The MXGP Festival started this morning with the first race of the fourth round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship. The British Grand Prix is as close to home as it gets for Irish lady Natalie Kane and for her it was a perfect day.
The WMX Race one started with Natalie Kane taking the holeshot and leading the first lap, but a strong Chiara Fontanesi caught the Irish rider by the end of the first lap and she overtook her and managed to lead the race until the chequered flag. Natalie Kane tried to follow Fontanesi, and although her lap times were really good, she crossed the finish line twenty-two seconds behind the Italian.
Meghan Rutledge was a little bit disappointed with her performance today because she was not able to race with the front group. The Australian managed to be third by the end of the first lap but a mistake saw her droping one position, which later on recuperated and finished third ahead of Stephanie Laier.
The former WMX World Champion stalled her bike right before the gate dropped, so she started almost from the last position. However, Laier was able to get a really good rhythm to move up to the third position. In the end Rutledge overtook her, but Laier has proved today that she can be fighting for the victory if she gets a good start. Britt Van der Wekken rode a strong race and she finished fifth.
Irish wonder lady Natalie Kane took the holeshot and dominated WMX Race two from start to finish to take home her first race win and overall victory this year. Taking home second overall was race one winner Monster Energy Yamaha’s Chiara Fontanesi ahead of Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge in third.
HM Plant KTM UK’s Natalie Kane was untouchable today as she took her second holeshot of the weekend and went on to lead the race completely unchallenged. Kane, considered a “British” rider was super excited to win her first ever world championship overall stating “this is the best day of my entire career”.
Second place went to Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge who spent the majority of the race being interrogated by the current WMX World Champion Chiara Fontanesi. Although at one stage Fontanesi had moved into second, it would seem the Monster Energy Yamaha rider Fontanesi faced a problem with two laps to go which saw her visibly slow down and crawl home for third.
Taking home fourth was Rabbit Racing Kawasaki’s Stephanie Laier. Laier got off to a great start but just over half a lap in, she was tangled with another rider which dropped her outside the top ten. The German ex world champion then put in a remarkable ride, battling through the field to pass Dutch Nancy Van De Ven for fourth with four laps to go. Meanwhile sixteen year old Dutch girl Nancy Van De Ven was an eye opener, riding her Yamaha YZ125 two stroke machine home to an outstanding fifth place finish.