Lotte van Drunen of the De Baets MX team became world champion in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey last weekend. van Drunen managed to finish fourth and fifth in the motos and this was enough to win the title at the age of seventeen. This also makes her the youngest lady in history to become world champion.
With a lead of seventeen points, Lotte came to Turkey. It was important for her to score consistently and stay out of trouble. It was hot and because of this the track was hard during the practice sessions. Lotte felt at home on the track and managed to set a fourth fastest time in time practice. Later in the day, the first moto was held. Lotte got off to a good start and rode it safe. She stayed out of trouble and finished in a good fourth place. This ensured that she could start the second moto with a lead of thirteen points.
The second moto was held on Sunday morning. The organization had watered the track a lot and as a result, the track was muddy and slippery. Again Lotte managed to get off to a good start. She didn’t interfere at all in the fight in front of her and she was riding her own race. She finished in fifth place and this was more than enough to win the title.
With a 4-5 in the motos, she finished in fifth place in the day’s classification.
Lotte van Drunen commented: “It feels fantastic to have a world title at such a young age. We all worked very hard and it worked. I would like to thank everyone who helped me with this. We’re going to enjoy it now and then we’ll pick up where we left off to ride a few more races here and there in the rest of the season.”