fmxer_girl
16th May 2006, 07:12 PM
MAY 14 2006: New Zealand’s Katherine Prumm is now No.1 across the planet.
The 17-year-old Pukokohe schoolgirl stunned the established stars when she scored back-to-back wins at the opening round of the United States Women’s Motocross Championships at Glen Helen, California today (Sunday morning NZ time).
This added icing on the cake for her 2006 international campaign that started last weekend in Germany where she finished 2-1 at the opening round of the women’s world champio nships at Teuschenthal.
Kawasaki ace Prumm flew out from Leipzig on Monday to California to compete at the opening round of the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) Women's Motocross Championships at Glen H elen and she had less than a week to prepare herself for the event.
But, by Saturday afternoon (USA time) she was phoning her Kiwi friends and family to report she’d aced both races and was now top of the podium in two continents.
Prumm battled French rider Livia Lancelot and German Stephanie Laier before she prevailed in Germany and, this weekend, she took her Kawasaki KX250F to hammer the field with 1-1 results w hile the next best rider, American No.4 Sarah Whitmore, could manage just 3-5 in the two races.
Despite her dominance, Prumm didn’t have it all her own way.
“I spun on the line and was second last around the first turn and knew that I had to do a lot of catching up to do. I was trying as hard as I could to past on the fi rst lap and was in 11th at the end of the first lap. I kept working hard and found myself behind Sarah Whitmore and we were battling for about three laps as well as trying to come through the field.
“I got up to about fifth by the fourth lap and could see a group of three in front of me and first place was a little way in front of them. The next lap I came around to the big hill out the back and saw that the race leader Tarah Geiger had crashed and now it was only the group of three in front of me.
“I pushed hard and managed to catch them and they were holding me up a bit so I was trying to get past as fast as I could. With about three laps to go in the 20-minute rac e I got the lead and pulled away from the group and held on to take the race win. I felt really good on the bike and Jeff, my mechanic and engine builder had done an awesome job on the bike.”
The blond-haired Kiwi was also caught in traffic at the start of race two.
“I was seventh around the first turn. Again I pushed hard on lap one to come through the field and had Jessica Patterson just in front of me. I passed her on the top of the main hill and kept on charging to the girls in front of me. I managed to get up to second place quickly and was behind Alisa Nix. I was right on her tail for the whole race and I just kept staying close enough and trying to make a pass but couldn’t quite get them to stick. On the last lap I could hear Jessica Patterson getting close so I went for it on the corner before two double jumps and passed Nix around the outside of the corner. I crossed the line with another victory.
“I was so happy with my ride. I had felt strong on the bike the whole race and I always felt in control and within my limits.”
Prum m (Kawasaki KX250F) is already Australian and New Zealand women’s champion but her achievements during the past two weekends have seen her rocket to the forefront of the sport internationally.
She will now relax for th e next few days, before fitting in some training before competing at the second round of the US series which will be held in conjunction with the 1st round of the men’s motocross nationals, at Hangtown, California, on May 20.
All eyes will be on her now for next weekend and she will then fly home on the May 23 to train for the final round of the wo men’s world championships, to be held at Udevalla Sweden on July 1-2.
The 17-year-old Pukokohe schoolgirl stunned the established stars when she scored back-to-back wins at the opening round of the United States Women’s Motocross Championships at Glen Helen, California today (Sunday morning NZ time).
This added icing on the cake for her 2006 international campaign that started last weekend in Germany where she finished 2-1 at the opening round of the women’s world champio nships at Teuschenthal.
Kawasaki ace Prumm flew out from Leipzig on Monday to California to compete at the opening round of the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) Women's Motocross Championships at Glen H elen and she had less than a week to prepare herself for the event.
But, by Saturday afternoon (USA time) she was phoning her Kiwi friends and family to report she’d aced both races and was now top of the podium in two continents.
Prumm battled French rider Livia Lancelot and German Stephanie Laier before she prevailed in Germany and, this weekend, she took her Kawasaki KX250F to hammer the field with 1-1 results w hile the next best rider, American No.4 Sarah Whitmore, could manage just 3-5 in the two races.
Despite her dominance, Prumm didn’t have it all her own way.
“I spun on the line and was second last around the first turn and knew that I had to do a lot of catching up to do. I was trying as hard as I could to past on the fi rst lap and was in 11th at the end of the first lap. I kept working hard and found myself behind Sarah Whitmore and we were battling for about three laps as well as trying to come through the field.
“I got up to about fifth by the fourth lap and could see a group of three in front of me and first place was a little way in front of them. The next lap I came around to the big hill out the back and saw that the race leader Tarah Geiger had crashed and now it was only the group of three in front of me.
“I pushed hard and managed to catch them and they were holding me up a bit so I was trying to get past as fast as I could. With about three laps to go in the 20-minute rac e I got the lead and pulled away from the group and held on to take the race win. I felt really good on the bike and Jeff, my mechanic and engine builder had done an awesome job on the bike.”
The blond-haired Kiwi was also caught in traffic at the start of race two.
“I was seventh around the first turn. Again I pushed hard on lap one to come through the field and had Jessica Patterson just in front of me. I passed her on the top of the main hill and kept on charging to the girls in front of me. I managed to get up to second place quickly and was behind Alisa Nix. I was right on her tail for the whole race and I just kept staying close enough and trying to make a pass but couldn’t quite get them to stick. On the last lap I could hear Jessica Patterson getting close so I went for it on the corner before two double jumps and passed Nix around the outside of the corner. I crossed the line with another victory.
“I was so happy with my ride. I had felt strong on the bike the whole race and I always felt in control and within my limits.”
Prum m (Kawasaki KX250F) is already Australian and New Zealand women’s champion but her achievements during the past two weekends have seen her rocket to the forefront of the sport internationally.
She will now relax for th e next few days, before fitting in some training before competing at the second round of the US series which will be held in conjunction with the 1st round of the men’s motocross nationals, at Hangtown, California, on May 20.
All eyes will be on her now for next weekend and she will then fly home on the May 23 to train for the final round of the wo men’s world championships, to be held at Udevalla Sweden on July 1-2.