Livia Lancelot defied the pain from two broken ribs to retain a slender two-point lead in the FIM Women’s World Motocross Championship at the penultimate round of the series in Germany.
After breaking two ribs at the previous round in France the Team One One Four Kawasaki rider had only been able to ride once during the three weeks prior to the event and it was with a degree of uncertainty that she arrived at the Teutschenthal raceway to defend her series lead.
However, it soon became clear that Livia and her Italian title rival were much faster than the other riders and the French lady could concentrate on defending her points advantage with an error-free weekend.
Livia’s KX250F took her into an immediate lead during the first moto and she held the advantage for six of the 13 laps before settling for a narrow six second defeat, and the following day she quickly moved into second place in race two to again finish just over five seconds behind the winner. She now holds a slender two point lead heading for the final round of the series at Loket in the Czech Republic at the end of July; with five weeks to recover from her injuries the event will truly be a thrilling “winner-takes-all” affair.
“It was a tough weekend as I have only been able to ride my bike once in the last three weeks when I raced last weekend to secure the French title,” said Livia Lancelot. “My ribs were still too painful to train normally before this event, so two second positions is not so bad.
“I got two good starts and rode two good races. I never felt really comfortable during the first race, but today for the second race I was faster but just lacked some riding time and physical condition. When I was second behind Chiara I felt easy, but when I tried to push with five minutes to go I felt tired and had to be content to secure the second position. The positive points are that I have less pain to my broken ribs, and this weekend I got two good starts so I go back home happy as I didn’t know what to expect before coming here.
“Now I have one month to prepare for the final round at Loket. I’m still leading the championship and everything can happen there; I like the track, and I will go there with a strong commitment.”
