 Steffi
Laier wins single moto in Greece before rain stops WMX GP
Red Bull Teka KTM's WMX world champion Steffi Laier
added another 25 points and a dominant race win to her credit on Sunday
winning the only moto that was possible when the second round of the
women's competition was cut short after continuous rain at Megalopolis,
Greece
The skies opened on Saturday afternoon and rain continually poured down
on the MX track also on race day that organizers were forced to draw a
line under both the scheduled MX3 and the WMX after one moto each. The
usually hard and dry track was transformed into a quagmire.
Steffi, the only Red Bull Teka KTM factory rider in the women's
competition came to Greece confident after her comfortable double
moto victory in the first GP of the season in Sevlievo. But the weekend
proved to be difficult for the German rider and all others in the
competition. The promise of a hard and fast race on the hard pack surface
was already dispelled during Saturday's free practice and qualifying race
after heavy rain the previous night had made the track slippery and very
difficult to define the right line.
After struggling to get a feel of the track and under difficult conditions
Steffi registered fastest and second fastest in the two practice sessions
before tackling what turned into a lottery race for the qualification.
Riders struggled to come to terms with the slippery surface and although
Steffi took the holeshot she had trouble finding her rhythm. She was
closing in on the leader Chiara Fontanese when a mid- race error in the
tricky conditions put her back in second place at the end of
qualifying.
Rain continued to fall all through the night and during the race program
on Sunday and indeed the only women's moto was a matter of survival rather
than MX racing. Again Steffi took the holeshot and led for the first
several laps but then she had a close encounter with Fontanese and the
Italian rider crashed leaving the way open for Steffi to take the victory
by a winning margin of 1 minute 39 seconds in a competition that failed to
live up to the standards of a challenging race.
KTM rider Larissa Papenmeier, also of Germany, finished second and
Fontanese completed the podium
Results (GP concluded after 1 moto because of adverse weather)
1, Steffi Laier, Germany, KTM
2, Larissa Papenmeier, Germany, KTM
3, Chiara Fontansese, Italy, Yamaha
4, Anne Borchers, Germany, Suzuki
5, Sara Pettersson, Sweden, KTM
Standings after 1 GP and 1 GP of one moto only
1, Steffi Laier, Germany, KTM 75 points
2, Larissa Papenmeier, Germany, KTM 62
3, Chiara Fontanese, Italy, Yamaha, 60
4, Francesca Nocera, Italy, KTM, 44
5, Brit van der Wekken, Netherlands, Honda 43
In other action this weekend
Red Bull Teka KTM factory rider Ken Roczen won both motos in the opening
round of the ADAC MX Masters at Fürstlich Drehna for all-out
victory and a maximum of 50 points in this competition.
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