Women’s Motocross: Guillen Too Strong for Fontanesi, Seventh World Title a Mirage

Kiara Fontanesi cannot contain the sensational Daniela Guillen in the first moto of the Australian GP, the final round of the WMX: at this point, the chances of laying hands on her seventh World title are hanging by a thread.

On the red-dirt track in Darwin, in Australia’s far north, things started out brilliantly for Kiara: fastest time in the morning qualifying, right ahead of her title rival. The start also went perfectly, with Fontanesi rocketing out of the gate, ahead of Guillen. But the Spaniard has an incredible pace here: in just a few corners she had Kiara in her sights and passed her with a perfect block pass, and above all with tremendous momentum. By the first lap Daniela was already in front, pocketing the precious partial win, her fourth of the season.

The contest basically ended there. Daniela Guillen sailed ever more confidently, while Kiara Fontanesi was caught by reigning champion Lotte van Drunen. For many laps our six-time world champion seemed able to withstand the blow and minimize the damage. Instead, in the closing stages, New Zealander Courtney Duncan also caught the duo, and in the hectic finale a spent Kiara slipped to fourth place, losing further ground to Guillen in the overall standings.

With strong backing from the RFME, the Spanish Federation that has made her the standard-bearer of national off-road, at just 20 years old Daniela Guillen is poised to hit the ultimate target. There’s only one moto left, which will be run in the dead of night between Saturday and Sunday in Italy, and starting with a 13-point lead over Kiara Fontanesi, the leader would only need to finish ninth in the event of an Italian win. A result well within Daniela’s reach—she’s never done worse than third.

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