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Kiwi motocross sensation Courtney Duncan is clinging to a 16-point lead heading into the final round of the FIM World Women’s Motocross Championship (WMX).
The three-time world champion, who had her 2022 season heavily disrupted by injury, will ride for a fourth title in Turkey early next month.
By her own lofty standards, the penultimate round of the season, the Grand Prix of The Netherlands, was not a strong one for Duncan over the weekend but she feels as though she minimised the damage.
Racing in the deep sand of the Arnhem circuit, the championship leader finished fourth in the opening race and third in the second to just miss the GP podium.
Duncan, the dominant force of the WMX since her arrival in 2016, has always found the deep sand circuits more challenging.
Supplied/Kawaski Europe
Courtney Duncan remains at the top of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship leader board with one round remaining.
“It’s just a little out of the comfort zone coming to this stuff, and those girls who are brought up here are really comfortable in it, but I will continue to work on it for next year,” Duncan told BikesportNZ.com.
“It was a heavy weekend for sure, but we always know that coming to the sand and I feel I minimised the damage out there.”
To put her weekend in the context of the championship race, if Duncan was able to produce the same results in Turkey, it will be enough to win a fourth world title.
However, Turkey does not present any such fears, with it being a happy hunting ground for Duncan in the past.
The last four WMX races there have all been won by Duncan across 2022 and 2021.
“I always enjoy racing there so I’m looking to finish this off on a high,” Duncan told BikesportNZ.com.
If Duncan does win a fourth title in Turkey in a tight contest, her ride to storm back into third in the second race at Arnhem on Sunday (NZT) might prove to be the difference.
The Big Van World MTX Kawasaki rider was in third early in race two before falling all the way back to seventh but somehow regathered herself to work back through to finish in third place and pick up valuable points for the championship race.
Dutch teenager Lotte Van Drunen won both races at her home GP over the weekend with Spain’s Daniela Guillen picking up two seconds to keep the pressure on Duncan.
Duncan now leads the championship with 223 points over Guillen (207 points), with Van Drunen in third with 200 points.
Fellow Dutch rider Lynn Valk is in fourth with 168 points and six-time world champion Kiara Fontanesi rounds out the top five with a total of 157, but neither can catch Duncan with a maximum of 50 points on offer in Turkey.
Defending champion Nancy van de Ven is way back in 14th after a tough season.
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