At Senkvice, Slovakia, Chiara Fontanesi secured her second WMX championship. It did not seem as simple as last her when she was already crowned after the penultimate lap. We sat with the champ after the last last moto.
This second title is yours but came after more hard work, am I right?
“Yeah first of all because Megan Rutledge came to do the whole championship and Steffie Laier is back who is an ex-champ and she knows the game. Also Natalie Kane is stronger this year so I have been battling with very strong girls the whole season.”
“But in the end I scored more points and won more motos. I lost one moto in England due to a bike problem and only finished third. At the final round in Slovakia I had a small injury which meant I could not ride at my normal level for the victory and ended the series with a second and a third.”
You sound eager to always wanting to play a leading role.
“My target was to win all the motos this year; what happened in England put a stop to my winning strike. From there we went to the Czech Republic and that was another double win but I went true a very difficult and emotional weekend.”
“A friend of mine had had a big accident and for the first time in my life I did not want to ride my bike; I wanted to go home. Anyway I won both motos and I felt proud being able to focus on my racing despite so much going through my head.”
At Senkvice we did not see the usual dominant Chiara, not in Saturdays; qualification race and not on Sunday race day. Anything wrong?
“On the Thursday before the final race I twisted my ankle stepping down the camper. I was with Martin Michek who took me to the hospital for a check. The problem is with the ligament and pretty painful. I had been on the road for a long time so I had not been doing my regular training. On top of that came the injury so all in all it went ok but it was hard work.”
How did it effect the last race?
“My dad put a good taping on my ankle and I managed to get third in the opening race, good enough to keep the title and it was a great shower party crossing the line with family and friends being present.”
“I finished third in the opening race after a bad start so that was a surprise. My dad had said to me before the race Chiara you only need thirteenth pace to grab the title but I wanted to do better and give all I had in me despite the ankle pain.”
“In the second moto I could take a bit more risk with my ankle as it was the final race and I finished second. I tried to catch Natalie to secure the overall win but sometimes you have to be happy with second.”
“I had made another bad start in our final moto and was happy to beat Steffie and Megan. Being second is ok for now. The Senkvice track I like it’s lay-out but the ground is pretty flat with just one racing line and a good start is essential.”
Any more races this year?
“First I want to rest and enjoy this title, then I start to practice again when my ankle allows. I want to race the Geneva Supercross in December and start in January with next year’s training.”
What was your best race this year?
“Must have been Maggiora because I felt good with the bike and my body and I had a lot of friends and fans to cheer me on. To win both motos in front of such a big home crowd is always a big thing.”
And your worst race if there was any?
“I must say England. Because in the second race I could not do what I had in mind, win both races. I was really angry with that.”
With two world titles in the pocket: what are your plans for 2014?
“Difficult to say at this stage. For sure WMX but with only six rounds I would need to find more races to do another hard training for the full year. So I am looking at extra options to do more races, maybe ADAC Masters if there is an opportunity. To race with guys teaches you a lot and I would like to do some of these rounds to improve myself. Race with the guys is hard work.”
“I like to go back to USA and do the nationals but these are first ideas. The focus will be to defend my WMX title but as said six races is not a lot. Youthstream and the FIM have put six WMX rounds combined with some of the MX1 events, that’s what we know today.”
Having 6 rounds in 2013 instead of 8 last year made a difference.
“Yeah this year there were six rounds and with these two extra rounds we had last year I managed to secure the title before the last moto was done. With six rounds you cannot really afford to miss one moto; from my side 8 events is the minimum, 10 is good and 12 is perfect.”
How about WMX combined with MX1 in 2014?
“Well in some ways it is good as there are usually bigger crowds. I must say I felt so much at home with the MX3 people during the last 2 years; it is one big family feeling. Take Pacov the Czech round combined with the MX3, there were 7000 spectators for our races.”
“MX1 is a step up in some ways, a bigger show and they attract bigger crowds. But take for instance Matterley in England, it was a spectacular event mixing all classes. Downside for us was the schedule with our races spread over more days. As a result hardly anybody was watching our WMX races and that is a pity.”
Text: Harry van Hemmen