Lakewood – Katherine Plumm rebounded from two broken bones in her right hand less than two months ago to win the women’s motocross championship Saturday at Thunder Valley.
Plumm led by more than five seconds in the first moto and took second place in the second moto to win the overall championship over Tarah Geiger and Alisa Nix.
“Quickness was the key today,” the 18-year-old Plumm said. “I ride quite a bit at home, a lot of long motos. In this heat and the high altitude, doing long motos helps for these shorter ones.”
Plumm came to the event from her home in Auckland, New Zealand, which made the transition to the higher altitude that much more difficult.
“Just walking around you don’t really notice it, but after three or four laps you feel really ragged,” Plumm said. “New Zealand is at 600 feet above sea level and here we are at 6,000 feet above, so it really makes a big difference.”
Plumm broke her hand May 25 and had surgery shortly after, which put her in a cast and took her off her bike for three weeks. Doctors inserted two plates and nine screws to hold her hand together, but Plumm feels no ill effects.
“It felt pretty good. I am still working on getting my strength back,” Plumm said.
This marks the second year a motocross championship has been hosted by Thunder Valley, and huge crowds are expected today for the final.
Qualifying for the men’s championships were to take place Saturday but never happened. According to Tony Gardea, media relation manager for the American Motorcycle Association, there were too few riders to make two days of qualifying necessary. Because of injuries and bike malfunctions, the total number of riders trying to qualify was down to 98.
The men did race in a couple of practice sessions, and defending champion Ricky Carmichael looks set to repeat. His best lap was two seconds faster than his closest competitor, James Stewart.
Making an appearance at the track Saturday was Ernesto Fonseca, a motocross rider who was paralyzed in March. He was there to cheer on teammate Andrew Short, a resident of Colorado Springs. Fonseca will be honored during a ceremony today at 12:30 p.m.
Staff writer Brandon Meachum can be reached at 303-820-1720 or bmeachum@denverpost.com.
