In a head-to-head duel with French favorite Livia Lancelot, Nancy van de Van challenging her top rival on home soil to finish triumphant on the final podium.
In action split over two days, van de Ven held back in timed practice on Saturday to qualify with the fourth fastest time at the start of round four of the 2016 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship. Over the weekend riders in five categories raced before more than 20,000 fans in the natural amphitheater motocross track at Saint Jean d’Angély.
Van de Ven held nothing back in the first race, taking the holeshot and lead early in lap one and staying at the front until the finish line 12 laps and nearly 25 minutes later. The Dutch rider outpaced second-place finisher Larissa Papenmeier of Germany by more than two seconds and grabbed 25 points on Saturday, with a chance to sleep easy as the woman to beat come Sunday.
In race two van de Ven again jumped out into the early lead, holding off Lancelot for eight laps before the French woman found courage from the crowd and passed into first, where she finished to the delight of the home fans four laps later. Van de Ven finished second and took 22 more points to secure the overall GP victory, her second of the 2016 season.
With the win in France, van de Ven moves to within nine points of the leader’s red plate in the 2016 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship standings, behind Lancelot. On her YZ250F, van de Ven will next race on June 25-26 in Mantova at MXGP of Lombardia-Italy.
