Australian racer Mackenzie Tricker is quicker than the rest at round three of the Women’s Motocross Championship at Pala Raceway.
Obermeyer Suzuki’s Mackenzie Tricker of Australia came out on top of a furious battle with Women’s Motocross World Champion (WMX) Kylie Fasnacht to score the overall win at round three of the WMX series at Pala Raceway in Pala, California, on April 10. The round was held in conjunction with the California Classic Motocross at the Southern California facility.
The two bullet-fast female riders traded moto wins and third-place finishes on the day, but Tricker claimed her win in the all-important second moto to earn the overall win via the tiebreaker rule.
Tricker actually held the first-moto lead after passing Tarah Gieger on the opening lap of the first moto while the Kawasaki Team Green-backed Fasnacht was mired in seventh place. Even though Tricker established a small lead over the rest of the field early in the moto, Fasnacht charged hard to make up the distance, and she was right in the thick of a three-rider battle for the win that also included Yamaha-backed Marissa Markelon. As the last lap unfolded, both Fasnacht and Markelon passed Tricker, with Fasnacht taking the moto win over Markelon. Tricker finished third.
“When I found myself at the back of the pack I just put my head down and charged,” Fasnacht said. “Once I saw Markelon and Tricker on the final lap I just went for it.”
After that she “just made a couple of mistakes” that cost her the win in the first moto, Tricker was determined not to let it happen again. Gieger once again pulled the holeshot, but Tricker was able to pass her for the lead. Meanwhile, Fasnacht suffered another bad start and ran just inside the top 10 at the end of lap one. Despite putting in another heroic ride to mow down most of the competitors ahead of her, Fasnacht ran out of time to make a bid for the lead. Tricker took the win ahead of the ultra-consistent Markelon with Fasnacht crossing the line third.
That left a four-way tie in moto points, but Tricker earned the overall win with her 3-1 moto performances while Fasnacht’s first-moto win gave her the edge over Markelon, going 1-3 to Markelon’s 2-2. Dunn and Stone/Fly/Scott/Cycle Shack North Yamaha rider Kaitlyn Morrow was fourth overall via 5-4 performances, and Gieger was fifth overall after carding 4-5 finishes.
“It feels good to get the monkey off my back,” Tricker said. “I just need to keep grinding away at the rest of the season and see how it goes.”
The WMX series returns to action in Sacramento, California, for round four of its 10-round circuit at the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship season opener, the Hangtown Motocross Classic, on May 20.
Women’s Motocross Championship (WMX)
Pala Raceway
Pala, California
Results: March 10, 2016
Overall
1. Mackenzie Tricker-Suz/3-1
2. Kylie Fasnacht-Kaw/1-3
3. Marissa Markelon-Yam/2-2
4. Kaitlyn Morrow-Yam/5-4
5. Tarah Gieger-Hon/4-5
6. Eve Brodeur-KTM/6-6
7. Brittany Gagne-Yam/8-7
8. Mica Diaz-Hus/7-9
9. Amanda Brown-Kaw/9-8
10. Lauren Woods-Hon/10-10
Remaining 2016 WMX Championship Schedule
Round 4: May 20, Hangtown Motocross Classic, Sacramento, CA
Round 5: June 19, High Point National, Mt. Morris, PA
Round 6: August 28, Ironman National, Crawfordsville, IN
Round 7: September 3, Baja Brawl, Millington, MI
Round 8: October 2, Kawasaki Race Of Champions, Englishtown, NJ
Round 9: October 9, Budds Creek, Mechanicsville, MD
Round 10: November 26, Winter Olympics, Alachua, FL
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