“It was a great weekend,” Duncan exclaimed.
“Honestly, I couldn’t really have asked for much
more, I started on a good note by qualifying first,
then went 1-1 in the championship races.
“It was a tough event. The track was really
technical and it was hot out there; I guess we
could all feel it at the end of the race. I even fell
off on the sighting lap, but it taught me to ride
smart. Honestly I felt super slow, but I won both
races by 36 seconds, so it showed what a difficult
track it was for everyone.
“I put another good stint in at home over the last
month so it’s nice to see everything paying off,”
Duncan told BikesportNZ.com.
“I’m just so happy for myself and the whole
team both here in Europe with (Kawasaki team
owner) Steve Dixon and back home in New
Zealand; everyone has been working so hard to
achieve this success.
“It was pretty much a perfect weekend as I even
set fastest lap in practice, which is something
I rarely do. I got two good starts and could
immediately make good passes to lead every
lap. This track is pretty tricky but I could stay
concentrated and managed a good lead to the
finish of each race.
“I’ve also got a good lead in the championship
now so I just need to keep focused and bring it
home.
“It was really nice to race with the 2020 bike
this weekend; I tested it a couple of weeks ago
and, after just 10 minutes, I knew it would be
the bike I’d love racing with here. I’m very happy
with the refinements Kawasaki has made. It’s a
new engine so the power is a lot different, but it’s
just so good and I could really feel the difference
from my old bike.”
This season is Duncan’s first on the new bike
and is now well on target towards emulating
the Women’s World Cup successes achieved by
fellow Kiwi Katherine Prumm when the Pukekohe
girl took her Kawasaki KX250F to finish top in the
world in 2006 and again in 2007.
Duncan should probably have already won the
women’s world title, having come desperately
close over the preceding three years, but luck
abandoned her each time.
Twice she was denied the world title through
injury and then lost the title by just two points on
the other occasion.
More determined than ever to finally achieve
her goal, Duncan this year made the decision
to join the highly-experienced British Kawasaki
squad run by Steve Dixon.
“They’ve given me an awesome opportunity and
I’m very motivated to put them on top in 2019. A
fresh start was what I needed and I couldn’t be
more excited than to do that with Kawasaki.”
2019 WMX CHAMPIONSHIP
TOP FIVE
AFTER THREE OF FIVE ROUNDS:
1. Courtney Duncan (NZ, Kawasaki) 139 points
2. Nancy van de Ven (Netherlands, Yamaha) 129
3. Larissa Papenmeier (Germany, Yamaha) 122
4. Amandine Verstappen (Belgium, Yamaha) 100
5. Shana Van Der Vlist (Netherlands, KTM) 93
KIWI RIDER 101