The strength of Women racing Women’s Motocross World Championship goes above and beyond expectation. Straight up, progression from riding small wheel bikes to 250F, from racing on home tracks to competing at World Championship level, from learning race-craft to minimize mistakes to shooting out of the gate to gain the hole-shot takes huge amount of transformation by each female rider.
The development of physical, technical, and mental ability has to be learnt, improved, and refined through-out racing years which takes total committment, dedication, and hard work. Decisions are made on what goals to achieve, how, when, and where – all of which means training, preparation, and schedules revolve around budgeting costs with partners, Teams, and Brand associations.
Breaking down the process even further, and these women have faced each step as a challenge to overcome, moving forward. From racing on 125cc to 250F – as was the case for Courtney Duncan when she won America’s Pro Women MX Round at Hangtown to race in WMX in Europe – to switching Teams/Brands – as was the case for Lotte van Drunen moving from Kawasaki to Yamaha at the end of 2023 – to recovering from injury set-backs to race the next GP Round.
And the hard work continues on the bike. Training to maximize physical fitness for racing – not peaking too early – requires daily grind at the gym and on the track – putting in lap times against the clock. So to does maintaining healthy balance between being mentally focused and calm under pressure – a task not easy to sustain when plans change pre-during and post racing.
For certain, the myriad of elements which affect racing are unprecedented in the sport. These women race varied terrain – from sand, to loamy soil, to mud, to blue-groove clay – nailing jumps from table tops, rollers, triples, uphills, and downhills – to battling for lines which give an edge over the 30 plus rider field. Nailing starts remains super important to gain gap on competitors at the first turn – the closeness of banging bars remains a potential game-changer – so to does wheel spin on the gate.
With so many variables to contend with on and off the track, it is hardly surprising that women who race WMX possess unique mix of resilience and strength to achieve results as fleeting as standing on the top step of the podium to picking the bike up weighed with heavy mud to complete a race. No other sporting discipline delivers such physically, technically, and mentally demanding challenges for WMX rider’s to conquer – making racing so special from one season to the next.
WMX Final Round 7, Turkey September 8. Header photo: Courtney Duncan Image: MXGP.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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