News 29 Jul 2014

Rutledge vows to come back stronger in world title quest

Aussie satisfied with second in WMX World Championship.

Source: Kawasaki Australia.

Source: Kawasaki Australia.

Finishing second in the Women’s Motocross World Championship was another stunning result for Aussie golden girl Meghan Rutledge in the Czech Republic on Sunday, but already the determined 18-year-old has her sights set on claiming the number one in 2015.

Rutledge’s two podium finishes in each of the motos saw the multiple Australian champion finish inside the top three in 10 out of the 12 races that made up the series. She also won three of the six rounds, eventually the runner-up behind Italian Chiara Fontanesi.

“Of course I’m a little bit disappointed to miss the title by just a few points, but being second in the world championship is awesome as it’s only my second year in the series and I will have many more opportunities to get this title,” she said.

“I will come back next year and for sure I will be stronger as I will have more experience; for example I never rode before this weekend on a track like this one in Loket! It was tough to get used to it but I’m not looking for excuses; I made the best I could and I’m still happy.”

Rutledge has established herself alongside triple world champion Fontanesi and Livia Lancelot as one of the world’s fastest female motocrossers, the trio again battling it out at Loket.

“Fontanesi and Livy were really fast this weekend, unfortunately I crashed in the first race and I couldn’t battle with Chiara for the moto win,” Rutledge added. “In the second race today Livia was really fast, it would have been nice to win the race but I rode safe as I wanted to secure the final result in the series.

“I’d really like to thank Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy for the opportunity they’ve given me this year and my sponsors, Kawasaki Australia, Fox, Eve, Moss Institute and Easternwell Group.”

Kawasaki Australia’s managing director Ken Hashiba said: “We are very proud of Meghan Rutledge’s outstanding results on the world stage. She is a very determined rider who always does her best and works very hard. We are pleased that she achieves such good results on board Kawasaki.”

Meghan’s outstanding results throughout the series with the Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy Team combined with the efforts of Kawasaki Europe’s Livia Lancelot (who won the final round) meant Kawasaki won the Manufacturers Title by an impressive 22 points.

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