COURTNEY DUNCAN STAMPS AUTHORITY ON WMX CHAMPIONSHIP
The twenty-three year old, who had flown back to Europe from her hometown of Dunedin in New Zealand just over a week before the race, was once again dominant around the tricky Loket track in much cooler temperatures than for the previous day’s first moto. Third after the initial sort-out at turn one, she repeated her Saturday surge to pass into second place on the big drop-off into the valley and took over the lead with an immaculate inside pass halfway round the opening lap. Already two seconds clear at the completion of the first full lap she continued to move relentlessly further and further clear to once again win the twenty-minute-plus-two-lap race by thirty-six seconds. Her fifth victory in six moto starts on Kawasaki, sees the Kiwi girl extend her lead in the individual world championship to fourteen points, while Kawasaki now leads the manufacturers’ world championship by four points. It was the perfect debut for the 2020 production Kawasaki KX250 which was being raced for the first time in the world championship.
Courtney Duncan: “I’m just so happy for myself and the whole team both here in Europe with 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 ten minutes I knew it would be the bike I’d love racing with here. I’m very happy with the refinements Kawasaki have 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.”
Words and photos: Kawasaki EU
