Australia’s Meghan Rutledge has reflected on her memorable debut American WMX victory at Hangtown on Saturday in the opening round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

The current Australian national champion qualified third on a Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green KX250F, then finished eighth in the opening moto despite a fall on lap two.

Rutledge secured another good start in the second moto, quickly finding herself in third place. From there she fought hard all the way to a final lap sprint race where she clocked the fastest lap time of the race on her way to the win.

“I was so excited to race my first AMA race,” she explained. “The track was prime and I just wanted to get out there and show them the Aussie way!

“I was happy to qualify in third and then it was time to get out there and get it done. I was disappointed to crash in the first race, but I was happy with how I rode. I got a good start in the second moto and battled with [Tarah] Geiger for third.

“[Ashley] Fiolek went down, then [Jessica] Patterson and the next thing I knew, I was winning an AMA race. Patterson was on a charge behind me and caught me with two laps to go. I held on though to take the win. It was the hardest race of my life, but I did it.”

“I’d really like to thank Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green for their support. The KX250F they’ve supplied is awesome.”

Rutledge’s 8-1 results positioned her in fourth place for the round, with the next race of the series scheduled for this weekend at Freestone in Texas.