Daniela Gullien wins WMX Round 1 at MXGP of Spain with superb 1 – 1 result in front of roaring fans at intu Xanadu – Arroyomolinis track. Pushing the Spanish rider to the limit, Lotte van Drunen produced masterful performance on the hard pack track finishing P2 overall, with fellow-Dutch rider Lynn Valk rounding out the top 3 on the podium.
In a scintillating display of racing to the very best of her potential – railing ruts and making passes stick with utmost determination – Daniela gained the upper-hand in both races having secured P2 in Qualifying with best lap time of 2:01.762.
In fact, the sheer confidence of Daniela rattled many, including defending WMX Champion Courtney Duncan when #255 applied pressure from behind in Race 1, along with coming up-close-and-personal with Lotte Van Drunen in Race 2.
Notwithstanding Daniela’s double moto victories, Van Drunen produced remarkable performance on her second favourite terrain, with sand being her specialty as noted in her 2023 WMX campaign – taking P1 and P3 in Sardinia and double race wins at Arnhem, Netherlands.
The 16 year old really was superb under pressure, maximizing her ability to make creative line decisions – squaring her line on the turn – along with nailing the massive triple in Race 2 which closed the gap to race leader, Guillen. In fact, in Race 2 Daniela and Lotte blasted best lap times out of the park with Guillen posting 2:03.629 and Lotte on 2:03.911 – with the rest of the field 7 seconds and counting below.
With the top 2 pushing the gap past the one minute mark to P3, kudos goes to the following rider’s who displayed solid committment to achieve best possible results – knowing there are another 12 races to go. Impressive performances were produced by Lynn Valk taking great starts in both motos, finishing P3 overall, Danish rider Sara Andersen pushing for pointy end of table standings nailing P4 overall, and WMX Champion 6x Kiara Fontanesi going 5 – 5 for P5 in classification.
For defending WMX Champion Courtney Duncan, the weekend was mixed bag of getting hung-up on missing braking point and having tip-over in Race 1, to feeling the heat of top contenders and dropping the bike again in Race 2 – which meant exit to pit-lane before re-joining the race, finishing Round 1 in P9.
Making the top 10 were Norway’s Martine Hughes in P6, Germany’s Larissa Papenemier in P7, and nice push from Malou Jakobsen, April Franzoni, Danee Gelissen, and Jana Sanchez who learnt plenty – finishing P8, P10, P12, and P13 respectively.
For certain, WMX Opening Round exemplified the outstanding capabilities of the best women MX rider’s in the world who not only race at speed on tracks varying in surface, but navigate jumps, rider’s, and back markers within 25 minutes of race duration.
As all women know, there are no guarantees that racing will go to plan, and with 6 Rounds and 12 races ahead, there remains a vibe of anything will happen at anytime. For sure, racing statistics from WMX Round 1 ensure Round 2 at Sardenia will suit Round 1 winner Daniela having taken the GP win there in 2023, along with Van Drunen’s talent on sand, finishing P2 at the venue last season. Round 3 is back in Spain at MXGP of Galicia, which will be relevant for Daniela’s momentum standing on top of the dias.
With 4 week gap to Round 4 in Teutschenthal, Germany, followed by Round 5 at Maggoira, the switch in terrain opens windows of opportunity for rider’s to showcase their tenacity and versatility on track. Look out for those who trail in points and are keen to take back their standings through competitive performances over 4 races.
The Final 2 Rounds in Arnhem, Netherlands on August 18, followed by Round 7 in Turkey on September 8 will be last calling on who will take top honours in WMX Championship 2024. It’s a long season ahead for those racing and following until final chequered flag in 5 months time.
Header photo: WMX Round 1 podium Image: MXGP.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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