Lotte van Drunen of Beurspro KTM scored a top ten finish during the first round of the 85cc Italian Championship semi-finals. In the first heat she was involved in a huge tussle, finishing eighth, and in the second race she recovered to 15th after a first lap incident.
Savignano is a hardpack track with many elevation changes, something that Lotte is very keen to gain experience on. 80 riders from across Italy made the cut to try and qualify for the series finale. With temperatures hovering above 30 degrees, this was going to be no easy task.
The free- and qualifying training sessions were relatively short, but Lotte was satisfied with the sixth fastest time in her group, with the times of the top riders very close to each other. Lotte utilized the warm-up session on Sunday to explore the track more and to figure out some lines.
After a decent start in race one, Lotte slotted into an early tenth spot. She held her own in among the experienced Italian hardpack riders. She was in a tight-knit group stretching from fifth to tenth, and there were several position changes throughout the race. Lotte finished eighth, but in her own words felt that she could have done better.
Lotte again launched well in race two, and was even higher placed, but another rider bumped into her in the first corner, forcing her wide. She remained upright on her RK Service – tuned KTM, but had to set in the chase from 33rd position. She passed one rider after the other, and by the end of the first lap, had already made good ten positions. She kept the pressure on with a relentless up march through the ranks, finally finishing 15th after a hard-fought battle.
Lotte has secured a solid position towards qualifying for the championship final. She has proven that she is now also getting adapt at racing against top opposition on hardpack tracks.