After a five-year hiatus, the Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship returned last year in 2024 with an eight-round series that mostly coincided with amateur nationals. For 2025, WMX will rejoin the AMA Pro Motocross Championship circuit for a six-round series with motos on Friday. This is a big step in getting women racers the recognition and track time they deserve. For this week’s List, we figured we would reintroduce you to the top female racers in the series from last year, plus a couple of fast imports from Australia, France, and Germany! Follow @racewmx on Instagram for the latest updates.
#1 Lachlan Turner
In 2024, Lala missed the first round while she was recovering from a back injury, and another round that interfered with Loretta Lynn's Regionals (in 2024 the WMX rulebook allowed for two rounds to be dropped so it did not hurt her championship hopes). She came back and swept four of the six remaining rounds on her way to winning the championship. The 18-year-old from Nevada said her favorite rider is Justin Barcia, though her small stature, blonde hair, and aggressive riding style is somewhat reminiscent of Ashley Fiolek. Lala is looking forward to racing at the same tracks as the pros and has hopes of winning the WMX Championship again in 2025, as well as a Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championship. She also hopes to be able to compete against the boys in SMX Next - Motocross (the MX Sports Scouting Moto Combine program) this summer, where she will most likely run her #99, though this Friday look for her on the #1 machine.
#2 Kyleigh Stallings
Stallings will be happy to return to the Pro Motocross tracks as she swept all four motos at the High Point and Ironman rounds in 2024. While she came up just short of the WMX Championship, she won the WMX class at Loretta Lynn’s in both 2023 and 2024. Her lightning-fast reaction time has her pulling the majority of the holeshots (seriously, this girl can start) and her corner speed helps keep her upfront. Look for Kyliegh to be a threat every time she lines up this summer.
#3 Sophia Phelps
The 22-year-old Utah native was a constant contender for podiums all season in 2024. Which is impressive considering the full-time college student was not even planning on racing last year until they announced the return of the WMX schedule. For 2025, she will be doing the first three rounds and then is considering retirement. Though with racing in her blood we will see if that really happens. Sophia may be just as sweet off the track as she is fierce on the track, she commented: “KayKay [Mikayla Nielsen] is my favorite competitor to battle with because she is one of my best friends off the track. No matter who wins, we are happy. Plus, if I’m battling with her, I must be going pretty fast.” Phelps is a great addition to any series, even if it is only for three rounds.
#4 Jordan Jarvis
Jordan is probably the most decorated woman rider on this list, with six Loretta’s titles to her name. The 24-year-old from Florida missed the first three rounds in 2024 because she was contracted to race the Progressive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) racing series. Ironically, Jarvis waited years for the return of a WMX series, competed against the men in Pro Motocross and finally decided to try her hand at woods racing at the exact time WMX made its return. She podiumed every round she raced in 2024 and dominated in the sand at the Baja Brawl, clawing her way back to fourth in points. Expect Jordan to be battling for wins all season.
#5 Jamie Astudillo
This all-around rider has tried her hand at everything, from motocross, GNCC, MXGP, and even road racing! The 24-year-old racer from Pennsylvania will have a busy summer racing here in the U.S. and defending her WMX title up in Canada as well. When asked who her favorite rider is she said, “Kiara Fontanesi, first ever mother to win a World championship round. That deserves some respect!” Jamie had two podiums in 2024, expect to see her up there again in 2025.
Bonus!
Many years ago, the U.S. was the destination for top women racers around the world (Stefy Bau, Steffi Laier, and Tania Satchwell, among many others). Well, it only took one season, and WMX is already attracting top talent from other parts of the world for 2025. German MXGP rider Janina Lehmann and the 2018 French Champion Mathilde Martinez have traveled over together to fulfill their dream of racing in the U.S. They will both be lining up at Fox Raceway. As well as the seven-time Australian Champion Charli Cannon, who will compete at all six rounds. Many of our U.S. girls raced Charli two months ago at the FIM Oceania Women's Motocross Cup, where Charli swept all three motos. It will be interesting to see how the U.S. racers will fare on their own bikes on home soil. Either way the talent has elevated for 2025, and it's going to be exciting to watch!
For more information on the WMX Championship go to RaceWMX.com
