Gritty Kiwi pulls her finger out
A battered and bruised Courtney Duncan needed two painkilling injections before riding to a gutsy and critical round victory with a fractured finger in Spain at the weekend.
The two-time reigning champion has revealed the most important race of her 2021 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship (WMX) defence might just have been winning the battle to get to the start line for the second moto.
‘‘It could have been worse,’’ Duncan said, reflecting that a simple mistake could easily have ended her hopes of sealing a third straight championship.
‘‘I’m just grateful that I was able to walk away healthy from a crash like that,’’ Duncan told Stuff.
In a dramatic tumble on the fastest part of the Madrid circuit, the Kiwi star went cartwheeling over her handlebars before slamming into the dirt in a scary crash in the first of two races.
Duncan was winning the opening race before the crash, in the final stages, but running on adrenaline and frustration, she jumped to her feet, climbed back onto her Kawasaki and claimed second place.
The 2021 championship leader escaped with what was thought to be just a deep cut to her finger.
A change to the WMX schedule, due to Covid-19 protocols, means both motos at each round are held on the same day and just one hour apart.
It was only after she defeated that deadline and went on to win the second race – extending her championship lead in the process – that Duncan learned the finger was also fractured.
Showing toughness to match her class, Duncan was typically understated about her injury heading into this weekend’s last two motos of the championship.
‘‘It’s nothing major, when it’s fractured they just tape it up.
‘‘When you know how much is on the line and you know how much it means to you ... all the pain and all those outside thoughts kind of dwindle away, you’re just so in the moment,’’ Duncan said.
Her recovery started as soon as the second race began and Duncan is confident she won’t be hampered by issues when she rides in the final round in Italy on Sunday. Duncan (223 points) leads the championship by 16 points over Italy’s Kiara Fontanesi (207) with Van De Ven third on 195 points.