty close. I finished second for a second overall. So, I actually feel very happy and good. I feel like I am getting better at every race, and I am looking forward to the next one. 

Kiara Fontanesi: “If you look at the results, it’s 3-3. I got the podium and felt good riding. I still managed to get the pole position, which is pretty good. So overall, I am happy with my riding this weekend. Of course, I was hoping for better results because I needed to win to be in a better position for the championship. Having said this, I will not give up until the very end of the championship because this is what I learned”.

Main Photo: Courtney Duncan

Bottom Photos: 1. Nancy Van De Ven 2. Kiara Fontanesi

TIMETABLE

SUNDAY: 08:55 MXE Free/Time Practice, 09:15 MX2 Free/Time Practice, 10:15 MXGP Free/Time Practice, 11:35 MXE Race 1, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 14:35 MXE Race 2, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.