She will not have the trophy to show for it this year but she proved her absolute class again at the first race in the WMX round in Turkey yesterday.
Duncan claimed race victory ahead of rivals Larissa Papenmeier (Germany) and Lynn Valk (Netherlands).
It will help bump Duncan up the overall standings — she was 11th going into the Turkish round — but also act as a frustrating reminder that she was a warm favourite to win a fourth consecutive world championship before her season was spoiled.
The Dunedin star had to sit out part of the campaign as she nursed a broken collarbone.
Duncan made the ideal start on her Kawasaki yesterday as she had the holeshot, the leading position into the first turn.
Unfortunately, she lost momentum at the apex of that turn and dropped back to fifth.
Duncan quickly regained her composure to get to third, passed Valk for second and squeezed past Papenmeier on a corner.
The German briefly regained the lead but Duncan quickly took it back and held top spot to the finish.
Race two in the Turkish round was overnight.
