Kawasaki Women's MX GP: Perfect Weekend for Livia Lancelot

MX Women, Ernée, France, 8 June 2009

Livia Lancelot collected her third GP victory of the season on home soil, and scored her first double win in an incredible atmosphere.

Perfect weekend for Livia Lancelot

The reigning World Champion confirmed her star status in Ernée, where she was cheered by thousands of enthusiastic supporters who pushed her onwards during the entire weekend. Livia withstood the pressure and took it as an extra motivation to win her first ever event on French turf.

The women were luckier than the men in France, as they raced both their motos on a dry and perfect track, just before the first rain showers! Fastest in both practice sessions, Livia got two good starts, and didn’t wait more than half lap to lead the pack. Posting some fast laps early in each race, she tried to pulled away and secure her advantage. During the first moto on Saturday she struggled to keep her calm, and finished the race only two seconds in front of Larissa Papenmeier. She worked with her staff to improve her concentration for the next heat on Sunday, and dominated the moto from the first to the last lap. German Maria Franke was as consistent as Livia; fourth in qualification she twice scored fourth place during the races, and is currently fourth in the standings while Livia now leads Steffy Laier by twenty four points with three more events to go.

Livia Lancelot: ‘It’s a dream weekend, with great starts, two heat wins and the pole position during the practice session. The public was fantastic, even during the sighting lap they were cheering me like never before in my career! On Saturday I was looking behind me too much, in fact I was surprised to see Papenmeier and not Laier chasing me. We talked with Roger and Olivier Robert between the races, and today I was more focused on my riding; I scored eight points more than Laier, it was a perfect event for me.’

Roger Pourcel: ‘Once more Livia gave us a lot of satisfaction, during the practice sessions as well as during the races. On Saturday she was not focused enough and looked behind her too often, it could have cost her the win. We talked with her after the race and on Sunday she did a perfect second moto. Usually when Laier is behind her she doesn’t ride so smart, but this weekend she was stronger and got her third GP win this season.’