Last weekend’s Grand Prix of the Netherlands maybe have been the sixth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship but it was also the scene of the third event of six in the FIM Women’s series. Yamaha’s Kiara Fontanesi was able to leave Valkenswaard as the leader of the competition after taking second place overall and fixing the red plate on the front of her YRRD-kitted YZ250F.
“I’m happy because I have the red plate and that was my goal for this Grand Prix,” said the Italian who won the first moto and recovered from a crash and last position to finish fourth in the second. “My job is to keep it until the end now and I know I can do it. I know I could have won this weekend if I hadn’t have crashed but if I look at the ride back to fourth and the end result then I don’t feel too bad because I did the best I could.”
The 20 year old’s experience in Valkenswaard mirrored her season so far in terms enjoying one decent moto and then working through to gain what she could in the other. She has missed the podium just once from three meetings and has two moto wins from six but with newcomer Meghan Rutledge pushing hard, Livia Lancelot still fast and Natalie Kane injury-free, Fontanesi hasn’t been so dominant compared to 2012 and 2013.
“The year begun in a strange way because I had a big crash in Qatar and then have struggled or not had much luck; it has been a struggle since the first race!” She explained. “Having the red plate means that I am coming back to where I want to be.”
‘Fonta’ fronts the WMX standings by just one point from Kane who walked the third step of the Dutch podium. “The level of the championship this year is probably a little bit higher but the biggest difference now is that if you make a mistake then you can only come back to the top five because there are more girls that are faster,” she added. “Last year, or two years ago, if you crashed then you could get back into your rhythm and still finish second. It is possible to lose a lot of points now in this championship. I am still not at the level I want to be. I need to get back to the performances I was making last year.”
WMX will be in action again next month at St Jean D’Angely for the Grand Prix of France.
The Dutch round was also significant for more garlands obtained by Yamaha’s YZ125 two-stroke. Alvin Ostlund grabbed his first podium result of the season with second place overall in the third round of eight in 2014 EMX125. The Swede is second in the championship standings and just six points ahead of another Yamaha rider David Herbreteau.