Courtney Duncan takes early 2017 WMX lead
The FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship started this week with two races over the weekend in Indonesia, where Courtney Duncan (Altherm JCR Yamaha) took the first Red Plate of the season.
It was a great start to the season after 21-year-old New Zealander Courtney, saw her season efforts come crashing down in 2016 after a photographer on track caused her to crash in Germany last year, sustaining an injury that saw her miss the following two rounds.
With the grand prix taking place in the middle of Indonesia’s wet season, the world’s fastest females had to battle some gruelling conditions, sludgy mud, sea deep ruts, and extreme heat.
In Race 1, momentum, throttle control and balance were the keys to the race, and those keys were in firm grip of Nancy Van de Ven as she sat in the driver’s seat from start to finish to win by 1 minute and 27 seconds over fellow Yamaha rider and compatriot Nicky Van Wordragen.
Wordragen was followed by Anne Borchers from Germany while Team One One Four’s Livia Lancelot and MXFonta Yamaha Racing’s Kiara Fontanesi had issues and were looking to rebound Sunday and that is exactly what they did.
For Sunday’s race 2 New Zealand’s Altherm JCR Yamaha’s Courtney Duncan came out well prepared and it showed, she won the race and after her 5th place on race 1 she grabbed the overall and the red plate.
Courtney Duncan
“My coach, Josh was by my side and guided me through it all day and we got the job done. I went down on the start, I got a little bit of whiskey and ended up tucking the front on the first turn. You can’ t win a championship at the first round, but you can lose it so I just didn’t give up and fought all the way to the finish. I still got some reasonably good points so for a bad race, I think I did alright. I didn’t want to have a second, I really wanted to have a win here, so I charged back and got the win!”
Nicky Van Wordragen from the Netherlands rode consistent between the two days earning herself second overall.
Creymert Racing’s Shana van der Vlist was a top performer in race 1 finishing fourth, but her well earned eighth in race 2 gave her the final spot on the podium.
German Anne Borchers was third in race 1 but after a demanding race 2 she slid back one position in the overall classification finishing fourth.
Former champion MXFonta Yamaha Racing’s Kiara Fontanesi had a few mistakes on day one but was determined on Sunday, she finished in a strong second place in race two putting herself fifth overall.
Last year’s World Champion, Team One One Four’s Livia Lancelot had a strong showing in race 2 after problems in race one. Lancelot responded to the challenge and came out ninth overall while Nancy Van de Ven finished 10th overall due to a disqualification on race 2.
WMX Race 1 Top Ten:
- Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha) / 26:31.788
- Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha) / +1:24.993
- Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki) / -1 lap
- Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM) / -1 lap
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, Yamaha) / -1 lap
- Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki) / -1 lap
- Elaine MacEachern (GBR, Husqvarna) / -1 lap
- Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM), / -2 laps
- Genette Vaage (NOR, KTM) / -2 laps
- Virginie Germond (SUI, Yamaha) / -2 laps
WMX Race 2 Top Ten:
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, Yamaha) / 26:20.636
- Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha) / +0:19.658
- Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki) / +3:47.043
- Nicky van Wordragen (NED, Yamaha) / -1 lap
- Genette Vaage (NOR, KTM) / -1 lap
- Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Suzuki) / -1 lap
- Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM) / -1 lap
- Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM) / -1 lap
- Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki) / -1 lap
- Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki) / -1 lap
WMX Overall Top 10:
- Courtney Duncan (NZL, YAM) – 41
- Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM) – 40
- Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM) – 31
- Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ) – 31
- Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, YAM) – 30
- Larissa Papenmeier (GER, SUZ) – 30
- Genette Vaage (NOR, KTM) – 28
- Amandine Verstappen (BEL, KTM) – 27
- Livia Lancelot (FRA, KAW) – 26
- Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM) – 25
WMX Manufacturer:
- Yamaha – 50 points
- Suzuki – 35
- KTM – 34
- Kawasaki – 26
- Husqvarna – 18
