WMX

For the first time in its young history the F&H Kawasaki Racing Team will include a girl in the team line-up next season as talented Lotte van Drunen joins the Dutch squad for the next three years.

The first girl to have ever been on the final podium of the 85cc European Motocross Championship last year, Lotte Van Drunen just turned fifteen years of age this week so she will be able to contest the final round of the FIM WMX Women’s World Motocross Championship in Turkey. Few girls have been so successful in open competition, and Lotte qualified amongst the boys at several rounds of the 125cc European Championship this season with a top-ten result at Lommel as the highlight of her season. Lotte, who has already been working alongside F&H trainer Marc de Reuver in recent weeks, will join the F&H Kawasaki squad later this year to prepare for her first full season in the Women World Championship in 2023.

Nathalie Fasé (F&H team manager): “We are very happy and excited to add a girl to our team and to compete with such a great talent in the Women's World Championship in the upcoming three years. We are looking forward to a successful collaboration and many successes together! “

Lotte van Drunen: “I am very proud to sign a three-year contract with F&H. This is an amazing offer for a girl of my age and I’m really grateful for the opportunities that they will give me! I’m already looking forward to starting with the team and training on my Kawasaki during the winter.”

Photo Copyright: Kawasaki 

Australia’s fastest female motocross rider, Charli Cannon, is set to contest the final round of the 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship in the WMX division, at Afyon Turkey, on September 3 and 4.

With the assistance of the JK Racing Yamaha Team, Cannon will fly to Turkey in early September with her father and Yamalube Yamaha Team mechanic, Nash Ihle, and be a guest on the UK based team for the final round.

17-year-old Cannon has proven to be a revelation in the Women’s ProMX championship, taking all four moto wins on her YZ250F. The Queenslander has been a step above her rivals in terms of speed and fitness. The opportunity to contest the final round of the World Championship is a fitting reward for Cannon and one she is looking forward to.

“I am beyond thankful to get this chance to race the final round in Turkey and to be a guest on the JK Racing Yamaha team,” Cannon begins. “This year has been so exciting for me and to race MXGP is another highlight that I won’t forget.

“Thank you to everyone involved in making this happen, from Yamaha and the Yamalube Yamaha Team to JK Racing as well as Motorcycling Australia, who have given female riders a national platform.”

Based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Cannon’s only previous international experience comes in the form of a trip to New Zealand when she was a junior, so to experience a world championship round will certainly be an eye opener for her. 

“I have followed the Women’s GPs and looked up to riders like Courtney Duncan, so to get the chance to ride with Courtney and the other girls on the world stage will be exciting in itself. I have watched some of the racing from Turkey in years gone by and can see it’s a hard-pack track that looks like a lot of fun to ride and gets quite rutty.

“I really don’t have any expectations of how I will finish but will just do my best, represent Yamaha and the JK Racing Team as best I can and enjoy racing at the highest level.”

But before Cannon jets off, there is some business to attend to at the final round of the ProMX championship at Coolum on August 20. Despite her domination on the track, she leads the championship by only twelve points over Emma Milesevic and with two motos to go, Cannon will need to stay focused to lock down her fifth national championship and first as a senior women’s racer.

Her form at round six at Coffs Harbour was nothing less than stunning as she finished inside the top 15 in both MX2 motos and was running as high as eighth in the opening leg.

“I have really enjoyed doing the ProMX rounds and it’s so good to see the girls coming out and doing these national events. We have had good numbers at the first two rounds and I hope we can get even more for the final round as Coolum is a great track and the atmosphere at the final round is amazing,” she ends.

Riccardo Boschi from the JK Racing Yamaha team is equally excited about having Cannon join the team for the final round and likes what he sees from the up and coming star racer.

“Like a lot of the teams in Europe, we follow Australian motocross closely as there is always great talent coming from the land down under. Charli is one rider we’ve been watching, and her results certainly are impressive so we were extremely happy to assist her for the Turkey round and allow her to showcase her talent and ability at an international level”.

“We can see that she is a hard-working and dedicated young rider and at only 17 has the world at her feet. We are looking forward to meeting Charli and her family in person at Turkey and know she will do her best,” Riccardo said.

The final round of the FIM Motocross World Championship is set for September 3 and 4 with the WMX class having one race on Saturday and the final race on Sunday.  

This season the BitCi MXGP of Turkey is set to host the season finale on the 3^rd and 4^th of September! Don’t miss your chance to witness the final race of 2022 FIM Motocross World Championship and watch this year’s champions receive their medals!

In MXGP Tim Gajser is on track for his fifth world title, but in MX2 the fight for the gold plate could not be any closer, with Jago Geerts and Tom Vialle still locked in a tight battle for the top spot – Who will come out on top? Get your tickets for the MXGP of Turkey to find out.

Afyonkarahisar first appeared on the MXGP calendar in 2018 when Thomas Covington and Jeffrey Herlings took victories in MX2 and MXGP. Since then, the Turkish venue has hosted four events, which included a double-header last year!

Like every year, the MXGP of Turkey is a unique music festival ‘Moto Fest’ which features some of the biggest musical performers and other entertainment that will keep you busy throughout both race days.

Alongside the regular action we will also witness the final rounds of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship and the EXM Open series where we will once again see tight fights for the title!

Don’t miss your chance to watch the fastest MXGP, MX2 as well as WMX and EMX Open riders in action during the two days FULL of excitement! Get your tickets HERE

Why not upgrade and go VIP? Check out the details for the VIP GOLD SKYBOX pass HERE!

intu-Xanadù - ARROYOMOLINOS (Spain) 29 May 2022 – The penultimate round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship saw Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan make a stellar comeback from injury to secure the overall victory at the round of Spain.

Duncan was challenged by home hero Daniela Guillen of RFME WMX Team who celebrated with a race victory and a podium in front of the Spanish crowd, while championship leader Nancy Van De Ven of Ceres 71 Racing finished third overall and extended her points lead to 25 points.

In WMX Race one, it was Ceres 71 Racing’s Nancy Van De Ven who grabbed the holeshot as Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan fought her way quickly into second place. Home hero, Daniela Guillen of the RFME WMX Team was right there too looking to stick with the leading ladies.  

Amadine Verstappen started well among the leaders before crashing out of fifth. She got going again in 23^rd on the opening lap.

Guillen then began to close in on Duncan as she made several attempts to get around the New Zealander. She was close on a couple of occasions, but small mistakes made it difficult to secure the position.

Further down the order, Larissa Papenmeier of Yamaha Racing 423 was looking fast in fourth as she set the fastest lap of the race on several occasions but could not get close in enough to the top three as Guillen continued to apply the pressure onto Duncan.

At one stage of the race, both Duncan and Guillen, who were second and third, set an identical lap time of 2:08.337, which at the time was the fastest lap of the race. The duo didn’t pull away from Papenmeier too much, as the German responded straight after with another fast lap.

As the race continued, Duncan and Guillen edged closer to the race leader Van De Ven as the gap came down to just 0.715. Moments later Van De Ven made a mistake which allowed Duncan to use this to the advantage and dive down the inside of the Dutch rider. On lap 7 we saw a change for the lead.

Duncan got her head down as she pulled away from the rest of the field. In the end Duncan won race one with a 4.241 advantage over Van De Ven and Guillen. Papenmeier remained fourth ahead of Giorgia Balsigh of Ceres 71 Racing who finished fifth.

In race two, it was Duncan who grabbed the holeshot as Papenmeier followed closely in second, while Gabriela Seisdedos of RFME WMX Team was right there in third.

Shana van der Vlist went down in the first turn and was left with a lot of work on her hands as she got going again in last. The Dutch rider was eventually able to fight back to 13^th.

Sandra Keller of Vogelsang Powersports then lost three positions to Van De Ven, Guillen and Sara Andersen as she dropped down to seventh, while Amadine Verstappen worked her way up the order and began to apply the pressure onto Andersen.

Further up the order, Papenmeier was not letting Duncan run away with it, as she kept the Kawasaki rider within a close distance. But it was Guillen who was on fire, as she stepped it up a gear after setting the fastest lap and passing Van De Ven for third on lap three.

It took the Spanish rider only a lap to then get around Papenmeier for second and before we knew it, she was on the heels of Duncan. By the sixth lap, Guillen was the new race leader which sent the Spanish crowd crazy!

After finding her way into the lead, Guillen got her head down and opened up a gap to Duncan immediately. Further behind them, Van De Ven began to plan her attack onto Papenmeier which she executed with two laps to go as she moved into third.

In the end, Guillen won the second race with a 8.176 second advantage over Duncan and Van De Ven who was third. Papenmeier was forced to settle for fourth, while JK Yamaha Racing’s Lynn Valk fought back to fifth.

A 1-2 result gave Duncan the overall win on her first race back from injury, as Guillen celebrated on the second step of the box ahead of Van De Ven.

With one round remaining, Van De Ven leads Valk by 25 points, while van der Vlist is third in the points standings.

Courtney Duncan: “I think I can be proud with this weekend. Obviously, as you said it was my first race in a long time, three months, so I’m still a little bit off and a little bit rusty. But we’re here and it’s an onwards battle from here. Huge thanks to everyone who supports me and I’m just so stoked to fly the Kiwi flag today!”.

Main Photo: Courtney Duncan

Top Photos: 1. WMX Start 2. WMX Podium

Bottom Photos: 1. Daniela Guillen 2. Nancy Van De Ven

WMX - Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:55.386; 2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:04.241; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), +0:07.797; 4. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:16.116; 5. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, Yamaha), +0:51.750; 6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:55.859; 7. Tahlia Jade O'Hare (AUS, Honda), +1:01.647; 8. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:05.898; 9. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:08.092; 10. Mathea Seleboe (NOR, Yamaha), +1:11.259;

WMX - Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), 24:53.325; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:08.176; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:14.630; 4. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:15.104; 5. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.348; 6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:42.774; 7. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:48.586; 8. Tahlia Jade O'Hare (AUS, Honda), +1:11.898; 9. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, Yamaha), +1:22.495; 10. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), +1:24.737;

WMX - Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 47 points; 2. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 42 p.; 4. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Tahlia Jade O'Hare (AUS, HON), 27 p.; 9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Mathea Seleboe (NOR, YAM), 20 p.;

WMX - Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 173 points; 2. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 148 p.; 3. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 135 p.; 4. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 132 p.; 5. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KAW), 102 p.; 6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 100 p.; 7. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, YAM), 96 p.; 8. Martine Hughes (NOR, HON), 95 p.; 9. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), 85 p.; 10. Tahlia Jade O'Hare (AUS, HON), 83 p.;

WMX - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 189 points; 2. KTM, 163 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 128 p.; 4. Honda, 124 p.; 5. Fantic, 35 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 32 p.; 7. GASGAS, 7 p.;

One round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship remains, with the championship showdown headed for the BitCi MXGP of Turkey on the 3^rd and 4^th of September.

All the photos from the MXGP of Spain will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

MXGP SPAIN QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1660m

Type of ground: Hard-pack

Temperature: 31° C

Weather conditions: Sunny

LINKS

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intu Xanadú - Arroyomolinos