Meghan Rutledge reigns supreme in Qatar

Monday 03 March: With cool gusty winds breezing across the beautifully floodlit circuit of Losail, Qatar, round one of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship got underway.

Dominating the first round of 2014, Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge surprisingly stood head and shoulders above the rest this weekend.

The nineteen-year-old Australian took two from two holeshots and went on to control both races from start to finish for her first ever World Championship double race victory. Meanwhile HM Plant KTM UK’s Natalie Kane and Team One One Four’s Livia Lancelot came home with second and third respectively.

Nerves had to be skyrocketing as the ladies of WMX shot off the line for their first ever start of the season. Coming around the first turn in front was Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge. Rutledge was quick to stamp her authority, stretching out a lead of plus four seconds within two laps. While the Australian went on to win the race unchallenged, the battle for second was hot with HM Plant KTM UK’s Natalie Kane, Young Dutch talent Nancy Van De Ven, Twenty Suspension Suzuki’s Larissa Papenmeier-Picoto and former four-time WMX world champion Stephanie Laier all dicing back and forth for a podium position. Each lap was give or take all the way to the checkers, but in the end it was HM Plant KTM UK’s Natalie Kane who crossed the line in second in front of the flying Yamaha YZ 125 two-stroke of Nancy Van De Ven with Stephanie Laier and Larissa Papenmeier-Picoto rounding out the top five.

Lining up for race two, race one winner Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge was looking more focused and determine than ever. Proving her case, the Australian underdog took her second holeshot of the evening and went on to dominate yet again for a perfect start to the season. Meanwhile Team One One Four’s Livia Lancelot redeemed herself after her terrible start in race one. While the French wonder women did lay down the fastest laptime, she couldn’t match the flawless consistency of the Australian teenager Rutledge. Sixteen seconds back from Lancelot was HM Plant KTM UK’s Natalie Kane who finished a comfortable third a further eight seconds ahead of the reigning and former WMX World Champions Chiara Fontanesi and Dragon Moto’s Stephanie Laier.

WMX Race 1 top ten: 1. Meghan Kat Rutledge (AUS, Kawasaki), 25:47.520; 2. Natalie Kane (IRL, KTM), +0:13.168; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:14.585; 4. Stephanie Laier (GER, Suzuki), +0:15.344; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki), +0:17.737; 6. Chiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:30.059; 7. Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.893; 8. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +1:01.746; 9. Justine Charroux (FRA, Yamaha), +1:15.910; 10. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:19.912.

WMX Race 2 top ten: 1. Meghan Kat Rutledge (AUS, Kawasaki), 24:48.548; 2. Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.094; 3. Natalie Kane (IRL, KTM), +0:25.611; 4. Chiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:33.531; 5. Stephanie Laier (GER, Suzuki), +0:37.492; 6. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +0:54.246; 7. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +1:00.772; 8. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki), +1:01.975; 9. Marianne Veenstra (NED, Husqvarna), +1:03.683; 10. Sara Pettersson (SWE, KTM), +1:11.128.

WMX Overall top ten: 1. Meghan Kat Rutledge (AUS, KAW), 50 points; 2. Natalie Kane (IRL, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Livia Lancelot (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 4. Stephanie Laier (GER, SUZ), 34 p.; 5. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Chiara Fontanesi (ITA, YAM), 33 p.; 7. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, SUZ), 29 p.; 8. Francesca Nocera (ITA, SUZ), 28 p.; 9. Marianne Veenstra (NED, HUS), 22 p.; 10. Justine Charroux (FRA, YAM), 21 p.

WMX Manufacturer: 1. Kawasaki, 50 points; 2. KTM, 42 p.; 3. Yamaha, 38 p.; 4. Suzuki, 34 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 22 p.