In a busy few days of motorsport just past, the biggest thrill for me was news of Courtney Duncan’s double podium result at the second round of the 2026 FIM World WMX Women’s Motocross Championship. Having spent last season completely sidelined by a heart condition, the gutsy East Otago rider has quietly returned to competition this season while riding for the England-based DRT Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team. Already a three-time WMX world champion, Duncan made a steady return to the world stage over the opening two 2026 rounds in France and Germany but admits she was struggling with the intensity of the racing after her debilitating layoff. She upped the ante at last weekend’s round in Southern England, picking up a second and third placing in the two races, and is now placed third in the 2026 standings, with rounds in the Netherlands and Australia still to run. “We are still not quite back to where we want to be, or where we know we can be, but we are definitely making the steps in order to get back there,” she said after her double podium weekend. “Naturally as a racer, the further I get up there, the more I want. I’m super happy but I want more and I am going to keep working until I get there. I want to get a win sooner rather than later.” Switching to the higher-profile world of F1, I thought Liam Lawson as well as could have been expected at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, given that Racing Bulls had only been able to equip the car of his teammate Arvin Lindblad with the team’s latest upgrades for race day. Lawson made a super start from ninth on the grid on the chaotic opening lap of the race, passing Lindblad and eventually holding sixth place. I found it galling when the Sky Sport F1 commentator assumed it was Lindblad ahead, when a glance at the results feed showed quite the opposite. However, along with missing out on the latest car upgrades, Lawson then suffered from a battery issue that prevented the car from recharging properly. This left his car down on power, and he eventually came home 12th, out of the points. [Missing Credit]Cantabrian Jack Stokes (right) and his co-driver Hayden Graves celebrate extending their slender national championship lead after finishing runners-up. Photo: Geoff Ridder Fortune smiled rather more favourably on Shane van Gisbergen at the latest NASCAR round, held in North Carolina, when he came home fifth. Along with a finishing position that equalled his best-ever result on an oval circuit, he led for 49 race laps, exceeding his previous record on an oval (which was 12 laps in the lead). The time spent out front, even more than his finishing position, shows the Kiwi is getting to grips with the very particular intricacies of oval racing. Scott McLaughlin went one better in the IndyCar Series, coming home fourth in a rain-delayed race at the Nashville Superspeedway in Tennessee. That result, which lifts him to eighth in the series standings, was the only decent one for a Kiwi at the race; Scott Dixon’s hopes were dashed by a collision with Alexander Rossi, while Marcus Armstrong retired. Finally, in regard to last weekend’s motorsport, Hayden Paddon’s win at the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland has already been well covered in the Otago Daily Times sports pages, as has Jack Stokes’ fine run to second place and a slender championship lead over third-placed Jack Hawkeswood. Also worthy of mention here are Cromwell driver Thomas Paul’s run to ninth overall and first in his class, and Dunedin racer Tim Mackersy’s 19th place overall and third in his class. Paul and Mackersy were, respectively, also the top finishers from the Central Otago Motorsport Club and the Otago Sports Car Club. Looking ahead, national championship rallying resumes next month when Hawke’s Bay hosts the first of the three North Island rounds that will complete the series. [Missing Credit]Cromwell’s Thomas Paul powers his Subaru Impreza H6 to ninth overall and a class win. Photo: Geoff Ridder On the international stage, F1 continues this weekend with the Hungarian Grand Prix, while NASCAR heads to Indianapolis, and Tokyo hosts the penultimate round of the Formula E championship, with Kiwi Mitch Evans needing a strong showing to regain the momentum in his title fight with Germany’s Pascal Wehrlein. I’d like to sign out for this edition with thanks to those readers who got in touch supporting my comments last weekend about ensuring your lights are on when driving in low light. One reader, Jack Crawford, picked up an error in my exposition on when you should put your headlights on in conditions of low sun. I suggested headlights needed to be on when driving into low sun, but of course the situation in which they need to be on, is when that low sun is behind you; in these conditions you can see just fine, but your car can become very hard to see by those driving into the sun. David Thomson Editor Drivesouth
