The WMX fifth Round in Italy for the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship at historic Maggiora delivered another intense and competitive racing mixed with tough conditions for all the WMX riders.
Despite all of these factors, Lynn Valk rose to the occasion to win the one race round and her first overall of the season at the same time.
With the first race stopped by red flags before half of the race was past and therefore cancelled; all hope for the riders to get on the podium fell on the second race on Sunday in a one race intense round.
It all began with a tremendous start for Larissa Papenmeier who remained on a high after winning her home round in Germany. The German led the race in front of Lynn Valk, Daniela Guillen and Kiara Fontanesi. The defending World Champion Courtney Duncan fell in the first corner and had a mountain to climb but was incredibly back up to fifth already on the opening lap with the red plate Lotte Van Drunen coming not far behind in seventh after a poor start.
Danee Gelissen took her chance early on as she got a good start to get to fifth 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 three, Fontanesi, with the crowd right behind her, stormed through on the top corner before the elevator shaft to take the second 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 3rd place to Guillen with the bike completely stuck to the muddy track and 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 seventh and got back to it in sixteenth place which was a hard one for the defending championship. The Kiwi still managed to get back up to eleventh in the end.
Meanwhile, with roll-off film trailing behind her, Fontanesi closed in on Valk, desperate for a win in front of her home fans. Just like in 2015! However, it was then Kiara who fell around the back of the circuit. Losing ground but keeping 2nd place. That also reduced the gap to 8 second with 3rd place Guillen.
In the end, the race was stopped by a red flag after 22 minutes and 20 seconds. This meant that Valk clinched her first overall win of the season thanks to her solid race.
Fontanesi got a well-deserved second 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 with another podium. She also closes the gap with Van Drunen in the series to three points following the Dutch sixth place-finish.
Gelissen stayed strong the full race after a great start to finish to a great 4th place and in front of the red plate Van Drunen.
“It was definitely a good weekend for me,” Valk said. “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”
WMX – Race 1 – Classification: –
Red Flagged And Abandoned With No Result Awarded
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 Points
3 Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 20 Points
4 Danee Gelissen (NED, YAM), 18 Points
5 Larissa Papenmeier (GER, HON), 16 Points
6 Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 15 Points
7 Giorgia Montini (ITA, HON), 14 Points
8 Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 13 Points
9 Alexandra Massury (GER, KTM), 12 Points
10 Elena Kapsamer (AUT, GAS), 11 Points
WMX – Championship Classification:
1 Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 198 Points
2 Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 195 Points
3 Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), 166 Points
4 Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 163 Points
5 Larissa Papenmeier (GER, HON), 138 Points
6 Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 128 Points
7 Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 108 Points
8 Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), 96 Points
9 Danee Gelissen (NED, YAM), 93 Points
10 Shana van der Vlist (NED, YAM), 89 Points
