Motocross

Courtney Duncan wins WMX round two and takes championship lead

Posted:

Monday, May 20th, 2019

9:34 AM

Flying Kiwi Courtney Duncan has taken a pair if wins in Portugal to take the WMX championship leader after two rounds. Photo: Youthstream.

Courtney Duncan has rebounded to top form taking a clean sweep at the second round of the FIM Women‰Ûªs Motocross World Championship returned for the WMX round of Portugal.

Following the opening round in the Netherlands at Valkenswaard it was Belgium‰Ûªs Amandine Verstappen carrying the red plate into Agueda this weekend. Saturday hosted the first race of the two-day, two race, event and unfortunately for Verstappen her winning ways would not be repeated. Instead it was New Zealand's Courtney Duncan who dominated the field for her first win of the year.

At the start of race 1 Verstappen crashed and by the time she was back up she was buried at the back of the field. Larissa Papenmeier led Duncan down the first downhill with Nancy Van De Ven in 3rd. Before the opening lap was complete Duncan took the lead from Papenmeier on the inside of one of the turns.

JK Racing Yamaha‰Ûªs Lynn Valk pressured Van de Ven for third but was unable to pass her Dutch compatriot. Meanwhile Verstappen fell again dropping from 16thto 20thforcing her to go back to work all over again. Digging deep Verstappen made her way up to 10th but in the lead it was Duncan, all race, taking the win ahead of Papenmeier, Van de Ven, Valk, and Sara Andersen.

WMX Race two took place on Subnday afternoon and Van de Ven rocketed into the first turn taking the holeshot and lead over Duncan and Papenmeier with Line Dam also in the mix. Verstappen‰Ûªs weekend went from bad to worse getting caught in a pile up with 2 other riders.

Duncan didn‰Ûªt take long to get past Van de Ven making a pass stick during the second lap and never looking back. Sara Andersen and Line Dam then had a battle but Andersen came out as the faster of the two Danes. Valk also passed Dam for her best ever WMX result while Verstappen never gave up charging through the field for a second day in a row.

The WMX class blast into action for the second time in 2019. Photo: Youthatream.

At the finish Duncan took the race win making it her second year in a row going 1-1 in Portugal but her first overall victory of 2019. 2ndand 3rdin the race, Van de Ven and Papenmeier were also 2ndand 3rdoverall. The top five overall was filled out by Andersen and Valk as Verstappen‰Ûªs resilience salvaged 9thoverall. The championship leaders red plate now belongs to Duncan with 89 points total which 4 ahead of Van de Ven now in 2nd.

"I was really happy with the weekend; the goal was to put two solid races together and I did that," Duncan said. "I got blocked in at the first turn in that second race, but I didn't panic, sorted out a good place to make a clean pass and could race away. I'm just taking it race by race at the moment and not really thinking about the championship, but I'm stoked to get the double win and take the red plate to the next round. We've got a nine week break now, so I'll be going back to New Zealand to keep doing the work and come out swinging at Loket."

Duncan will now return to New Zealand to continue her training before taking the red plate into round 3 in Loket, Czech Republic the 27thand 28thof July.

The WMX GP of Portugal podium.

WMX Race 1 Top Ten:
1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 25:37.493
2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:12.938
3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:20.911
4. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +0:49.788
5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:59.251
6. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +1:07.227
7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:13.030
8. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:34.821
9. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:39.651
10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:42.185

WMX Race 2 Top Ten:
1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:51.296
2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:30.514
3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:45.003
4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +1:08.450
5. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:13.670
6. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:14.835
7. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha), +1:24.616
8. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:25.103
9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:28.714
10. Britt Van Der Werff (NED, Husqvarna), +1:39.760

WMX Overall Top Ten:
1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 50 points
2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 42 points
3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 42 points
4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 34 points
5. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 34 points
6. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 29 points
7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 28 points
8. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 27 points
9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 23 points
10. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 20 points

WMX Championship Top Ten:
1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 89 points
2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 85 points
3. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 82 points
4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 67 points
5. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 63 points
6. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 61 points
7. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 54 points
8. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 54 points
9. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 49 points
10. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 37 points