AFYONKARAHISAR (T) / SLIEDRECHT – She can’t believe it, she tells the NOS. Motocross rider Lotte van Drunen (17) from Sliedrecht won the world championship in the WMX class on Sunday morning, September 8, 2024 in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. She finished fifth in the Turkish Grand Prix, leaving Spanish Daniela Guillen behind her in the World Championship standings.
Lotte van Drunen finished the championship with 282 points, four points more than Guillen. Last year, the Dutch came third in the women’s world championship. (Archive photo Eric Laurijssen)
She rides a Yamaha from the De Baets team. Van Drunen won three of the seven races this year. She was the fastest in Sardinia and in Lugo, Spain, before winning the race in Arnhem in mid-August. At 17 years and 31 days, Van Drunen is now the youngest world champion ever. Immediately after the decisive race, she emotionally praised her father: “I owe everything to my father!”
Fifth place is enough
Lotte van Drunen has become world champion WMX in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. The Dutch rider needed only a fifth place in the Grand Prix of Turkey on Sunday morning to decide the women’s world championship motocross.
TV and app
The MXGP Grand Prix of Turkey can be seen live on NOS.nl and in the NOS app on Sunday afternoon. The first manche starts at 13:00 and the second manche at 16:00.
Response from the municipality
“We would like to congratulate Lotte as the brand new women’s motocross world champion. Something to be extremely proud of,” responded Alderman Roelant Bijderwieden (VVD) of Sports on Sunday afternoon, “It is very impressive that she has become world champion at such a young age and we are of course extremely happy that this world champion lives in Sliedrecht. We will congratulate her when she returns from Turkey.”
