Kawasaki’s Meghan Rutledge dominates 2011 Australian Women’s MX Championship
16 year old Kawasaki rider Meghan Rutledge has won all five motos at the 2011 Australian Women’s MX Championship at Coolum, QLD to be crowned the Australian Champion in her maiden year in the Senior ranks.
Rutledge, from Picton, NSW rode her KX250F superbly in the extremely wet and muddy conditions to hole-shot and win five from five motos. Rutledge was so dominant at Coolum, she led every lap of every moto, posting a winning margin of more than 1 minute in some races.
An excited Meghan Rutledge says, “I’m stoked to win, I can’t really put it any other way. I’m speechless.”
“I didn’t expect to be as dominant but after the first race when I won by a fair bit, I just wanted to win every moto by as big a gap as I could.”
“Huge thanks to the guys from Monster Energy Kawasaki for all their help, especially my mechanic Ben for all that he did.”
Meghan Rutledge and fellow Kawasaki riders, Letitia Alabaster (who finished 8th overall) and Chelsea Blakers (15th overall) were all supported on the day by mechanics and crew from Monster Energy Kawasaki.
Ben Lane, who normally spins spanners on Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Dean Ferris’ KX450F took upon himself Rutledge’s mechanical duties at Coolum.
Lane says, “I’ve never seen anything like it! Meghan’s style and the way she rides is unreal, especially for her age. She was probably the youngest one out there. It was definitely a good day. She made standing around in the rain worth it.”
Monster Energy Kawasaki Team manager Troy Carroll says, “Rutledge is just on a different level. She’s an amazing rider and the whole team congratulates her. It was a pleasure for the Monster Energy Kawasaki team to be at Coolum helping the Kawasaki riders at the Australian Women’s MX Championship”.
Rutledge will now enjoy two weeks holiday in QLD that will include training and riding time with Monster Energy Kawasaki at the team’s headquarters in Toowoomba. Rutledge continues her preparation for the upcoming Monster Energy SuperX Championship where she will compete, probably as the only female entrant, in the Under 19s class.
