Duncan Goes 1-1 at Imola.
The iconic Autodromo ‘Enzo and Dino Ferrari’ of Imola hosted the penultimate round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship where Bike It DRT Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan has gone 1-1 winning her third round of the season. Second overall was Larissa Papenmeier with 2-2 scores and third No Fear Yamaha team’s Nancy Van De Ven with 3-4 scores.
Now with just one round remaining in Turkey on September 7, Duncan holds a 23-point lead over Papenmeier with Van De Ven a further three points back in third place in the championship.
Series leader Duncan had a soft collision in the first corner of the opening Women’s Motocross World Championship and a bunch of riders went down. With the carnage behind them, Van De Ven led from Duncan, but the New Zealander took the lead quickly.
Duncan then crashed and handed the lead back to Van De Ven. On a mission Duncan caught and passed Van Der Ven, but then the Dutch woman looked like she had trouble with her bike and was passed by Papenmeier. Duncan won it from Papenmeier and Van De Ven.
In the second Women’s Motocross World Championship race it was Van De Ven who took the lead from Duncan, Papenmeier, Sara Anderson and Line Dame and Papenmeier was all over Duncan for second place.
Anderson started putting a lot of pressure on Duncan, and the Danish rider passed Duncan for third place and also looked for a way past Papenmeier.
Anderson moved past Papenmeier and Duncan slipped over and dropped back to fifth position. After two laps the lead was less than a second as Papenmeier repassed Anderson and Amandine Verstappen moved into fourth position. Anderson went down hard as she made a mistake on a landing and dropped back.
Papenmeier took the lead on lap three and Duncan passed Anderson at the same time. Top five after four laps was Papenmeier, Van De Ven, Verstappen, Duncan and Anderson. After five laps Duncan had done well to pull right up on the top three, with four seconds between Papenmeier in the lead Van De Ven, Verstappen and Duncan.
Duncan, who was again the fastest girl on the track, moved into second on lap seven and was right onto Papenmeier. Duncan moved into the lead and was never headed again, Papenmeier finished second and Verstappen third.
Courtney Duncan: “I am very happy this weekend, one of the hardest races for me. I struggled all weekend and to come away with two wins is really good, so I couldn’t be happier. It wasn’t an easy one that second race. I was riding cautious. I saw Papenmeier in front and I could catch up. I wish to thank everybody who is supporting me.”
WMX – Race 1 Top Ten:1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:35.636; 2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:08.282; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:23.695; 4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:45.264; 5. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:00.977; 6. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:01.597; 7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:03.892; 8. Sandra Karlsson (SWE, Kawasaki), +1:45.236; 9. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +1:54.641; 10. Britt Van Der Werff (NED, Husqvarna), +2:01.571;
WMX – Race 2 Top Ten:1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), 24:06.945; 2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Yamaha), +0:04.374; 3. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +0:05.440; 4. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:15.358; 5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:54.468; 6. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:00.350; 7. Lynn Valk (NED, Yamaha), +1:10.505; 8. Emelie Dahl (SWE, Yamaha), +1:13.362; 9. Line Dam (DEN, Honda), +1:25.579; 10. Anne Borchers (GER, Suzuki), +1:33.503;
WMX – Overall Top Ten:1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 50 points; 2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 44 p.; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 35 p.; 5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Emelie Dahl (SWE, YAM), 23 p.; 9. Sandra Karlsson (SWE, KAW), 23 p.; 10. Britt Van Der Werff (NED, HUS), 20 p.;
WMX – Championship Top Ten:1. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 189 points; 2. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, YAM), 166 p.; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, YAM), 163 p.; 4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 135 p.; 5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 122 p.; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, YAM), 120 p.; 7. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 109 p.; 8. Anne Borchers (GER, SUZ), 82 p.; 9. Line Dam (DEN, HON), 81 p.; 10. Nicky van Wordragen (NED, YAM), 65 p.;
WMX – Manufacturers Classification:1. Kawasaki, 189 points; 2. Yamaha, 179 p.; 3. KTM, 138 p.; 4. Suzuki, 90 p.; 5. Honda, 86 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 59 p.
Text/Bild: Youthstream