The 2015 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship throttled into action this past weekend at Losail, Qatar. And one woman stole all the WMX headlines – Team One One Four Kawasaki’s Livia Lancelot – the 2008 WMX Champion.
Lancelot started the season off on a perfect note, winning both races of the night for a perfect 50 points. This was the trend all weekend, as Husqvarna’s Max Nagl did the same in MXGP, and KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings in MX2.
Joining Lancelot on the overall Qatar WMX podium were Yamaha MXFontaracing’s Kiara Fontanesi and three-time WMX Champion Meghan Rutledge aboard the Monster Energy Kawasaki Bud Racing KX250F.
2015 Qatar WMX Race 1 Recap:
Dutch rider Nancy Van de Ven took the holeshot aboard her Yamaha YZ250F ahead of Rutledge adn Fontanesi, but Van de Ven would not remain up front long. Fontanesi made quick work of Rutledge, and began battling with Van de Ven. The Dutch rider held off Fontanesi for a quarter of the race, but suffered a hectic crash in the wave section.
Van de Ven was thrown off her bike, and her bike went into the pat of Fontanesi, who also crashed. This allowed Rutledge and Lancelot to take the top-two positions.
Fontanesi was able to remount, and a three-way battle began up front. Fontanesi was able to pass Ruteledge and began chasing down Lancelot.
After making the passes, it was down to the former WMX champion and the defending champion to vie for the first twenty-five points of the season. While it was a well fought race, it was Lancelot who held strong to take a narrow win over Fontanesi. Rutledge rode a smart remainder of the race for third while Italian Francesca Nocera finished fourth and Norwegian Genette Vaage rounded out the top five, MXGP reports.
2015 Qatar WMX Race 2 Recap:
In race two, Rutledge took the holeshot ahead of Van de Ven, Larissa Papenmeier, Fontanesi and Lancelot.
In one pass, Fontanesicharged passed both Van de Ven and Rutledge to take over the lead. While Van de Ven was lucky to even walk away from her massive crash in race one, it was obvious her confidence hadn’t been knocked as she found a way around Rutledge for second.
The next to give Rutledge a hard time was none other than the super stylish Livia Lancelot who appeared to be in her groove as she styled it up around the jumpy circuit of Losail and launched her way into second, MXGP reports.
With Fontanesi toting that same aggressive style she had back when she dominated the 2013 WMX championship, it seemed she had the race under control. Lancelot, on the other hand, had different ideas and was determined to redeem last year’s third place performance with a double victory, MXGP reprots.
Sure enough, Lancelot dropped the hammer, caught Fontanesi and forced the Italian into an error. With Fontanesi crashing, Lancelot took over the lead and stormed her way to the finish to wrap up a great night’s racing with a red plate and a perfect 50 points.
Meanwhile Fontanesi made a quick recovery and managed to come home in second ahead of Van de Ven who rode impressive considering… Rutledge rode clever for fourth while the speedy German Larissa Papenmeier managed to round out the top five, MXGP reports.
With the combination of points from both races, Team One One Four’s Livia Lancelot took the first WMX round overall of 2015. Fontanesi took second witj Rutledge rounding off the podium in third, MXGP reports.
2015 Qatar WMX Race 1 Top 10: 1. Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki), 24:34.777; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:01.858; 3. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:05.572; 4. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +0:57.201; 5. Genette Vaage (NOR, KTM), +1:04.584; 6. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:18.051; 7. Jessica Moore (AUS, KTM), +1:42.408; 8. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), +1:47.528; 9. Virginie Germond (SUI, Suzuki), +1:53.647; 10. Justine Charroux (FRA, Yamaha), +1:56.775
2015 Qatar WMX Race 2 Top 10: 1. Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki), 25:00.222; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:17.119; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:26.372; 4. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:32.876; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki), +0:38.996; 6. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +1:04.795; 7. Genette Vaage (NOR, KTM), +1:31.552; 8. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:41.352; 9. Stefany Serrao (BRA, Honda), +1:44.415; 10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), +1:47.323
2015 Qatar WMX Overall & Points: 1. Livia Lancelot (FRA, KAW), 50 points; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, YAM), 44 p.; 3. Meghan Rutledge (AUS, KAW), 38 p.; 4. Francesca Nocera (ITA, SUZ), 33 p.; 5. Genette Vaage (NOR, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 28 p.; 7. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 25 p.; 8. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Jessica Moore (AUS, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Justine Charroux (FRA, YAM), 21 p.
2015 WMX Manufacturer: 1. Kawasaki, 50 points; 2. Yamaha, 44 p.; 3. Suzuki, 34 p.; 4. KTM, 30 p.; 5. Honda, 20 p.
