|
|
Courtney Duncan (Yamaha), still giving the boys a few headaches. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com |
It was the end of an era for Otago's Courtney Duncan when she
raced at the big annual Whakatane Summercross at the weekend.
The Yamaha ace from Palmerston, near Dunedin, had travelled a
long way to race against and beat the boys, something she has
been doing for many years now, but this time was special
because it was her final event as a junior racer.
So it was a perfect day for her on Saturday when she signed
off on her time as a junior by winning the 16-17 years' 125cc
class, scoring a hat-trick of wins to beat current national
junior 125cc champion Hadleigh Knight, of Atiamuri, in the
process.
The 16-year-old Duncan also won the women's grade on
Saturday, scoring another hat-trick of wins and this time
finishing ahead of Kiwi international Emma Davis, of Taupo,
and Rangiora's national No.1 Kimberley Murphy.
So, with six wins from six starts on Saturday, Duncan had
plenty of reason to rejoice late that afternoon, although it
was also a celebration muted with just a tinge of sadness.
"It's the end of an era I guess," she shrugged. "I never
thought about it until now, but that's the end of the junior
phase of my career, the only thing I've really known.
"It will just gets tougher from here. I'll just have to work
really hard and see where it takes me.
"Everything went smoothly for me today. I grabbed five out of
six holeshots and that obviously helps. It's a long way to
travel to come second. I didn't come all this way to finish
second."
It has been a very successful season for Duncan - she also
won all five rounds of the Southern Motocross Series,
comfortably winning the combined junior 125cc and 250cc
class.
"There are lots of very fast riders down south, but many of
them choose not to travel north. This is an expensive sport,
so I can understand that.
"It was a very long trip for me to come here. We set off at
2.30pm on Thursday and arrived at Whakatane at 7am yesterday
(Friday). It was a non-stop trip and the only rest we had was
on the Cook Strait ferry."
Speaking of travel, Duncan said she would contest the
upcoming senior nationals, in the under-21 class. I could
possibly race the MX2 class at the senior nationals instead,
as long as I'm still in the country.
''There are also things that could be happening for me in the
United States in 2013. We'll just have to wait and see."
- Andy McGechan
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.