KIWI RIDER NOVEMBER 2021 VOL1 | Page 100

DIRT NEWS

DUNCAN WRAPS UP THIRD WORLD TITLE ON THE TROT

Kiwi rider Courtney Duncan has wrapped up her third consecutive FIM Women ’ s Motocross World Championship title at the final round in Trentino . The Kiwi entered the final stage of the series with a 16-point advantage over her closest rival Kiara Fontanesi , but some bad luck in the races prevented the Italian from taking the battle to the final race as Duncan was able to secure the gold plate by the end of the first race . In race one , it was Larissa Papenmeier of Yamaha Racing 423 who grabbed the holeshot . Fontanesi and Duncan were a little further behind on the opening lap . Bad luck struck Fontanesi not long after as she went down hard , after getting caught up with another rider . Papenmeier then led Amandine Verstappen of 9MM Energy Drink Bud Racing Kawasaki , Nancy Van De Ven of Ceres 71 Racing , Duncan and Lynn Valk . Van De Ven wasted no time to get into second place , as Fontanesi picked herself up in 32nd after her crash . Duncan then caught onto the back wheel of

Verstappen and passed her for third position on lap four . Meanwhile Van De Ven tried several times to get within striking distance of Papenmeier but could not make it happen as Papenmeier secured her first race victory of the season . Van De Ven finished second , while Duncan crossed the line third as the 2021 WMX Champion . Fontanesi managed to get back to 15th place , but it was not enough to take the title fight to the final race . In race two , it was once again Papenmeier with the holeshot as she led Duncan and Fontanesi . Valk started well once again as she was in fourth place , while Van De Ven was ninth on the opening lap . Moments later we saw a repeat of what happened in race one , as Fontanesi went down once again and was right at the back of the field . Papenmeier then led Duncan , Valk , Sara Andersen , Van De Ven , Talia O ’ Hare of Honda 114 Motorsport and Verstappen . But by the
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