Reigning world champion Livia Lancelot will be in Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia this weekend for the opening round of the FIM Women’s World Championship and the Kawasaki rider is ready to defend her title.
One week after the men in Qatar, the elite women of motocross will start their season this weekend on a brand new facility built in Indonesia – it is twenty years since Yves Demaria dominated the last GP of Indonesia on his 250 factory Kawasaki.
Indonesia is the first one of the six round series for the women, and Livia Lancelot will again put all her energy into starting the season on a good base. “Coming here I feel well, as I had a good winter training,” she said. “Last year I had a big crash just before Qatar, this time everything is going perfectly so far and I’m physically fit and ready. I am ready, and so is my Monster Energy Kawasaki.
“Coming to a new venue is never a problem, it’s more or less the same whether you discover a new track or not. But we don’t really know what to expect with the weather, as it has been raining a lot the past weeks and even the past days. It’s not as hot as it was in Thailand in the past, but let’s hope that we won’t have too much rain as the race could become a lottery; we don’t have all our equipment here in Indonesia, just one bike and some parts and if it rains too much it could be a disaster for some of us.”
With two titles already under her belt, Livia has already achieved her dreams, especially when she claimed her second title last year. “I had been fighting for this title for so many years so it was a relief to finally get it; now I feel much less pressure. I’m the reigning world champion, I have trained to the champion again, I want to defend my title but I don’t feel any pressure. I know that the racing will be tough against Kiara [Fontanesi], Nancy [van de Ven] and Courtney [Duncan] but I’m ready for that battle. We will be four girls fighting for the title, let the best of us get it,” she said. “What can make the difference is the age, as I’m the oldest one, and maybe my age and my experience will help me. It can be an advantage or a disadvantage, but I’m sure I will feel much less pressure than Courtney or Nancy who have never been world champion. I’m coming to this race really relaxed.”
After a very busy winter time as she travelled a lot to celebrate her titles and met partners and media, Livia had time to prepare this new season in the best conditions. “When I arrived here I started to train, but I immediately felt very tired even if I had a break and didn’t ride for several weeks. Hopefully Bruno my trainer gave me a good programme so I can recover well, and I’m as fit as I ever was,” she explained. Always running her private 114 team, Livia remains with the same partners for this new season. “There’s no reasons to change a winning team, and I keep all the same partners, each of which are more than simply partners. Most of them were behind me when I created the team, when I got this title, and we have a strong relationship together. I’m proud to ride again for Kawasaki, and to add Monster Energy as a new sponsor – we worked together in 2014, now we are back together and that’s great as they have a strong image and are already working with Kawasaki in other classes. The season will be long, but that’s not a problem for me.”
