The Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship kicked off its 2025 season on Friday, May 23, in conjunction with the opening round of the Pro Motocross Series at Fox Raceway in Pala, California, where Mikayla Nielsen (Honda) traded wins with 2024 WMX Champion Lachlan Turner (Yamaha) to claim the overall win, going 2-1 to Turner’s 1-3.
Photos by Ryan Nitzen
For 2025, the six-round WMX Championship series will take place in conjunction with the Pro Motocross Championship Series events at Pala, Hangtown, Thunder Valley, Ironman, Unadilla and Budds Creek Nationals.
In moto one, Turner took the holeshot and dominated the race, going wire to wire for the victory. Kyleigh Stallings (Kawasaki) kept the pressure on Nielsen for second for most of the race until Nielsen finally pulled away in the closing laps. Jordan Jarvis (KTM) followed closely in fourth.
Hailing from Oklahoma, Stallings admittedly struggled with the hard-packed track and eventually gave up third and fourth to Charli Cannon and Jarvis to finish fifth.
The final first-moto order was Turner, Nielsen, Cannon, Jarvis and Stallings.
Stallings secured the holeshot in moto two, with Jarvis and Neilsen following closely behind. Turner, who was near the back of the pack, began making progress, and by lap two had moved up to fifth place. On lap three, Neilsen passed Jarvis to take the lead.
Jarvis squeezed down in a turn and clipped Stallings to the ground. The Kawasaki rider remounted in fifth.
“I pinched Kyliegh off in a turn, and I guess she hit my back wheel and went down,” said Jarvis.
“I was leading and in the back section right before the mechanics area. Jordan got around me, and then I clipped her back tire and went down and got passed a bunch of times,” said Stallings.
It wasn’t long before Turner moved up to battle with Jarvis and Nielsen for the lead.
Nielsen went on to take the win with Jarvis, Turner, Cannon, Stallings, Sophie Phelps and Jamie Astudillo rounding out the top seven.
“I’ve been putting in the work just to try and compete with Lachlan. She set the tone last year, so [I’m] busting my butt training,” said Nielsen. “This is my home track, so I knew my way around the track, and I just tried to put myself in a good position, whether that’s second or even first. I mean, I got second in that first moto and put myself in a good position. So, just to set the tone off with this win means a lot. It boosted my confidence, and I’m ready to hit the season hard.”
KTM’s Jamie Astudillo went 7-6 for sixth overall.
“I got a good start on the first moto, but the front group got around me pretty quickly, and then I kind of lost them, so that didn’t help my case,” said Astudillo. “But I rode a lot better in the second moto and battled Stallings for a few laps. She ended up getting me, but yeah, it’s a good step.”
VIDEO | 2025 WMX Highlights – Fox Raceway National
2025 Women’s Motocross Championship Round 1 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Mikayla Nielsen (Hon) 2-1
- Lachlan Turner (Yam) 1-3
- Jordan Jarvis (Yam) 4-2
- Charli Cannon (Hon) 3-4
- Kyleigh Stallings (Kaw) 5-5
- Jamie Astudillo (KTM) 7-6
- Sophie Phelps (Kaw) 6-7
- Mathilde Martinez (Yam) 9-8
- Lilly-Ann Pettus (Hus) 8-9
- Janina Lehmann (Yam) 11-10
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