Top Women Riders Vie For Women's Motocross Championship

E365 -- Two new events highlight the six-race 2008 AMA/WMA Women's Motocross National Championship presented by Kawasaki this year. The 2007 champion, Jessica Patterson, guns for a stellar achievement as she looks for her fifth-straight title aboard her Fox/Bad Boy Energy Drink Honda. However, front runner Sarah Whitmore of Shift/Etnies Girls Suzuki and Etnies/Answer Racing/Red Bull/FMF Yamaha's Tarah Gieger, last season's runner-up, are ready to take the next step from race winners to championship contenders.

The WMA will once again accompany the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship Presented by FMF, racing its first moto on Saturday and its second moto on Sunday following the AMA action with exception to Thunder Valley, where both motos will be run on Saturday.

The WMA season kicks off at the oldest motocross circuit on the tour with the Hangtown Classic, helping celebrate the track's 40th Anniversary. The tour then travels to the first of its two inaugural races at Freestone in Wortham, Tex. After supporting the first ever night race at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Col., the schedule takes the series to Washougal, Wash. for round four. The 2008 season draws to a close over its final two weekends of action with its first ever event at Motocross 338 in Southwick, Mass. and concluding at Steel City in Delmont, Penn.

Patterson took the top step of the podium in four of the six races last season, including nine moto victories. Gieger finished on the podium in the first four rounds, boasting an overall victory on the strength of a second moto win at Thunder Valley, while Whitmore overcame a tough season to end on a high note, taking the top spot at the WMA season finale in Steel City.

A class of colorful rookies will provide an added level of competitive excitement, headed by the ultra-talented Ashley Fiolek, the first deaf competitor in professional motocross. Alongside, highly-successful amateur Jacqueline Strong joins the fray as the youngest competitor at just 15 years old.  Tatum Sik prepares for her first full season as a professional after a stellar showing at the WMA Cup.

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