Having won the first moto on Saturday on her return to racing from injury the New Zealander got the perfect start to race two as she rode an immaculate line through turn one to take the holeshot. With a clear track and pacing herself admirably in her first race since March she rode immaculately to defend the lead until a local girl, fired on by the enthusiastic crowd, charged on to her rear wheel. Fully aware that second in moto was sufficient to secure the overall victory Courtney rode a tactical race, responding admirably when the championship leader tried to close her down to ensure success by a clear margin. Having missed two rounds of the five-event series she has no chance of a fourth consecutive title but the victory in Spain was the eighteenth overall success of her career.
Courtney Duncan: “I think I can be proud of my performance this weekend. It was great to grab the holeshot today and the first few laps were quite intense. It’s my first race for something like three months so I’m still a little rusty but I knew second today was enough to win the GP. I enjoyed the track both days. There were plenty of lines so I had a lot of fun and what a place to do it; thirty-three degrees and the Spanish crowd was unreal! We can take a lot of info from here for the future too; you come to the races to know that. I did what I had to do to take the win and I’m just so stoked to listen to the national anthem and raise that Kiwi flag on the podium today. The final round in Turkey is still a couple of months away so I’ll fly home to New Zealand this week to prepare for that. “
Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Mikkel Haarup missed a clear run through the first few turns in race one to complete the opening lap thirteenth but an incident with another rider on lap two pushed him down to nineteenth. After twenty minutes he had moved forward into the top-ten but he ran off the track when eighth on the final lap to eventually finish tenth. The Dane quickly moved forward from a ninth-placed start to sixth by the end of the first lap in race two and advanced to fifth with a forceful pass on the following lap; he had third place in his sights but further passes proved difficult for all of the riders in a high-speed leaderboard train and he remained frustratingly fifth to the chequered flag. Eighth overall on the day he is firmly established in fourth place in the world standings at the halfway stage of the series.
Mikkel Haarup: “It was a really tough day. I felt my pace was good but I just couldn’t get off the gate and had to come from the back both motos. With better starts we’ll be back on the podium but when you don’t get a start there is such a big chance of getting hooked up with other riders; on the second lap of the first race I hit a guy who had crashed and got stuck in his rear wheel. Top-five in the second moto was OK but I have more in me with better starts. “
Words & Pictures - Kawasaki EU
