Elite Women day 2 - West Palm 2010

Friday, 05 March 2010 02:09

OH THE DRAMA! That is the only way to describe the Elite Women class on day 2. Mainly the drama was between Madison and Ashley. Day 1 the ladies had two separate motos, however on day 2 they were all in one moto. Qualifying was looking fine from where I was standing. Ashley was taking care of business in the motos with her powerful first straights. Madison was running right on her back tire all the way around the track. Usually when I see Madison riding that close I know that she's studying her opponent. You see in the Elite classes the riders do get moto points for the year end title but those points mean nothing when you're going for the main event win.

The other riders were battling pretty good for third and fourth. Donna Snow and Bianca Quinahla seemed to like to swap positions throughout the motos. Both riders had a 4-6-3 finish but in different rounds of qualifying. Ashley Kneram (Ka-Kne-Rum not Nerm) was looking pretty good even after a hard crash in her final moto. The battles in qualifying were mostly between 3rd and 4th with Madison and Ashley far enough ahead to not have to worry about 3rd place.

After one of the motos I spoke with Ashley and told her "I hope you're saving some strength for the main". Ashley gave me her big smile and said that she'll be good to go. Right there I knew we would have a good battle yet again in the main event. Unfortunately shortly after I spoke to Ashley I started hearing that her and Madison had some not so kind words after one of her motos. Something about "don't ride like a novice". From what I was able to gather Madison had been trying to pass Ashley in the motos but every time she went for a pass Ashley seemed to be all over the track. Whether this was on purpose or just her riding style remains to be seen but Madison wasn't psyched. After the comment was made about the novice riding there was apparently a confrontation between the parties involved and even a parent? Not exactly sure but I did see Madison being pulled away from the crowd by French Elite rider Christophe Cordier. I was far to busy with shooting highlights during that time so I have yet to get the full story. Hopefully we can get with the two riders at the next event and get the details. There is a lot more to this story but we'll have to leave it here.

The main event! Wouldn't you know it, Madison and Ashley were on the gate right next to each other. I could almost hear the boxing referee in the background "LET'S GET IT ON".. ding ding ding... So as the girls came down the first straight it was obvious that Madison and Ashley were taking no prisoners. They hit the first jump and were dead even! As they rode across the first jump the manual was in full effect, unfortunately Ashley's front tire didn't make it all the way to the back side and she tapped her wheel. Madison is a pro and the manual and she made it fully across and pulled a wheel ahead down the backside. That was basically the deciding factor in this race. As soon as Madison knew she had advantage into the first turn she made sure not to leave any room on the inside for Ashley to get close. Ashley made a good charge down the second straight but as we've seen her do before she went to the outside of the turn. Madison tucked inside and pulled away. All the way around the rest of the track Madison continued to gain ground and ended up taking the win. Ashley put in a great ride, she has tons of power and if she can figure out the best lines to take in the corners she's going to be a real threat. Another rider to put in a solid lap for 3rd place was Bianca Quinalha, she pulled from lane 8 and avoided a turn 1 challenge by another rider and stayed 3rd all the way around.

Watch the Main Event

Winner Interview