Nancy van de Ven calls an end to her racing career – a Champion in the true sense of the word. From her debut entry in Women Motocross World Championship in 2013 to Nancy’s departing year in 2023, the Dutch rider, WMX Champion 2022, represents the essence of sheer dog-fight, will power, and dedication to accomplish astounding achievements at World Championship level.
Most certainly, Nancy’s character and attitude towards achieving her goals over the span of 10 years commands utmost respect along with close examination on how #85 has risen so many times, to take podiums, wins, GP Overall victories, and finally the iconic WMX Title in 2022.
MXLink first met Nancy at WMX Opening Round in Qatar in 2016, followed by covering the Final Round at Assen, Netherlands later the same year. It was evident, Nancy’s competitive spirit matched the equally tough-as female rider’s on the track, plus Nancy’s results were proving a game changer on the WMX table board, in only her 3rd season in the class.
Building on achievements gained in 2015, most notably finishing 3rd overall in the Championship, nailing 7 podiums from 12 races, and taking her first double moto win in Round 7 at Czech Republic, Nancy continued the momentum into the following season of ‘016, which was set to be a doozer.
The sight of Nancy taking Race 2 win, at 2016 Round 7 at Assen, after the whole track and paddock had been drenched in a thunderstorm, still remains as one of the most memorable moments of covering WMX to date. There was carnage on the track with the women struggling to keep bikes upright and on lines which had turned into sandy soup, yet somehow Nancy pulled out all her skills, talent, and force of conviction to win in front of her home crowd.
Roll over into WMX 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 and those watching and covering Nancy would wince at each and every moment she came soooo close to overall victory, yet mere millimeters short of holding the coveted WMX trophy.
Having placed 2nd overall in WMX 2016 – 11 podiums from 14 races with 4 wins, 2017 was a real pressure test, both on and off the track. The season was a dog-fight between 4 top rider’s: Nancy, Kiara Fontanesi, Livia Lancelot, and Courtney Duncan. All women had achieved podiums through-out the Series, heading into the Final Round at Villars sous Ecot in France, when the rain came down on Sunday, and points were on the line. The overall result couldn’t have been closer with one point separating the overall WMX Champion Kiara Fontanesi on 233 points, Livia on 232, and Courtney tied on 231 with Nancy. On count-back, Duncan got the nod ahead of #85.
With a new season approaching, Nancy geared her resolve to come back fighting again, however a training crash put a real dent into her schedule, suffering a serious leg fracture at the end of 2017. Remarkably, the now 20 year old dug into her infamous reserves to rise above all challenges presented, and not only lined up in 2018 WMX opening Round at Trentino to race, but pulled off an amazing 2 – 4 result.
The following seasons kept Nancy in full-race mode, each and every time she competed, pulling 9 podiums, 2 wins in 2018 from 12 races in 2018 to finish 2nd overall, to 7 podiums, 1 win from 10 races in 2019 to finish 2nd overall, followed by the deal-breaker in 2020. The Final Round in Trentino pushed the top women to the max – result was Nancy and Courtney were tied in points after Race 1 and 2 – with count-back on most wins of the season the decider, and Duncan took overall WMX Championship Title, with Nancy, 2nd.
Fittingly, covering WMX over many years alerts to the magnitude of challenges these women go through to achieve desired goals. For starters, all women compete in 5 to 7 Round Series which is spread from the Opening Round in March to the Final Round in September. Gaps between Rounds can be as close as one week, to massive 11 weeks, making training, maintaining physical fitness along with mental focus a challenge from one season to the next.
Add in, the high risk factor that crashing has the potential to side-line a rider for a while, and given there are only 10 – 12 races per season, one lost Round can potentially jeopardize chances of taking all-out WMX race victories. Nancy has experienced the lot, which makes the following 2 seasons all the more sweet.
Full credit, recognition, and acknowledgement goes to Nancy’s total committment to fulfill her one goal, to win a WMX Championship. Heading into 2021 season, Nancy produced oh-so-consistent performances across 6 Rounds finishing the season with 2nd overall. All of which paved the pathway into 2022 WMX Championship, resulting in the proud, humble, grateful, and ecstatic Dutch rider standing top of podium to claim her first Women Motocross World Championship Title.
If winning WMX Championship Title was the ultimate goal for Nancy, the achievement represents Nancy as a person, a professional rider, and inspiring role model for females to pursue a racing career no matter what the odds. Skills, talent, hard work, and effort only go so far when competing against equally determined rider’s focused on winning. It takes what Nancy has proved, a mega as strength of mind to conquer all challenges that occur along the way, to rise above and beyond what is deemed too hard. Salute Nancy, your name is now written in history. Yours, Sharon.
Header Photo: Nancy van De Ven winning 2022 WMX Championship. Image: MXGP.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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