Daniela Guillen wins WMX Round 4 at MXGP of Arnhem going 2-1 with Red Plate holder – Lotte van Drunen finishing P2 with 1-2 result. Fellow Dutch rider – Shana van der Vlist completed the podium in P3 in what can be best described as exhilarating racing on the sands in the Netherlands.
For Guillen, the GP win was more than mere confirmation that the RFME Spain National Team’s rider has the ability to achieve pointy end results against the best WMX rider’s in the world – the victory was won under extreme pressure from Van Drunen who clearly wanted to take double moto wins in front of her home track fans. All of which suggests that mental tenacity remains a mighty attribute to have when facing the unpredictable nature of racing WMX.
As experienced by #172 – Lynn Valk – who set the fastest qualifying time of 1:47.582 with Van Drunen next on 1:49.082 followed by Italian WMX Champion 6x – Kiara Fontanesi on 1:49.313. With a top speed of 56.218 – Valk had every hope to claim pointy end results in Race 1 until a couple of unfortunate crashes put the Van Venrooy KTM Racing Team rider out of the Championship with a leg injury.
For Fontanesi, racing her 15th season of WMX has bought too many high-low experiences to count – either placed in her memory bank to learn from or celebrate. Certainly, winning the coveted Title 6x remains unprecedented along with taking back-to-back GP wins in Round 2 in Spain and Round 3 in Germany this season. Heading into Round 4 at Arnhem, standing P2 overall with a 6 point deficit to Van Drunen – Kiara kept the goal in sight, taking P4 in Race 1, then the hole-shot in Race 2. Leading in Lap 1, mis-fortune struck the Italian, crashing, followed by recovering from P24 to finish P5.
Notwithstanding Van Drunen’s points standings of 180 with Fontanesi on 160 and Guillen on 159, performances by Shana going 3-3, Britain’s Lucy Barker nailing 6-4, and Dutch rider – Danee Gelissen claiming P6 overall – the final 2 Rounds will be anything but predictable. Having completed Rounds 1 and 4 on sand in Sardegna and Arnhem, and Rounds 2 and 3 on hard pack in Spain and Germany, odds will favour rider’s whose adaptability reaches a crescendo racing the familiar hard pack in Turkey for Round 5 and the unknown terrain racing in Darwin, Australia for Round 6 on September 19 – 21.
So, let’s see who rises to the challenge yet again, in what has been a sensational WMX Championship in 2025.
WMX Round 5 at MXGP of Turkey on September 6-7. Header photo: WMX Round 4 podium Image: MXGP
Words: Sharon Cox.
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