A bitterly-cold March wind under bright skies greeted the riders and fans for the Sunday morning second moto at Matterley Basin in southern England. Excellent work by the track crew had repaired the raceway but conditions were still sticky from pre-weekend rain to urge caution and intelligent commitment. Duncan once again displayed her race skills to power her KX250 through the sweeping first turn in front and maintain a narrow but significant lead over each of the other girls who attempted to challenge the champion. Secure in the knowledge that she had the speed to outrun her rivals over the race distance of twenty-minutes-plus-two-laps she rode tentatively to avoid potentially-costly mistakes, took her time to study the ever-changing race lines and came home a secure winner. It was the eleventh GP victory from twenty-one starts during her five-year career in the World Championship. Duncan’s fifty-point maximum score also ensures that Kawasaki leads the Manufacturers’ World Championship standings after this, the first of six rounds in the series.

Courtney Duncan: “It’s always a little nervous for everyone at the first race of the season; everyone’s a little rusty after six months away from racing but I couldn’t ask for more than a fifty-point maximum score. I’ve only been back in Europe for a couple of weeks so I didn’t get in much bike-time yet and I’m still a little way off but that was a solid start. A big thanks to my team and everyone who supports me. It’s our second year together and we already raced the 2020 KX250 to victory at the final three rounds last year but we took even more knowledge and information away from this weekend. I was really happy with my starts and consistency; it can only get even better from here".

BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Amandine Verstappen raced to a solid fourth place in the second moto; fifth at the start she executed a hard but fair pass at half-distance to narrowly miss the moto podium. American champion Jordan Jarvis, making a guest appearance for BUD this weekend, moved quickly from tenth to dispute sixth with an ex-champion until an error on the final lap pushed her back to thirteenth.