Closed King's Birthday Weekend

History-maker Duncan takes over all-time GP win record with double victories in France

22 May 2023

New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan has cemented herself in FIM World WMX Women’s Motocross Championship history, with double moto victories in France giving her the record for the most ever Grand Prix wins with 22.

Fittingly, her closest competitor over the weekend at the Villars sous Écot track was her long-time rival and 21 career GP winner Italy’s Kiara Fontanesi, whom Duncan has now moved ahead of by one.

Riding for Big Van World MTX Kawasaki, Duncan beat French round runner-up and six-time world champion Fontanesi in both races to take overall victory in France and extend her overall championship lead by 20 points.

“These French GP wins saw me take over the all-time GP wins in WMX and I’m definitely stoked on that. It was something I wanted to achieve coming into this weekend, so to tick that off is an incredibly good feeling,” Duncan says.

A three-time world champion, Duncan is in fine form this season with five moto wins from eight starts to her name. For the past two rounds, where she has won every race, it seems everything she touches turns to gold and even a crash in the first moto just fuelled her fire.

Twenty-seven-year-old Duncan was quickly through to second with a dramatic downhill double-pass halfway around the opening lap on the highly technical, heavy French track. As she closed in on the leader Fontanesi, she cross-rutted on a heavy landing and was thrown into the trackside earth-bank. Dunedin’s Duncan quickly reboarded her Kawasaki KX250 and re-joined the race in fifth place, before swiftly moving back into third.

The race leader was already 11 secs clear and the second placed rider Spain’s Daniela Guillen was 4 secs up the track – meaning Duncan had her work cut out for her. By lap four she had regained second position and on the eighth of eleven laps, having recorded a succession of fastest laps, she swept decisively around Fontanesi to move in front and eventually win by 27 secs.

Heading out to the second race on a high, Duncan did something unusual for her.

“In the second race, I took the holeshot which usually never happens. So, I think I was honestly more stoked on the holeshot than the eventual race win. I led from start to finish so can’t complain about that,” she says.

Her second moto victory for the weekend was achieved 7 secs ahead of Fontanesi.

As the WMX series takes a break until mid-August, Duncan heads home to New Zealand with an extremely solid 20-point-lead in the championship standings and the knowledge she more than has what it takes to bring back her fourth winner’s trophy at the season’s end in September.

“I think there’s multiple things that are working for me in 2023. It started off with our pre-season, where I had a really strong build-up in New Zealand. We put a lot of hard work in there and it set me off on the right foot,” she says.

“My bike is also super good, especially the suspension, which I did a lot of testing with in NZ before I left.”

“I’m also another year wiser and it’s good to have a bit more speed. All in all, it’s been a really good start to the season.”

Duncan will spend around a month in New Zealand before heading to the Netherlands, where the penultimate fifth round will be held.

“The next race is in the sand, so I will do about a five or six-week boot camp there to get ready for that,” she says.

Kawasaki New Zealand’s Managing Director Shane Verhoeven says: “To say we’re proud of what Courtney has achieved this weekend is an understatement. Taking the WMX GP win record is no small feat when the competition gets fiercer every season.”

“The eye-test is showing the extra hours testing suspension in NZ is paying off and Courtney has shown that, when comfortable, she does not need good starts to win. Thankfully, her rare holeshot in moto 2 must have been very welcome.”

“We looked forward to seeing Courtney back in NZ for the season break and at the Kawasaki stand at Fieldays next month.”

Results:

WMX – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 11. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 26:40.276; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:27.263; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), +0:35.187; 4. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:41.001; 5. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Kawasaki), +0:44.094; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, Fantic), +0:47.843; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +1:25.376; 8. Mathilde Martinez (FRA, GASGAS), +1:38.506; 9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:45.255; 10. Martine Hughes (NOR, Husqvarna), +2:04.735

WMX – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 25:33.282; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:07.444; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), +0:09.403; 4. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Kawasaki), +0:17.509; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:31.275; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, Fantic), +0:37.028; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:57.815; 8. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:07.731; 9. Danee Gelissen (NED, KTM), +1:18.948; 10. Mathea Seleboe (NOR, Yamaha), +1:21.736

WMX – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 50 points; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 44 p.; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 40 p.; 4. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 34 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, FAN), 30 p.; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Mathilde Martinez (FRA, GAS), 22 p.; 10. Danee Gelissen (NED, KTM), 21 p

WMX – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 185 points; 2. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 165 p.; 3. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, KAW), 150 p.; 4. Lynn Valk (NED, FAN), 128 p.; 5. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 127 p.; 6. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 105 p.; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 103 p.; 8. Charli Cannon (AUS, YAM), 91 p.; 9. Britt Jans-Beken (NED, YAM), 84 p.; 10. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, KTM), 73 p

WMX race weekend highlights https://youtu.be/BOWOYSRJ8Mc

Moto one highlights https://youtu.be/bT3JunjHlwg

2023 FIM WMX Women’s Motocross World Championship calendar

Rd	Grand Prix	Date
1	Sardegna (ITA) – Riola Sardo	25 – 26 Mar
2	Switzerland – Frauenfeld	8 – 10 Apr
3	Spain – intu Xanadú – Arroyomolinos	6 – 7 May
4	France – Villars sous Ecot	20 – 21 May
5	Netherlands – Arnhem	19 – 20 Aug
6	Turkey – Afyonkarahisar	2 – 3 Sep

Credit: Words by Catherine Pattison

PHOTOS CREDIT: MONSTER ENERGY

CLOSED-Anzac Day

Duncan takes the overall win in Switzerland

11 April 2023

On the fight-back after the season opener on Sardinian sand, New Zealand’s Courtney Duncan took overall victory at the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship’s second round in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, over Easter.

The MXGP of Switzerland’s last edition was held in 2018 – the year before Duncan achieved her first of her three consecutive WMX Championship wins – and the track has been completely renewed since then.

The Big Van World MTX Kawasaki rider Duncan has learned over that time how to get going, when the going gets tough and the first moto’s heavy track following a downpour on Saturday was her time to shine.

Duncan was positioned fourth after the first lap with Italian Kiara Fontanesi quickly taking the lead after the first turns. Spain’s Daniela Guillen was all over her rear wheel making a move early to take the lead off Fontanesi. The two riders were followed by Australian Charli Cannon and Duncan.

Looking quick on her bike, the Kiwi then passed Cannon for third on lap 2, and soon after caught the front two riders Guillen and Fontanesi.

The leading trio created a gap on the rest of the pack as a three-way battle went on between lap 2 and 5. Fontanesi eventually took the lead as she passed Guillen on lap 4, while Duncan, who was in third position at the time, tirelessly piled pressure on the Spaniard. Guillen could not contain Duncan’s speed on lap 5 and dropped down to third.

Dunedin’s Duncan, who lives in England over the WMX championship season, then focused her sights on Fontanesi and passed the six-time world champion on lap 7, keeping the lead until the end. Fontanesi finished second and Guillen settled for third.

Duncan was happy with the first race.

“On Saturday afternoon, the track was super technical and had heaps of lines. Although I didn’t get the best start, I made my way through the pack and into the lead and was able to pull about a 20-second gap by the end of the race,” she says.

On Easter Monday morning, the second race started with Dutchwoman Lotte Van Drunen taking the lead in front of her compatriot Nancy Van de Ven and Duncan. Van de Ven couldn’t contain Duncan’s onslaught and succumbed on lap 3. The front-running trio finished in that same order.

“They flatten the track for moto two and we were up first, so it was hard to make a difference. That being said, I need to work hard on that as well, because we will most likely have many of those this season,” Duncan says.

Duncan’s 1-2 results put her on top of the overall round podium above Van Drunen in second place and Guillen in third.

“I’ve now moved into second – one point off the championship lead – and I made up 9 points this weekend, which was awesome. The next race is Spain in three weeks’ time, so it’s back to the UK, back to work and hopefully we can come out swinging in Spain,” Duncan wraps up.

Kawasaki New Zealand’s Managing Director Shane Verhoeven says: “It’s special to hear the national anthem once again after a solid performance from Courtney in Switzerland. I’m sure this will give her the boost of confidence she needs heading to one of her favourite tracks in Spain next month.”

“While championship leader Lotte shone in her favoured sand conditions in Sardinia, Courtney will be sure to stamp her authority at the hard pack Intu Xanadú track. The racing has been electrifying this season already and we’ll be backing Duncan all the way,” Verhoeven says.

Results

WMX – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:10.055; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:18.530; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), +0:32.373; 4. Charli Cannon (AUS, Yamaha), +0:39.418; 5. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Kawasaki), +0:41.450; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, Fantic), +0:53.977; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +1:04.870; 8. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +1:11.407; 9. Britt Jans-Beken (NED, KTM), +1:38.530; 10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:39.096;

WMX – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Kawasaki), 24:28.136; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:09.115; 3. Nancy van de Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:10.011; 4. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), +0:30.292; 5. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:33.282; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, Fantic), +0:36.647; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:51.825; 8. Charli Cannon (AUS, Yamaha), +0:53.521; 9. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, KTM), +1:08.408; 10. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +1:24.599

WMX – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 47 points; 2. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, KAW), 41 p.; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 38 p.; 4. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 38 p.; 5. Charli Cannon (AUS, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, FAN), 30 p.; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Britt Jans-Beken (NED, KTM), 22 p.;

WMX – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, KAW), 86 points; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 85 p.; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 85 p.; 4. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 61 p.; 5. Charli Cannon (AUS, YAM), 58 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, FAN), 58 p.; 7. Britt Jans-Beken (NED, KTM), 52 p.; 8. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 50 p.; 9. Nancy van de Ven (NED, YAM), 42 p.; 10. Giorgia Blasigh (ITA, KTM), 42 p.

WMX Race two https://youtu.be/ghOnZy_Juts

WMX Race one https://youtu.be/J7AqO8_0uLY

Credit: Words by Catherine Pattison

Photos: MXGP