On June 16, 2007, Round three of the Women’s professional WMA Championship, got off to a roaring start this weekend at Budds Creek. Practice was held early morning with Moto One at 10:15 am before the men’s outdoor national timed practice.
MOTO ONE: Fox Rider, Jessica Patterson flew off the line to grab the Girlyz sponsored holeshot, while behind her, there was a pile up in turn one involving Vania Medrano and Mieka Cornelious. As lap one got under way, it was Patterson, Satchwell, Geiger, Balbi, Whitmore, Davis then Nix. Nix went down on the second lap when her front end washed out and she got stuck in the mud. This put Nix back to 16th, but she continued undeterred and started picking off the riders in front of her one at a time.
Yamaha rider Tara Geiger and Kawasaki ’s Tonya Satchwell were engaged in an exciting battle for most of the moto. The crowd went wild as they repeatedly swapped back and forth, neither willing to give in to the other. Geiger pulled off some impressive moves and was finally able to make it stick by the 15 minute mark. Once safely in front of Satchwell, Geiger immediately pulled a significant gap, chasing down Patterson who had a 20 second lead. Geiger gained a nine second advantage on Satchwell and cut Patterson’s lead from 20 to 10 seconds by the end of the moto. Patterson and Geiger were the only two racers clearing the huge uphill step up in the back of the track, clearly increasing their advantage over the rest of the pack.
Meanwhile, the race for fourth between Mariana Balbi and Sarah Whitmore was heating up. They traded positions repeatedly the first six laps treating the crowd to another close, breathtaking battle. Balbi held off Whitmore until lap seven when Whitmore was finally able to get by, but not for long. Whitmore couldn’t make it stick and Balbi came back with a hard charge on the inside decisively taking back fourth position which she held to the checkered flag.
Elizabeth Bash and Vanessa Florentino road strong as they fought for the sixth position, with Florentino eventually coming out ahead and Bash settling for 7th just ahead of Jessye Davis who came in 8th. Alisa Nix went down a second time towards the end of the race tangling with a lapped rider. Again, she managed to work her way back to ninth place and gain some points towards the championship. Taylor Miller rounded off the top ten.
MOTO TWO: Moto two was run at the end of the day after the men’s timed qualifying for the outdoor nationals. The track was deeply rutted with huge breaking bumps but the women were undeterred. They got one sighting lap to see what they were up against and it was on. Moto two started with Fox Rider, Jessica Patterson grabbing the hole shot once again, followed by Alisa Nix. They battled into turn two where Nix was able to take the lead away. One straightaway and a turn later, Patterson came back and swept her on the outside taking back the lead. Nix continued to surprised the crowd giving Patterson fierce competition, riding an aggressive mature race also clearing the huge uphill step up along with Patterson and Geiger, proving her ability to run at the front of the pack. Patterson rode smart and fast, but couldn’t pull away. The battle raged until the 10 minute mark when Nix flat tracked the inside of the uphill sweeper, lost the back end and slid out. Nix quickly jumped back on her bike, bump started it re-entered in 7th and continued charging hard to work her way back to the front. Nix was only able to get back up to fifth as the field was spread out too far for her to catch up in the last remaining minutes.
Sarah Whitmore had an unfortunate first turn crash, losing the front end. She jumped quickly onto her bike, banged her levers back into position, climbed aboard her Girlyz backed Yamaha YZ250F and put her head down to try and work her way back through the pack. She picked off riders one at time, and was able to get back up to 9th.
Vanessa Florentino and Mariana Balbi banged bars. Balbi was able to make the pass stick and pull away from Florentino five minutes into the race. Balbi established a comfortable gap ahead of 4th place rider, Vanessa Florentino who was battling with Elizabeth Bash. They battled back and forth for the majority of the moto with Bash able
to hold off Florentino to come in 4th. Nix also joined the battle on her charge back after the crash but was only able to pick off Florentino and had to settle for 5th.
Balbi kept her head down, road a smart and consistent race both motos for a 4-3 finish, giving her 3rd overall. Balbi is here all the way from Brazil and has made her mark now with her first podium of the year.
Also of note this weekend was Jolene Van Vugt who was in from Canada . Jolene was one of the the first woman to ever achieve throwing and landing a back flip and recently back flipped with Travis Pastrana into the Grand Canyon pulling a parachute. Jolene came in 15th overall but clearly showed a lot of ability and determination during both motos.
The day ended with no major injuries and gave every spectator a race to remember. Many of men’s pros and teams stayed to watch the final moto. They were not let down as they were treated to fantastic battles for almost every position.
The WMA Autograph sessions were extremely popular at the track as families and riders came to meet these courageous women who continue to be excellent role models for their own young girls.
Mariana Balbi talks about her overall third place finish on the podium.
Overall Results:
1. Jessica Patterson
2. Tara Geiger
3. Mariana Balbi
4. Tania Satchwell
5. Elizabeth Bash
6. Vanessa Florentino
7. Alisa Nix
8. Sarah Whitmore
9. Kirsten Raemisch
10. Jessye Davis
11. Heidi Cooke
12. Taylor Miller
13. Meika Cornelius
14. Penni Cyrus
15. Jolene Van Vugt
16. Vania Medrano
17. April Zastro
18. Katie Sokacz
19. Leah E. Cantrell |