Duncan shrugs off
disappointment
P
by Andy McGechan
erhaps 2018 will be Duncan’s year?
New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan has
plenty to reflect upon when she looks
back at her fateful 2017 Women’s
Motocross Championships campaign.
She lapped all but one rider on her way
to winning the last race of the year in France, but
she ultimately had to accept the No.3 position
in this year’s final championship standings.
The 21-year-old from Palmerston, in Otago, can
now only shrug off her obvious disappointment
and instead re-focus on a fresh campaign next
year. Duncan had consistently proven herself to
be the fastest motocross woman on the planet
again this season, but, for a second consecutive
year, she has been forced to swallow a bitter pill.
This year’s six-round competition took the best
riders in the world to five different countries –
the series twice visiting France – and not once
was Duncan afforded the comfort of racing on
home turf, but she knuckled down to the task
at hand and, at several stages throughout her
2017 campaign, the Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing
74 KIWI RIDER
Team rider led the championship standings.
When Duncan arrived at the sixth and final
round at Villars-sous-Ecot, in France, on the
weekend of September 16-17, she was trailing
Dutch Yamaha rider Nancy Van de Ven by just
two points and, with just five points to separate
the top four riders, anything was still possible.
But that’s when everything went horribly
wrong for Duncan. She was out in front of
race one on the Saturday, with a massive
20-second lead over Fontanesi, when, on the
final lap, she had to take evasive action to avoid
a group of riders who had fallen on a steep
jump face. Duncan’s bike slid on the muddy
Duncan has consistently
proven herself to be the
fastest motocross woman on
the planet again this season