Courtney Duncan roared back onto the podium in WMX on Sunday, winning the overall in Switzerland in her first race since May. The Altherm JCR Yamaha rider guided her YZ250F over the technically demanding and deeply rutted motocross circuit in Frauenfeld to victory before a sun-baked crowd of 25,000 cheering fans.
Duncan won her first moto on Saturday, quickly pushing to the front of the pack after an excelent start. Organizers built a fast but challenging motocross circuit in an empty field in the month preceding the race weekend, and heavy rain on Friday night turned the excellent loamy dirt into a tricky pit of drying mud. The New Zealander raced head to head against former WMX World Champion Kiara Fontanesi for the first half of the Saturday race, but Duncan overcame the complicated lines to eventually fly away solo to victory.
Duncan crashed into an at-fault photographer during the first moto of the WMX race in Germany in May, and returned to New Zealand for surgery on her wrist and thumb. With a win in Qatar and a podium in Valkenswaard, the Kiwi Girl was holding the leader's red plate but missed two rounds of competition in France and Italy.
In Sunday's second moto Duncan started in third and kept her speed in reserve until the final lap when she passed van de Ven on the finish line to take second and the overall victory. With the win Duncan jumps up to sixth overall in the World Championship, but says her focus is instead on rebuilding for next year.
"The battles this weekend were sick, and honestly I'm not worried about where I end up in the championship now. A win is a win and I'll take it, but from here on out it's all about setting myself up for next season", Duncan said.
Text and pics courtesy of Yamaha