It was an exciting weekend for the 2024 EMX Women’s European Championship, with the season’s last event in Tensfeld, Germany. Lucy Barker and Elsa Lof-Andersson had already secured their titles as new European champions before this final event but thrilled the audience in challenging race conditions, celebrating their victories in style with a win. German rider Fiona Hoppe delighted the crowd with a start-to-finish victory in the first race.
British rider Lucy Barker had a tough start to the weekend. She crashed early in the Saturday qualifying race and had to fight her way from the back of the field. Fiona Hoppe secured a start-to-finish victory in the qualifying race.
In the first scoring race, Hoppe again won the holeshot but was overtaken by Austrian Elena Kapsamer in the first lap. Barker crashed in the first lap, dropping from fourth to tenth place. Hoppe stayed on Kapsamer’s rear wheel, launching multiple attacks. In the fourth lap, Hoppe regained the lead and built a lead of over six seconds by the finish line. Barker battled back to finish third in the final third of the race.
In the second race, Hoppe again led out of the start corner but lost the lead in the first lap, this time to Barker. In the fourth lap, Hoppe fell, dropping from second to sixth place. Swedish rider Tyra Bäckström and Kapsamer moved into second and third positions. With three laps to go, Kapsamer also went down, allowing Danish rider Laura Raunkjaer to inherit third place, which she held until the finish ahead of Hoppe. Barker won the day’s overall ranking ahead of Hoppe and Bäckström.
Words and Images by FIM Europe