Duncan wins in first round
PALMERSTON rider Courtney Duncan recovered well from a poor start to the opening round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship in Italy yesterday.
Duncan finished sixth in the opening race but came back to win the second race and end up joint second overall after the first round.
The Italian round of the championships, at the Pietramurata circuit, was raced on a hard surface near the Dolomite Mountains.
Duncan qualified second on her Yamaha Racing YZ 250F, a second behind fivetimes world champion Kiara Fontanesi, who was competing on home soil.
Weather conditions were near perfect but the track was technical and soft due to heavy rain the preceding week.
Duncan got a bad start in the first race but had moved up to around seventh on the sixth corner when she crashed while trying to make a pass.
She ended up at the back of the field. It took the 21year old a long time to get her bike restarted and because the track was narrow and hard to pass on, she finished in sixth place.
Duncan got away to a good start in race two and was second going into the first corner.
She quickly went to the lead at the end of the first lap. She could not be passed and ended up winning the race by more than 20 seconds from Fontanesi.
After the first round, Duncan is secondequal in the series with Fontanesi and the Netherlands’ Nancy Van De Ven on 40 points, five points behind leader Larissa Papenmeier, of Germany.
Duncan has had limited time back on her bike since recovering from surgery over the offseason but was pleased with her progress.
‘‘It was a solid start to the season. Obviously yesterday’s mistake was disappointing but I’m happy to rebound today with a win and second overall is a good start to the season,’’ she said.
‘‘We have already moved our focus to Portugal this coming weekend.’’
She said there was more to come from her.
‘‘I felt solid but still the feeling is not there yet. I haven’t had a long preseason on the bike but the more I race, the more confident I feel. We can only get better.’’
Duncan, Coppins and the rest of the team will travel from Italy to Portugal this week and will aim to fit in some training in northern Spain.