Fontanesi and Smola on pole

With the sun beaming down on the circuit of Orehova Vas, Slovenia, riders geared up to qualify for round four of the FIM Motocross MX3 World Championship where Czech Frantisek Smola claimed his first ever pole position. When the gates dropped for the MX3 qualifying race Frantisek Smola proved he was the man for the job, taking the holeshot and leading every lap from start to finish rewarding him with his first ever qualifying race victory. Meanwhile fighting in the early stages of the race for the second position was Klemen Gercar, Pier Filippo Bertuzzo and Matthias Walkner. Walkner was fast around Bertuzzo, which lead the public to prepare for a battle between their local hero Klemen Gercar and the current MX3 world champion Matthias Walkner. Unfortunately, the battle never amounted to anything due to Gercar making a mistake which saw him hit the deck and drop outside the top ten allowing Walkner to take over and finish second. Finishing five seconds back from Walkner was a new name to the top five, Günter Schmidinger, who put in his best qualifying ride to finish third. Behind Schmidinger was known front runner Martin Michek who fought his way from an average start to edge out Pier Filippo Bertuzzo for fourth. MX3 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), 24:52.872; 2. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), +0:04.102; 3. Günter Schmidinger (AUT, Honda), +0:09.806; 4. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), +0:13.038; 5. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:19.444; 6. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), +0:20.476; 7. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +0:22.058; 8. Lukasz Lonka (POL, Honda), +0:40.329; 9. Martin Zerava (CZE, Suzuki), +0:49.945; 10. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), +0:55.533. Also kicking off today alongside the MX3 in Slovenia was round two of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship. Taking top honors leading into tomorrow’s races was none other than the current world champion and red plate holder Chiara Fontanesi who only just edged out WMX rookie Australian Meghan Rutledge. Third place went to the former WMX world champion Stefanie Laier who finished with a thirty second gap on the fourth place of Natalie Kane. Justine Charroux completed the top five. WMX Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Chiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), 19:11.954; 2. Meghan Kat Rutledge (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:04.237; 3. Stephanie Laier (GER, Kawasaki), +0:11.105; 4. Natalie Kane (IRL, KTM), +0:37.107; 5. Justine Charroux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:52.076; 6. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +1:04.949; 7. Britt van der Wekken (NED, Honda), +1:14.059; 8. Virginie Germond (SUI, Suzuki), +1:17.148; 9. Gabriela Seisdedos (ESP, Kawasaki), +1:17.949; 10. Floriana Parrini (ITA, Yamaha). The best moments of the fourth round of the FIM MX3 World Championship will be broadcast worldwide on MX-LIFE.TV and the 26 min magazine produced by Youthstream at the end of the event will also be broadcast on Fox Sports in Latin America thanks to the new agreement between Youthstream and the leading sports cable television network in Latin America, Fox Sports. By clicking here you will be able to download the complete TV coverage of the Slovenian round. TIMETABLE
Sunday: Women's MX Warm-Up 10:00; MX3 Warm up 10:30; Women’s MX Race 1 12:30; MX3 Race 1 13:30; Women’s MX Race 2 15:30; MX3 Race 2 16:30.