Women MX World Championship Round 3 at MXGP of Loket proved spectacular for NZ’s Courtney Duncan going 1-1 for Overall GP win and extending points lead in Championship by 14 points.
On fire and fit as Germany’s Larissa Papenmeier gave stellar performance in Race 2 making up for difficult bike problem in Race 1, taking R2 hole-shot followed by steady, focused racing finishing 2nd Overall from Dutch racer Nancy Van de Ven who had so-so weekend to maintain 3rd place on podium.
Red Plate holder Duncan, has to be pleased with record to date- 5 wins from 6 races with winning margin of 36 seconds in both motos this weekend. Looking far more comfortable running up-front, no mistakes, taking time to know when push is needed and when maintain is enough- Courtney has to be congratulated for control of speed through-out races.
And speed she has. Race 1 posting best lap time of 157.172 to Van de Ven’s 2.00.128 and R1 3rd place Sara Andersen’s 2.00.594. Race 2 Duncan’s best lap time 1.57.623 to 2nd place Papenmeier’s 2.00.303 and 3rd place Amandine Verstappen at 201.302. Consistency plus for sure.
Not so surprised and good to see were younger up-coming racers of KTM’s Sara Andersen mixing racing up-front with 5th in Timed Practice and 3rd in Race 1. Bit disappointing for the Danish rider with mistake in Race 2 finishing the GP 8th Overall, though pleasingly pushed her Championship standings to 7th.
2019 French Women MX Champion Amandine Verstappen had unfortunate weekend- coming into Race 1 3rd in Timed Practice, however tip-off half-way in race made #274 work hard to come through field for eventual 8th. Race 2 went better with Amandine recovering race composure to finish 4th Overall on the day.
Shana van der Vlist pulled off solid 5-5 cementing Overall Championship standings of 5th. And 16 year old Lynn Valk had unlucky taste of what sport can be like with crash in Race 1 only to overcome odds and finish 6th for the day- and Overall in Championship.
It’s close in Championship standings between this group of young talented and eager riders, with Line Dam proving the Danish is no push-over come racing finishing 6th in Race 1 and unlucky in R2, along with Germany’s Anne Borchers putting in determined showing finishing 7th Overall at MXGP of Czech Replublic.
With 3 week gap to WMX Round 4 at MXGP of Imola, expectation will prove game-changer, as top Women MX World Championship riders prove their worth for all to see.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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