Two action-packed races were guaranteed with only 10-points separating the top-four riders. Van de Ven had the initial advantage as the Championship Leader going into the fifth and final round of the series and as the morning mist lifted over the stunning Ciclamino Circuit in Pietramurata, Italy, excitement quickly started to mound. Van de Ven carried a 4-point advantage over Duncan before Race 1 with Papenmeier a further 2-points back, in third.
A dramatic opening race saw three of the four title contenders crash within the first three turns. Duncan fell going into turn-one, van de Ven fell at turn-two and Kiara Fontanesi fell at turn-three. Papenmeier powered her YZ250F to the front of the field and used the mistakes of her rivals to her advantage.
As Van de Ven bounced back and carved her way through the field, Papenmeier impressively stretched out a 20-second lead. With 2-laps to go, the German crashed out of first position on the final turn, allowing Duncan to win.
Papenmeier finished second while van de Ven put in an incredible charge from last to finish fifth.
Fired up by the result of the first race, no-one could catch van de Ven in Race 2. The ‘85’ was flawless. She led every lap from start to finish to end her season in the best possible way – with a race victory.
Papenmeier finished fourth after starting outside of the top five.
Van de Ven and Papenmeier both finished second and third overall to claim the silver and bronze WMX World Championship medals – in that order, in 2020.
