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.
Words and Images by FIM Europe
EMX Women: Barker Shines in the Finale
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.
EMX Women 125: Lof-Anderson Dominates with Ten Wins
No one could touch Swedish rider Elsa Lof-Anderson this season. She had only missed out on victory in two races before the Tensfeld finale, finishing second in those. At the finale in Germany, she once again proved her dominance with two race wins, rightfully earning her early crown as the 125cc European champion. This brought her total to ten wins out of 12 races. Fellow Swede Nellie Fransson took second place in both races on the sandy track, also securing second in the day’s overall standings. Rosalita Hovind from Norway consistently rode to third place finishes in both races, earning the same position in the overall day ranking.
