The 2023 FIM Motocross World Championships arrive at a new venue in Arnhem for the MXGP of The Netherlands this coming weekend.
It will be round 16 of 19 for the men and round five of six for the women, who will be rejoining the fray after their mid-season break.
The women last raced at Villars sous Ecot, in France, round four on the weekend of May 20-21, and it will be Kiwi heroine Courtney Duncan (Kawasaki) hoping to hold onto her points lead or even perhaps extend it when the women line up for round five in The Netherlands this weekend.
Duncan will start the weekend 20 points clear of Spanish GasGas rider Daniela Guillen and the rider from Otago will know that she needs only concern herself with staying out of trouble to enhance her position and set herself up for winning a fourth WMX crown when the women’s series wraps up in Turkey on September 2-3.
The talented South Islander is already the most successful rider in the history of the FIM World Women’s Motocross Championship and she is showing no signs of taking her hand off the throttle just yet.
Duncan has etched her name in history as the WMX rider with the most successful of all time, with 22 Grand Prix (round wins, with each round comprising two races) victories.
Third overall in the current standings, behind Duncan (185 points) and Guillen (165 points), is emerging young star Dutch Lotte Van Drunen (150 points) with fellow Dutch rider Lynn Valk in fourth on 128 points and Italian Kiara Fontanesi rounding out the top five with 127 points.
The 27-year-old Duncan has been hard at work, at home in New Zealand these past few months, primarily training on sand-based tracks to prepare her for the rigors of the Dutch terrain.
The Kawasaki ace won the WMX title three times in consecutive years – in 2019, 2020 and 2021 – before missing out on a fourth world title last year through injury.
She had been testing in a practice session on the eve of the second round of the 2022 WMX championships, the MXGP of Portugal in Agueda, when she went down in a nasty crash and suffered a broken collarbone.
© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ
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WMX – World Champs Top 10 Classification after round 4 of 6):
1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 185 points; 2. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 165 p.; 3. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, KAW), 150 p.; 4. Lynn Valk (NED, FAN), 128 p.; 5. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 127 p.; 6. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 105 p.; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 103 p.; 8. Charli Cannon (AUS, YAM), 91 p.; 9. Britt Jans-Beken (NED, YAM), 84 p.; 10. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, KTM), 73 p.
2023 WMX calendar:
Rnd 1: Sardegna (ITA) – Riola Sardo, 25-26 Mar
Rnd 2: Switzerland – Frauenfeld, 8-10 Apr
Rnd 3: Spain – intu Xanadú – Arroyomolinos, 6-7 May
Rnd 4: France – Villars sous Ecot, 20-21 May
Rnd 5: Netherlands – Arnhem, 19-20 Aug
Rnd 6: Turkey – Afyonkarahisar, 2-3 Sep
MXGP – World Champs Top 10 Classification after round 15 of 19:
1 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 770 Points
2 Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 672 Points
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 603 Points
4 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 553 Points
5 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 521 Points
6 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 498 Points
7 Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 456 Points
8 Alberto Forato (ITA, KTM), 380 Points
9 Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 281 Points
10 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 230 Points
MX2 – World Champs Top 10 Classification after round 15 of 19:
1 Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 663 Points
2 Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 583 Points
3 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 559 Points
4 Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 546 Points
5 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 501 Points
6 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 462 Points
7 Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 461 Points
8 Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 433 Points
9 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 425 Points
10 Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 306 Points