World champion Duncan ‘forced to rest and wind down’ in hotel confinement

TWOTIME world champion Courtney Duncan is well off the pace in managed isolation in Auckland.

The 24yearold is in day four of, well, confinement, having returned from a successful raid in Italy.

There is only one speed at the hotel and it is slow, slow and slow.

But it is not so bad, she said ‘‘The hotel service is really good. There is an outdoor area so we are able to go and get some fresh air and go for a walk.

‘‘It is nice just to be forced to rest and wind down,’’ Duncan said.

Of course, if she needs a distraction, there is all that bling cluttering up her room courtesy of her remarkable achievements in the Women’s Motocross World Championship.

‘‘All my friends on Snapchat have been joking about whether I have enough gold in the room because I’ve got my gold plate, my championship helmet and my No 1 plate.’’

She deserves lots of shiny stuff, after all Duncan produced one of the more stunning efforts to win the penultimate race of the series and eventually claim the title for a second consecutive year.

She had to fight her way through the field after crashing early in the race.

By the time she picked up her bike, she was last. If you look at

the race footage it appears she is jumping over her rivals on her charge to the front.

The camera angle made it appear more dramatic that it actually was but she was certainly pushing her Kawasaki and skills to the limit.

‘‘One thing I wrote down before the race was to ‘execute start’,’’ she joked.

‘‘I definitely didn’t pull that one off.

‘‘But I was like, ‘well, I’m in this position now I have to do the best with what I’ve got’.’’

With her championship title at stake, she just rode the way probably only she can.

‘‘In a roundabout way it probably helped because you just get in the zone. And before I knew it I was into second and was able to make a pass on the last lap to take the race win.’’

Duncan rode within herself in the final race of the series. She finished in third place which was enough for her to claim the series title.

‘‘It was an unbelievable feeling. To come from last to first was pretty amazing.

‘‘I’d never done that before so it was pretty cool to be able to do that and in a race which really counted as well.’’

If Duncan returns a couple of negative Covid19 tests she should be back in Dunedin later this month.

She has not booked a flight but promised to not to sneak back so people could celebrate her achievements with her.