FIM Motocross
For the second year in a row Stephanie Laier has been proclaimed the FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion on the very last round of the series in Fermo, Italy.
The 25-year-old German rider clinched the victory of race one today and tomorrow she will ride being already the current 2010 FIM WMX World Champion.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Laier had to wait until the last round of the series to conquer the Title and after today’s free practice she thought that she could even lose it.
Laier suffered an unexpected crash in the first practice session of the Italian GP and was taken to the hospital straight away as she was suffering really hard pain in her shoulder.
Fortunately, it was not a serious injury and after receiving some treatment she was able to be present in race one and managed to go out with the victory as well as the second World Title in a row.
Laier’s MX Career
One has to go back to 2005 to see Stephanie Laier’s beginning, as the German took part in the maiden edition of the FIM Women’s World Cup. In fact, it was already in her first year when she showed all her potential winning the sole round which took place in Sweden.
In 2006 Laier finished second of the FIM Women’s World Cup behind the strong rival Prumm. The German arrived at the end of the series with only a 7 points difference from the Cup winner after finishing third in Teutschenthal and second in Uddevalla.
In 2007 New Zealander Prumm won the Cup for second time in a row in a season where Laier was touched by misfortune and could only be twelfth.
The German did not finish the first heat of the series due to a mechanical problem but she succeeded in winning the second one. Besides, in round two Laier was knocked out by a crash and injured her left thumb and could not race the last round in Lierop.
The year 2008 was a turning point for Women’s Motocross as the World Cup turned into the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship and consisted of five rounds instead of two, adding more emotion to the series. However, Laier had to miss the first round in Bulgaria due to an injury on the ligament of her right shoulder.
The German returned in round two in Mantova with superb authority winning four consecutive races during the Italian and French rounds. The German even achieved victory in her home round but another technical problem prevented her from winning the final round in Lierop and Lancelot snatched the first FIM WMX World Title.
The beginning of 2009 was not the best the German could have imagined as she missed victory in the two first rounds of the Championship in Bulgaria and Portugal. Her first overall victory of the season arrived in the Catalan round in Bellpuig and Laier was placed second in the point standings.
In France her archrival Lancelot obtained a striking victory but an unfortunate training crash made Lancelot stop racing in the following rounds and it was the end of the season for the French rider. Laier took advantage of the situation, winning the following four motos in Germany and Sweden to obtain her maiden World Title in the last round of the series with still one heat race to go.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Laier started the 2010 season in Bulgaria being the Title defender and in the first round of the Championship she already proved that she was fully committed to revalidate the FIM WMX World Title winning both races with superb authority.
The German succeeded in being on the top of the podium in all the following rounds and it was not until the fifth round of the Championship in her home track in Teutschenthal that Laier missed the podium for the first time this season.
Laier had to settle down for a fourth position in the German round as she suffered two heavy crashes during the qualifying practice and could not show all her potential on the races.
Besides, in race two she crashed again after bumping into a lapped rider and that made her miss the podium. Her compatriot Papenmeier went out with the victory in Teutschenthal, second was Italian Fontanesi and third was the 2008 FIM WMX Champion Lancelot.
The rest of the season has been full of success for Laier winning seven out of the thirteen heats and being the fastest in all the qualifying sessions except in Bulgaria, Germany and this weekend in Fermo.
The German arrived in Loket leading the FIM WMX World Championship with 40 points difference from runner up Lancelot and she had the first chance to conquer the Title.
However, Laier struggled the whole weekend with herself and on Sunday she had some cramps on her left arm and could not even feel her fingers before the second race. After some treatment, Laier went out to the track and clinched the second position and finished with a solid overall third place.
Livia Lancelot got her maiden round victory in Loket, winning some valuable points to continue fighting for the Championship in the last round of the series, and second was Maria Franke, who got her maiden heat victory in race one in Loket. Winning race one at Fermo, Laier was finally crowned World Champion again.
Laier Biography and Career
Name and surname Stephanie Laier
Nationality German
Place of birth Heidelberg
Date of birth (d/m/y) 12/08/1985
Website www.steffilaier.de
First round raced in Women’s World Championship 2008, Italy
World Titles 2
First World Title 2009
World Championship Round wins 10
First World Championship round win 2008, Italy
Best overall result 1
