WMX World Champion Kiara Fontanesi at last claimed her first Grand Prix podium with third position at St Jean d’Angely in France last weekend and her maiden trophy with the CRF250F and since switching from Yamaha to a private Honda for 2016.
Crashes in Holland and Germany have left the Italian staring at a 72 point wake to Livia Lancelot at the peak of the standings after four rounds and with three remaining as she sits in fifth position. Fontanesi had strived against set-up issues and niggly injuries as well as her fair slice of misfortune in what is proving to be a tough push for a fifth consecutive title.
“We don’t have the best set-up,” she lamented in France. “We couldn’t find the right one like we did in Teutschenthal [Germany] and that’s why we could not make the same difference. It was important to finish the race at the moment.”
After the difficult start to 2016 when she was pitched off the Losail layout in Qatar by Nancy Van der Ven (the winner at St Jean) ‘Fonta’ has had to orientate her expectations for the year. “Right now the only thing I would like to do is win a GP and win a race or even be in a situation where I can really give my best…and the only time I was doing this until now was in Germany and the second moto,” she said.
For the two last seasons #8 has entered into a final round, final race showdown for the WMX crown and with races in Mantova, Switzerland and Holland to go in the women’s series there is every chance the same climax could occur. Fontanesi is especially looking forward to the next WMX fixture at Mantova for the Grand Prix of Lombardia at the end of June.
“I think Mantova will be special and I have been looking forward to a GP there since 2008 when the Women’s World Championship last visited,” she explains. “I was watching and crying because I was 14 and too young to race! I have been waiting a long time because it is one of my favourite tracks in Italy. I know this place like the back of my hand because I have been going since I began riding motocross and we made tests there so we should have a really good set-up. I like the ground and once I am on this track then I know where to put the wheels without thinking. It’s a good chance to win.”
