Courtney Duncan is back on the podium. The former world champion finished third overall in the third leg of the Women’s Motocross Championship at Foxhills in Britain at the weekend. The 30-year-old Dunedin rider missed the entire 2025 season while recovering from a heart condition. She then lost her seat for this season. But Duncan was able to put together a late deal to compete and is making her way back into the form that carried her to four world titles. Duncan finished second in the first race and claimed third place in the second race. Those results helped her cement third place in the overall competition standings. She is on 100 points and trails leader Daniela Guillen (141 points) and old rival Kiara Fontanesi (139 points). Duncan got off to a slow start in race one and slipped a long way back. But she made her way through the pack to be in fourth place at the end of the first lap. She moved into third on the second lap and was getting around the circuit at a good clip. Duncan improved to second on the sixth lap and was in the wheel tracks of Fontanesi at the chequered flag. Duncan moved to third early in the second race and had a thrilling duel with Guillen before eventually having to settle for third. Guillen nabbed second and Fontanesi made it two wins from two races. “The first moto was definitely a step in the right direction,’’ Duncan told media. “The speed was there, the fitness too. I was a bit of my old self again; I just need to get off the start. “The improvement was just down to plain and simple hard work and I loved the track with the hills and the off-cambers; it was real old school motocross.’’
