Touches of Brilliance From Yamaha Stars   25 Oct 2016

Touches of Brilliance From Yamaha Stars

OCTOBER 25, 2016: Otago's Courtney Duncan continues to be dogged by bad luck, with another major win eluding her at the weekend, but the big picture is still very bright for the world-champion-in-the-making.

She was unlucky to be forced out of this year's Women's Motocross World Championships in Europe – an errant photographer standing on the track causing her to crash in Germany – and it was a crash in the first of five top-40 rider shootouts at the end of Sunday afternoon that spoiled her MX Fest experience in Taupo over Labour Weekend.

The 20-year-old Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team star finished 5-1-2 in her three MX2 class races earlier in the day, good enough for her to be runner-up in the standings to fellow Yamaha rider Wyatt Chase, of Taupo, and just ahead of joint third-ranked riders Ethan Martens (also representing the Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team), of Waitakere, and Te Puke's Logan Blackburn (KTM).

But, when she got caught in a pile-up near the start of the first of the shoot-out races and therefore missed the top-20 cut-off, her day was prematurely over and her hope of scoring more points was gone.

Although upset to be knocked off the podium and dropped down to fourth – with Chase eventually winning the MX2 class ahead of Martens and Blackburn – Duncan has bigger fish to fry this season.

Her next mission is to win the New Zealand Women's Motocross Championships, set for Mosgiel this coming weekend, followed by the annual Whakatane Summercross just after Christmas and the New Zealand Grand Prix at Woodville, an event where she stunned the men when winning the MX2 class there last season.

The New Zealand senior motocross championships feature on her horizon for February and March and after that she heads overseas to again tackle the Women's World Championships. The world series kicks off in Indonesia onMarch 5.

Also impressive on Sunday was Mangakino's Maximus Purvis, who won all three senior 125cc races, while other Yamaha hat-trick heroes were Rotorua's Cam Negus, won all the MX3 class races as well as clean-sweeping the veterans' 35-44 years' grade. Hamilton's Darryll King took his Yamaha YZ450F to win all three races in the veterans' over-45 years' grade, while Waitakere's Shaun Fogarty (KTM) scored a hat-trick of wins in the open two-stroke class.

Mount Maunganui's Rhys Carter (Kawasaki) won the MX1 grade ahead of national MX1 champion Cody Cooper (Honda), also from Mount Maunganui, with Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team boss Josh Coppins dusting off his helmet to complete the MX1 class podium.

The Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing team is supported by Altherm Window Systems, Yamaha, JCR, CRC, Ados, GYTR, Yamalube, Fox Racing, Hollands Collision Centre, Star Moving, Ward Demolition, Fulton Hogan, Pirelli, FMF, DID, NGK, Matrix, Renthal, Motomuck, www.workshopgraphics.co.nz, Motoseat, Hammerhead, SKF, Vertex Pistons, Rtech Plastics, Etnies, Biketranz and Fulton Hogan.

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