Prumm Bravely Takes Fourth in Bulgaria

Sevlievo and the Grand Prix of Bulgaria witnessed the opening round of five in the inaugural FIM Women's World Championship and Yamaha Van Beers Racing's Katherine Prumm battled adversity to take fourth overall.

The double World Cup winner was not afforded a fair debut on her YZ250F after rupturing her right anterior cruciate ligament in the days leading up to the Grand Prix. Putting aside her pain and discomfort it was an uneasy weekend for Prumm who tried to compete but was clearly frustrated by the handicap and being unable to run at her normally impressive speed.

She made two mistakes in the first moto that saw her having to work hard to make fifth position, recovering from a second lap placing of twelfth. A slower and wetter second race saw her net a decent third.

The 19 year old will now have an MRI scan on Tuesday to determine the extent of the damage to her knee joint and then make a decision as to whether she can fulfil a five month campaign of races internationally and in her native New Zealand.

UTag Yamaha.com's Megan Lewis grabbed two points on her GP debut. The 15 year old was nineteenth in Moto2.

As with the MX1-GP and MX2-GP classes, round two for the ladies will occur next week at Mantova for the Italian Grand Prix.

Katherine Prumm, Van Beers Racing, 4th:

"I am actually disappointed with the result. My preparation for the world championship had been perfect. I was feeling very good on the bike, with my training and making good lap-times. I knew I was three or four seconds off my usual pace today. It is hard to go out there and not be able to give 100% and not feel 100% and this showed in my results. I had pain and swelling and I tried to put it to the back of my mind but it was difficult not to let it affect my riding. The world championship is what I want but if the knee is damaged then we will have to make a decision about it this week."

Temp: 15 degrees
Crowd: 27,000
Weather: Changeable

Race 1 - 11 Laps - GP of Bulgaria, Sevlievo:

1. Larissa Papenmeier - Suzuki - GER    26'24.860
2. Livia Lancelot - Kawasaki - FRA    0'1.760
3. Ashley Fiolek - Honda - USA    0'8.863
4. Maria Franke - Kawasaki - GER    0'11.812
5. Katherine Prumm - Yamaha - NZL    1'24.099
6. Elin Mann - KTM    SWE - 1'34.522
7. Elien De Winter - KTM - BEL    1'46.280
8. Marianne Veenstra - Suzuki - NED    1'48.229
9. Marielle De Mol - Yamaha - NED    1'52.804
10. Anne Borchers- Suzuki- GER    2'20.564

Race 2 - 11 Laps:

1. Livia Lancelot - Kawasaki - FRA  25'59.026
2. Maria Franke - Kawasaki - GER  0'8.182
3. Katherine Prumm - Yamaha - NZL  0'25.098
4. Ashley Fiolek - Honda - USA  1'29.889
5. Elin Mann - KTM - SWE  1'39.693
6. Sandra Adriansson - Suzuki - SWE  1'59.825
7. Elien De Winter - KTM - BEL  2'1.008
8. Marianne Veenstra - Suzuki - NED  2'3.755
9. Nicky Van Wordragen - KTM - NED  2'5.178
10. Niki Scott - Kawasaki - NZL  2'10.404

RIDER STANDINGS:

1. Livia Lancelot - Kawasaki - FRA  47
2. Maria Franke - Kawasaki - GER  40
3. Ashley Fiolek - Honda - USA  38
4. Katherine Prumm - Yamaha - NZL  36
5. Elin Mann - KTM - SWE  31
6. Elien De Winter - KTM - BEL  28
7. Marianne Veenstra - Suzuki - NED  26
8. Larissa Papenmeier - Suzuki - GER  25
9. Sandra Adriansson - Suzuki - SWE  15
10. Nicky Van Wordragen - KTM - NED  12
11. Marielle De Mol - Yamaha - NED  12
12. Anne Borchers - Suzuki - GER  11
13. Niki Scott - Kawasaki - NZL  11

MANUFACTURER STANDINGS;

1. Kawasaki  47
2. Suzuki    40
3. Honda    38
4. Yamaha    36
5. KTM    31

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