The second race concluded the British GP at Foxhill. Kiara Fontanesi once again grabbed the holeshot ahead of Lucy Barker. Courtney Duncan and Daniela Guillen were also part of the lead group. The opening minutes of the race were disrupted by a crash involving Amber Simons. The Dutch rider lay on the ground for several minutes before being evacuated. Although she was well protected by the marshals, one has to wonder why the decision wasn’t made to stop the race—a topic I will likely revisit soon.
Out front, Kiara Fontanesi steadily pulled away from Daniela Guillen, who had moved into second place. Courtney Duncan also overtook Lucy Barker with a superb pass on the big jump before the pit lane. The positions remained unchanged for the remainder of the race. Kiara secured a double victory, winning the event in England and reclaiming the red leader’s plate. Daniela Guillen finished second, and Courtney Duncan rounded out the podium.
Behind this leading quartet, a fierce battle unfolded among the other top-10 riders. Shana van der Vlist withstood attacks from Malou Jakobsen late in the race. After a poor start, Lotte van Drunen shadowed the pair for almost the entire race; however, the two-time WMX world champion was unable to find a way past and finished seventh in the moto.
Amandine Verstappen battled with these riders early on but lost touch as the race progressed. She managed to hold off a late charge from Danée Gelissen. The EMX Women’s European Champion put in a much stronger performance in this second race. April Franzoni rounded out the top 10, having battled with Gelissen.
Nellie Fransson once again got off to a great start. The Swede quickly found a good rhythm and finished eleventh—an impressive performance. Alexandra Massury took twelfth place, marking the German rider’s best weekend in the world championship. She managed to catch up to Elsa Anderson and overtake her to secure that position. The Swede got off to a strong start, maintaining a good pace early on—a completely different race from the day before.
Further back, there was a fierce battle for fourteenth place. Initially held by Lilly-Ann Pettus ahead of Mathea Selebø and Rosalita Hovind, the spot ultimately went to Hovind, who overtook both riders to finish ahead of her teammate. The American lost pace late in the heat, allowing the two Norwegians to pull away. She finished sixteenth, having scored points in both races.
Luanne Neves scored points again, finishing seventeenth ahead of Adrija Skudutyte. The Lithuanian crossed the line in sixteenth place but was penalized two positions following a post-race inspection.
Tyra Bäckström managed to salvage some points. Despite a poor start and not being at 100% fitness, the Swede executed her overtaking maneuvers very intelligently. Laura Raunkjaer rounded out the top 20, scoring a point after a hard-fought battle with Bäckström.
Kiara Fontanesi wins and leaves with the red plate
