The New Zealand rider’s championship dreams have taken a huge hit after a difficult round in Tutschenthal.
By Hayden Gregory
Duncan entered the third round of competition with a huge point’s lead having won three races from four starts. Many people expected the 20 year old to only increase her standing yet the weekend was set to take a few nasty turns.
In the first moto Duncan collided with a track side photographer badly injuring herself as she hobbled to the finish in twelfth. Unable to line-up for race two the Kiwi packed up her bags early and headed home without the leader’s red plate.
Duncan lost her comfortable championship lead, falling to third place overall as the competition reaches the halfway point. France’s Livia Lancelot was the benefactor of Duncan’s misfortune taking out both motos to move into first place.
With a month until the fourth round of the series in France, it is unknown whether Duncan will be able to recover in time. Team manager and mentor Josh Coppins shared his concern for the rider and is hopefully of a successful return.
“I feel for Courtney,” Coppins commented. “She showed she had the speed to win, to go out like this is devastating.
“She is scheduled for surgery later this week in Dunedin. She has a ankle and thumb injury. We don’t know what GP she will return at but it won’t be until she is 100 percent fit. We will know more at the end of the week.
“She is gutted at the moment. It’s hard to accept for her but she now has to focus on her recovery.”
Coppins also discussed the ramifications which might be in place for the photographer involved in the incident.
“I’m not sure there was some talk of credentials being taken away. To be honest, from outside, it was a mistake which we accept can happen. Unfortunately in this case it has had a huge impact on both Courtney and the team and on sponsors.
“However, nothing can make her healthy and return the points, so we are focused on moving forward.”
