Two time FIM Women’s Motorcross World Champion Courtney Duncan has kicked off her title defence taking both race wins and the round win in the Czech Republic.
Duncan added to an already impressive career this weekend becoming the third time she has started the championship with double race wins.
In an interview with Kawasaki New Zealand, Duncan recounted her race weekend.
“It definitely feels good going 1-1 in the season-opener. There’s a lot of hype leading in. Another GP win and a red plate leading into round two is very positive,” Duncan told Kawasaki.
Duncan took an early lead in the first race of the weekend, while others were caught in a first turn incident
Through the remaining laps, Duncan was able to extend her lead to finish an impressive 22.5 seconds ahead of Shana Van Der Vlist.
Though the second race wasn’t as clean, with Larissa Papenmeier leading the first few corners before Duncan was able to get around her.
Papenmeier was able to stay with Duncan, allowing Kiara Fontanesi to catch the pair.
While Fontanesi and Papenmeier fought for second place Duncan was able to build a lead.
The lead proved important as with just three laps to go she was caught up with another bike causing her to come off her Kawasaki, though she was able to recover finishing the race in the lead.
These results come despite a less than ideal build-up to the event with her mechanic getting COVID-19 weeks before the event.
Duncan also hadn’t ridden her new Kawasaki KX250 bike until the race weekend got underway.
“From now on in we can continue to improve. I do feel like I was far from my best – a little bit rusty. I can only get better from here on in,” Duncan recounted.
The next round of the championship is the GP of Flanders-Belgium on 31 July.
Main image:SHOTBYBAVO