DRT Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan came close to a moto win and claimed her second podium of the year in the final round of the FIM WMX Women’s World Championship at Darwin in Australia; she just missed the series bronze medal in a brave return from illness.

After a hard-charging third place in Saturday’s first moto of the weekend the New Zealander rocketed out of the start in Sunday morning’s race two to hold a solid second place through the early laps. As the track dried out after the heavy track-watering necessary to combat any potential risk of dust she was building her challenge for a first moto victory of the season until she slithered to the ground at half-distance to drop back to third; that position appeared secure until she stalled the motor on the penultimate lap to take an eventual fourth but the incident did not cost her second podium of this comeback season with third overall in the GP. It also did not affect her fourth place in the final series standings, just ten points away from the bronze medal.

Courtney Duncan: “A better start helped but they put a lot of water down again so I had to be cautious in the early laps, But then I could up my pace, caught Lara and was challenging for a win until I went down in a turn. That was a bit of a bummer as I lost my rhythm but the speed was there and there were a lot of positives this weekend. I’m proud of what we achieved this season; it was always going to be difficult after a whole year out of competition and no training; it was tough but we improved at each round and we know what we have to work on for next year.”