Papenmeier Wins First Circuiti Gioielli Women Pole Position Award

SEVLIEVO (BULGARIA), 10 May 2008 – The opening round of the first edition of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship started today in Sevlievo, Bulgaria, under mixed weather conditions.

The fastest rider was Larissa Papenmeier, clocking her first pole of 2008 with a last minute move on Marie Franke, second overall. Livia Lancelot completed the top three ahead of Ashley Fiolek and defending Champion Katherine Prumm.

This is Larissa Papenmeier’s first season with Suzuki

GPKR’s Livia Lancelot had a storming start to the qualifying session after she dominated the two free practice sessions of the day. Later on, last year’s runner up found some traffic and could not improve much on her times, ending third.

On the other hand Kawasaki Elf Pfeil’s Maria Franke moved up to first in the middle of the session, courtesy of a flying lap which let her on pole with a safe cushion from the rest of the field.

Once she earned the provisional pole, Franke rode back into the pits to watch countryman Larissa Papenmeier take the eventual pole position. The Suzuki Inotec rider completed her last lap with a high, taking her first pole of 2008 and securing the best gate pick for tomorrow’s race. Papenmeier’s performance reminded of last year’s opening round of the World Cup in Teutschenthal, Germany, when the home rider took pole and won her first and only round.

American Ashley Fiolek set the fourth quickest time after she had previously earned the third place in the time sheets while two time World Cup winner Katherine Prumm rounded off the top five. The Kiwi is riding with an injured right knee (broken ACL) but overcame the pain for a solid qualifying result.

Top ten of today’s qualifying: 1. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki), 2:01.782; 2. Maria Franke (GER, Kawasaki), +0:00.594; 3. Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:00.620; 4. Ashley Fiolek (USA, Honda), +0:01.114; 5. Katherine Prumm (NZL, Yamaha), +0:02.094; 6. Elin Mann (SWE, KTM), +0:05.329; 7. Alexandra Haupt (GER, Kawasaki), +0:06.895; 8. Elien De Winter (BEL, KTM), +0:07.151; 9. Marianne Veenstra (NED, Suzuki), +0:07.221; 10. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +0:08.087

Today’s fastest three riders: (from left to right) Maria Franke, Larissa Papenmeier, Livia Lancelot

At the end of the day Papenmeier was awarded with the new Circuiti Gioielli Women Pole Position Award, consisting in a silver bracelet featuring the MX1 logo. This will be the prize dedicated to the Women World Championship riders setting the pole throughout the five events of the series and it is one of the items of the Motocross MX1 Jewelry Collection by Circuiti Gioielli.

Larissa Papenmeier received the Circuiti Gioielli Women Pole Position Award from Youthstream’s Women World Championship manager and former Motocross Champion Stefania Bau

GORNA ROSITZA AND SEVLIEVO

The Gorna Rositza race track was built in 1959 and reconstructed in 2000; it is a top motocross facility, being a reason of pride in Bulgaria, which won the 2006 and 2007 Best Organizer Awards at Monte Carlo’s FIM Off Road Awards. The course has the shape of an amphitheatre, offering a spectacular view to the spectators attending the Grand Prix in crowds. With a strong support from the political authorities, the Bulgarian Grand Prix is one of the most important worldwide events happening in the country. The hard pack ground of Sevlievo hosted a very dry race in 2007. Coppins and Cairoli survived the heat to win the MX1 and MX2 class respectively at the end of an eventful day, as everyone expected it to be a wet GP after the muddy 2007 edition.


This track is located only a few kilometers outside Sevlievo, with the town being situated in northern Bulgaria close to the geographical center of the country, 178 km from the country’s capital Sofia and 283 km away from sea resort Varna and the Black Sea. Sevlievo was funded at the end of the 10th century and has a history over ten centuries old, which is evident throughout the town in its buildings, churches and fortified walls. Nowadays the town has developed its industrial side and enjoys to be part of the European community as the whole country entered the EU on the 1st of January 2007.


THE EVENT’S SCHEDULE

Sunday May 11: Women’s World Championship Warm-up at 9:00 am; MX2 Warm-up at 9:30 am; MX1 Warm-up at 10:00 am; Women’s World Championship Race 1 at 11:10 am; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 at 12:10 am; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 at 1:10 pm; Women’s World Championship Race 2 at 2:10 pm; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 at 3:03 pm; MX1 Grand Prix Race 2 at 4:03 pm (local time).


The Grand Prix will be broadcast live on:

EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe) : MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 CET

MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00 CET

SPORT ITALIA (Italy): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 CET

BNT (Bulgaria): MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

GALAXIE SPORT (Czech Republic): MX2 Race 2 at 14:00 CET

ART (Pan Middle East): MX1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET

SPORT TV (Slovenia): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00 CET

EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): MX1 Race 1 at 10:00 GMT

MEDIAZONE (Worldwide): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00; MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

TRANS 7 (Indonesia): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00; MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

The Grand Prix will be broadcast delayed on:

EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe) : Sunday May 11; MX1 Race 2 at 17:45; Monday May 12, MX2 class at 17:00 CET

SPORT ITALIA (Italy): Sunday May 11; MX2 Race 2 at 16:30, MX1 Race 1 and Race 2 N/A CET

BNT (Bulgaria): Sunday May 11; MX2 Race 1 (summary) at 16:00 and Race 2 (summary) at 16:10, Women World Championship Round 1 (summary) at 16:20 CET

VRT (Belgium): Sunday May 11; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:15 CET

EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday May 11; MX1 Race 2 at 18:30; Monday May 12, MX2 class at 17:00 and at 21:00 GMT

AMERICA ONE SPORTS (USA): Second Tuesday after the GP; MX2 Race 2 at 21:00; MX1 Race 2 at 22:00 USA Eastern Time

GAORA (Japan): MX2 Race 1 and Race 2; MX1 Race 1 and Race 2; N/A CET

LINKS
Youthstream
FIM
BMF- Bulgarian Motorcycle Federation

Information, photos and results are online at www.motocrossMX1.com, the official website of the FIM Motocross World Championships.

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