WMA
Italian racer Chiara Fontanesi shocked the WMA field by winning both motos over Mariana Balbi and Ashley Fiolek. In the first moto, Fontanesi ran down Fiolek and motored away, despite Fiolek’s numerous tries to strike back. The FIM World WMX champion’s excitement nearly got the best of her, as she began to celebrate prematurely near the lip of the finish line, stopped, and began to roll back downhill. As she struggled to regain momentum, Fiolek jumped by. The moments following the incident led to some confusion, as to whether or not Fontanesi had indeed finished. She was soon credited with the moto win.
Fiolek would holeshot the second moto with championship foe Jessica Patterson running second place and Fontanesi third. Patterson and Fontanesi would both knock Fiolek back in the running order, but Patterson would blow out a corner and drop back herself. With only laps to go, Patterson would commit a massive error and hit the ground, taking her out of the moto and running for the championship. While Fontanesi took the second moto win and overall, Ashley Fiolek would earn the third professional championship of her career by finishing third overall on the day.
| Overall 1. Chiara Fontanesi 2. Mariana Balbi 3. Ashley Fiolek 4. Tarah Geiger 5. Taylor Higgins 6. Jacqueline Strong 7. Alexah Pearson 8. Lindsey Palmer 9. Sade Allender 10. Hailey Larson |
WMA Class Championship Points Standings (After 8 of 8 rounds) 1. Ashley Fiolek (317) 2. Tarah Geiger (302) 3. Jessica Patterson (298) 4. Mariana Balbi (269) 5. Jacqueline Strong (236) 6. Sara Pettersson (223) 7. Alexah Pearson (175) 8. Kasie Creson (174) 9. Sade Allender (170) 10. Amanda Brown (142) |
TAGS: blake baggett, lake elsinore, lake elsinore 2012, ryan dungey
