Australia's Kristie McKinnon finished an impressive 11th at the second round of the 2010 FIM Trial World Championship for Women, held in the Czech Republic township of Kramolin, near Prague, whilst compatriot Ailsa Anderson had a excellant opening lap in her first world championship event.
Having inspected the course in overcast but reasonably dry conditions the day before, the girls awoke to rain falling gently on the Czech rooftops, and initally feared the worst. As new comers to the 2010 championship, in that the girls did not ride the opening round in France, the Aussies were to be second and third riders away on the 14 section course.
A quick ride back up the practice area showed the conditions under the trees were still dry, and would not effect the early starters. Our girls set of for their two laps just after 1030am, with three hours to complete the first lap, and a further two hours allowed to complete the two laps in total.
Kristie McKinnon started brilliantly, cleaning the first two sections above the carpark, and heading off into the forrest sections with confidence.
Ailsa had a few careful dabs on the opening sections, and was quickly into the groove after moving on to the forrest sections beneath the trees.
The toughest challenges lay in second group of forrest hazards, with the moss scrapped off the rocks leaving a fine line to follow through the pine needles, loose earth and shifting rocks. Our girls lost touch with the leaders in sections seven, eight and nine, with threes and fives. The level of these sections was hard A grade, while the remainder of the course ranged from C through to very hard B grade.
After the first lap, Kristie has lost 23 marks and Ailsa a impressive 39, in sections that were getting slippery with every passing competitor. Time was not a problem, with few little queueing among the 28 starters.
Moving into the second circuit, Ailsa began to fade with the effects of travelling across the globe just two days before catching up with her on the second lap. While the total score of 51 marks on that lap was more than her great opening lap, it was not for lack of trying, and the event was a great introduction to world championships for the young rider from Kyogle in NSW.
Kristie was able to improve her score by seven marks on the second lap, taking just 16 marks on sections that were far slippier than they had been earlier in the day. McKinnons total of 39 marks saw her in 11th place, with only two 5's in the two trial, and a score just five marks outside of the top ten.
The Australian girls next agenda is the group ladies training at the same venue on Monday, followed by training with FIM womens trial official and ex world champion Iris Kramer in Poland during the week. This is followed by the final round of the Womens World championship next Friday in Poland, and the Trials des Nations for Ladies on Saturday.