New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan maintained her grip on the series points lead of the FIM World WMX Women’s Motocross Championship after the second race day at Afyonkarahisar in Turkey.
The Kawasaki-mounted Kiwi hero and Kiara Fontanesi (Gas Gas), her arch-rival from Italy, now have just nine points to separate them at the top of the championship standings.
The pair once again dominated qualification with lap times two seconds faster than the opposition and they immediately raced clear in the opening moto, Fontanesi throwing caution to the wind to take over the lead halfway round the opening lap after Duncan had claimed the holeshot.
The duo set an electric pace, eventually coming home 44 seconds clear of even third place, and were almost literally tied together for the entire 25-minute race with never more than two seconds between them.
Duncan (Kawasaki) showed that she was the fastest with lap times dipping into the 1-54 bracket on a clear track but overtaking had already proven difficult when the girls raced at the track for the first time on Saturday and the minor changes to the obstacles did not make passing any easier for the second visit.
Kawasaki-mounted Kiwi hero Courtney Duncan and Kiara Fontanesi (Gas Gas), her arch-rival from Italy, now have just nine points to separate them at the top of the championship standings. Photo courtesy Kawasaki Europe.
The duel became even more intense as the duo came up to lap even the girls battling for the lower point-scoring positions and each of the leaders was hindered at times through the final three laps.
The action became even more frantic on the final lap and the two leaders touched wheels a couple of times as they vied for the same space between the slower riders.
On the final surge towards the finishing line, Duncan edged alongside but her rival closed the door at the final jump to take victory by the narrowest of margins – five-hundredths of a second – as they crossed the line side-by-side.
The second race was equally exciting. Courtney gated third but was already through to second behind her main rival halfway round the opening lap; there was never more than a couple of seconds between them through the first half of the race and, with the race headed into the final stages, the Kawasaki girl started to build her challenge.
Then, with just five laps remaining, a momentarily lapse saw her slip off and lose 13 seconds.
Most competitors would simply have accepted second place but the Kiwi girl is made of sterner stuff.
Posting a series of records laps she pulled alongside two turns from the finish but her rival had the inside line and just held off the determined New Zealander.
Second on the day Courtney maintains her series lead by nine points with two GPs remaining next month on further hard-pack tracks in Spain and Italy.
“It was frustrating but I’m never going to give up,” said Duncan afterwards.
“I just made a silly little mistake in that second race, but hats off to Kiara and I can’t be disappointed with the effort I put in. I pushed to the finish but just came up a little short; that’s how it is sometimes.
“There’s two races to go and we have the red plate. We’ll continue to work and don’t need to change anything. The speed is good; we just need to keep on these waves. Onward and upwards!”
Photos courtesy Kawasaki Europe
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
WMX – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
- Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), 24:58.447; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:00.050; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:44.584; 4. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:47.101; 5. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:49.461; 6. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:00.283; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +1:08.396; 8. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), +1:12.445; 9. Lynn Valk (NED, Husqvarna), +1:19.101; 10. Elisa Galvagno (ITA, Yamaha), +1:41.622.
WMX – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
- Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), 25:11.912; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:01.428; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:32.936; 4. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.571; 5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +0:47.563; 6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:54.019; 7. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:07.508; 8. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), +1:12.936; 9. Tahlia Jade O’Hare (AUS, Honda), +1:15.217; 10. Lynn Valk (NED, Husqvarna), +1:31.050.
WMX – Overall Top 10 Classification:
- Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 50 points; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Lynn Valk (NED, HUS), 23 p.; 10. Tahlia Jade O’Hare (AUS, HON), 20 p.
WMX – Championship Top 10 Classification:
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 176 points; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 167 p.; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 148 p.; 4. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 144 p.; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 133 p.; 6. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KAW), 124 p.; 7. Lynn Valk (NED, HUS), 121 p.; 8. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 101 p.; 9. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), 98 p.; 10. Elisa Galvagno (ITA, YAM), 71 p.
2021 Women’s Motocross World Championship calendar:
Round 1: Saturday, July 24, GP of Czech Republic, Loket
Round 2: Saturday, July 31, GP of Flanders-Belgium, Lommel
Round 3: Saturday, Wednesday, September 4 & 8, GP of Turkey, Afyonkarahisar
Round 4: Saturday, October 16, GP of Spain, intu Xanadu-Arroyomolinos
Round 5: Saturday, October 30 – GP of Trentino, Pietramurata