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WMX, MXGP OF SPAIN - intu Xanadú - Arroyomolinos, SPAIN, 7 Mayo 2023

GP win and red plate for Courtney Duncan in Spain

Big Van World MTX Kawasaki's Courtney Duncan took over the series lead in the FIM World WMX Women’s Motocross Championship with victory for the third consecutive year at Arroyomolinos in Spain.

The New Zealander was once again dominant on her production KX250 Kawasaki as she raced to her first double-moto victory of the season and her twenty-first career GP victory to place her equal-first in the all-time series records. She was closed down by her gate rival out of the gate but, secure in the knowledge that her strength, endurance and speed would serve her well, she didn't panic. Quickly fifth in sticky conditions with deep ruts building in many turns due to the track-watering necessary to combat the intense heat, she chose her lines cleverly to avoid coming together with her rivals, picking them off one-by-one to move to the front on the fourth of eleven laps, eventually cruising home to victory by seven seconds. The Kiwi girl now takes a ten-point lead to the next round of the series at Villars-sous-Ecot in France in two weeks' time while Kawasaki also extended the lead in the FIM Manufacturers' Championship to sixteen points
courtesy of Duncan's double-moto victory.
 
Courtney Duncan: "Obviously I'm really stoked. Two wins and the red plate; I couldn't hope for a whole lot more. I felt my start wasn't all that good, especially round the first corner, but I made a few positions through the next two turns and rode patiently. We didn't really have a warm-up this morning and the track was completely different to yesterday so I wanted to find my lines before I worked my way to the front. It's nice to have the series lead but there's a lot of racing still to be done; roll on France in two weeks' time and hopefully we can keep the momentum rolling."
 
Lotte van Drunen narowly missed the podium for the first time this season but the Dutch teenager handled the pressure of carrying the series-leader's red plate despite her tender fifteen-years. She rocketed out of the gate to take over second at turn two but was immediately under constant pressure with multiple line-choice through many long rutted turns and by lap three she had been pushed back to sixth. Responding defiantly, with regular positional changes on the leaderboard as she recorded the fastest lap of the race, she eventually came home fifth in moto for the same result over the weekend and is now third in the series points-standings, nineteen points behind Kawasaki colleague Duncan.
 
Lotte van Drunen: "Yesterday was tough but I told myself last night I just needed to have fun today and see how it goes. I woke up this morning with a good feeling; I saw on the sighting lap that the track was rough with many lines and I was able to go around everyone for second at turn two. I got pushed back to sixth at one point but then I had a good battle with the girls in front of me, switching places several times to finish fifth. My riding was good and I rode the fastest lap of the race so that gives me confidence for the next round in France; I've never been to Villars but I'm sure I can do good there too."