Pirelli Claims First Title of 2009 with FIM Women’s MX World Champion Steffi Laier

Rome, Ga. – Pirelli and the Scorpion MX family of tire captured the first of what will likely be many championships for 2009 this past weekend at the FIM World Motocross Championship from Lierop , Netherlands . The seventh and final round of the 2009 Women’s World Championship season was a showcase for Red Bull KTM’s Steffi Laier, who put the finishing touches on a championship campaign by winning her fourth race of the season.

(Courtesy Pirelli Tire)

With such a versatile range of high-quality tires to choose from, Laier was always at an advantage each and every time the gate dropped. She claimed a total of nine moto wins throughout the season and never finished worse than second overall thanks to her Scorpion MX MidSoft and Soft compounds.

Competing at the professional level since 2001, Laier is one of the most well traveled and most successful female competitors in the history of the sport. A venture to the U.S. back in 2003 set the tone for a bright future when she claimed the Women’s Motocross League (WML) championship. From there, she proceeded to capture the FIM Women’s MX World Cup in 2005 and after a few years battling through injuries, she returned to the 2009 FIM Women’s World Championship with a renewed passion and now has the distinction of being the only woman to win both the World Cup and World Championship as well as the American national title.

In addition to Laier’s triumph, Pirelli featured a pair of competitors in the season’s final top five including Natalie Kane (Suzuki) in third and Elin Mann (KTM) in fifth.

Overall Classification (Round 7):

1. Steffi Laier KTM

2. Chiara Fontanesi Yamaha

3. Larissa Papenmeier Suzuki

4. Nathalie Kane Suzuki

5. Marianne Veenstra Suzuki

Championship standings (Final):

1. Steffi Laier KTM 308

2. Larissa Papenmeier Suzuki 262

3. Nathalie Kane Suzuki 230

4. Maria Franke Kawasaki 223

5. Elin Mann KTM 214

Pirelli Tire North America designs, develops, manufactures and markets tires for passenger vehicles in both the original equipment and replacement markets as well as markets and distributes tires for motorcycle and motorsports. Located in Rome, Georgia, Pirelli’s Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS) employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture tires for both export and domestic markets. For more information please visit www.us.pirelli.com.