Even a rare slip-up in race two could not stop New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan from celebrating a perfect start to her FIM World WMX Women’s Motocross Championship title defence at the weekend.
The Bike It MTX Kawasaki rider from Palmerston, in the South Island, scored a 1-1 double victory at Loket, in the Czech Republic.
The defending champion qualified fastest and cleverly chose a start-gate some distance inside the central gates favoured by her main rivals; she was rewarded with a clear run to the first corner whilst her rivals squabbled already before the turn.
With a clear track ahead after taking the holeshot award the Kawasaki girl already led by nearly four seconds at the completion of the first full lap and, setting the fastest laps of the race whilst taking no risks, comfortably extended her lead each lap until she took the chequered flag as winner with a 22-second advantage after 12 laps of the slippery hard-pack circuit.
Once again negotiating the always tricky first turn safely in race two she immediately set her eyes on the leader and moved ahead within half a lap to again earn a clear track.
NZ’s Courtney Duncan went 1-1 for a perfect score-card at the opening round of the Women’s Motocross World Championships in the Czech Republic. Photo courtesy Stanley Leroux.
With the tricky track extremely slick in places she was content to hold a slender but defendable lead for most of the race before moving clear in the final laps; despite one momentary lapse of concentration, which saw her slip off without surrendering the lead, her supreme physical fitness played its part to complete the day with another victory by nine seconds, again the fastest lap of the race, a perfect 50-point haul in the championship.
“I think we can be happy with today. You can’t ask for more; two good starts, two clean rides, two wins,” said Duncan afterwards.
“The track was technical and slick in spots and it was difficult to find a flow at times but I rode smooth and smart.
“We made a couple of small changes to the settings this morning after free practice but my KX250 worked perfectly all day. I pulled a cool holeshot in race one; I’m stoked about that – I didn’t do that many times in my career.
“After that I just rode smooth; in fact I almost felt slow, but I didn’t want to take any risks because it’s a dry day and the square-edged bumps were coming out. I made a pretty good start again in race two. I wanted clear vision so I made an aggressive pass on the first lap and just managed it from there in.
“I don’t feel too different, last year I was also defending the championship and I feel every year I still have a little bit of pressure and a target on my back, but I just do the best I can do each weekend and that’s all I can ask for.
“I made a silly mistake a couple of laps from the end; that freaked me out but I settled down again quickly. My thanks to Kawasaki, my team and my sponsors for their support; I couldn’t do it without them.”
Photo courtesy Kawasaki Europe
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WMX – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:12.041; 2. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +0:22.534; 3. Lynn Valk (NED, Husqvarna), +0:27.839; 4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:30.559; 5. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:36.583; 6. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:37.359; 7. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:38.074; 8. Britt Jans-Beken (NED, KTM), +1:19.072; 9. Line Dam (DEN, Yamaha), +1:23.162; 10. Elisa Galvagno (ITA, Yamaha), +1:25.897.
WMX – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:41.209; 2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:09.361; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:31.191; 4. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +0:33.013; 5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:44.752; 6. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:48.751; 7. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), +0:55.608; 8. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +1:09.799; 9. Lynn Valk (NED, Husqvarna), +1:13.807; 10. Tahlia Jade O’Hare (AUS, Honda), +1:21.675.
WMX – Overall Top 10 Classification:
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 50 points; 2. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KAW), 33 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, HUS), 32 p.; 7. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 28 p.; 8. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Elisa Galvagno (ITA, YAM), 17 p.
WMX – Championship Top 10 Classification:
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 50 points; 2. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KAW), 33 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, HUS), 32 p.; 7. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 28 p.; 8. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Daniela Guillen (ESP, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Elisa Galvagno (ITA, YAM), 17 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, September 4 GP of Turkey, Afyonkarahisar
Round 4: Saturday, October 16 GP of Spain, intu Xanadu-Arroyomolinos
Round 5: Saturday, October 30 – GP of Trentino, Pietramurata