Women’s Motocross World Champion Kiara Fontanesi has been invited to take on the fastest Japan has to offer at the All Japan Motocross Championship.
The legend of women’s motocross will this weekend race her Yamaha YZ250F in the IA2 class at the ninth round of the All Japan Motocross Championship.
She will go head to head with the best 250cc riders in Japan, including Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s latest Japanese prodigy Yusuke Watanabe.
“I really want to thank Yamaha and the race organisers for this amazing opportunity,” she said.
“I love being here, the people are incredible, they are all so friendly and extremely helpful.”
Kiara arrived in Japan 10 days ago and has completed three days of testing on her own Yamaha YZ250F at the Sportsland Sugo circuit.
The Italian feels she has made some significant changes to her set up, one of which, was the addition of a factory Dunlop rear tyre.
Fontanesi on her Japan trip
“Since landing last Tuesday, I have been able to ride three times. It has been raining a lot, so the track has been really muddy, but I feel like we have made some big improvements on my bike and my lap-times have got a lot better,” she offered.
“I was able to test a factory Dunlop tyre and that made a big difference. In between riding I have had many events to attend, one was the MotoGP in Motegi. On Friday we will have a press day at the track and then it’s on to the race weekend which I am really looking forward to.”
“It is a great honour for Kiara to have been invited out to Japan by Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd,” commented Yamaha Motor Europe MX Racing Manager, Erik Eggens.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for her to race in the Japanese championship against some of the fastest boys in Japan, where she will be able to learn the level of racing in another championship and area of the world. It’s a great experience, I think the crowd in Sugo will be amazing and hopefully some cool results will come from it.”
Racing against men is nothing new to Fontanesi. Back in April at Valkenswaard, she raced a round of the FIM MX2 World Championship ā the only female to do so this year.
The ninth round of the All Japan Motocross Championship will take place at the Sportsland Sugo circuit in Miyagi Prefecture on October 22.
