- Courtney Duncan finished fifth overall at the German round of the WMX World Championship, missing the podium by just one point.
- The four-time world champion has climbed to third in the championship standings despite only recently returning to racing.
- Duncan missed the entire 2025 season while recovering from pericarditis, a serious heart condition that sidelined her for more than a year.
The Kiwi motocross star narrowly missed the podium at Teutschenthal but climbed to third in the world championship as her comeback from a year-long health battle gathers momentum.
New Zealand motocross star Courtney Duncan made a last-minute call to return to world championship competition before the MXGP in France where she finished 8th. Incredibly, she’s just now narrowly missed the podium at the German round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship at Teutschenthal.
The four-time world champion finished fifth overall for the weekend, which is a significant achievement considering she missed the entire 2025 season while battling pericarditis – an inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart. The German round was round 2 of the WMX World Championship and sees the Dunedin local sit in third place in the championship standings, 39 points behind leader Daniela Guillen. Kiara Fontanesi sits in second.
Duncan was diagnosed with the condition and was told to step away from racing for more than a year, leaving serious question marks over whether she would be able to return to the sport at the highest level. Having spent much of 2025 focused on recovery and rebuilding her fitness, the Kawasaki rider only returned to international competition earlier this season.
Duncan, who became New Zealand’s first women’s motocross world champion in 2019 before adding further titles in 2020, 2021 and 2023, is now showing signs of returning to the form that made her the dominant force in WMX competition.
Riding her DRT Kawasaki KX250, Duncan showed podium pace throughout the German Grand Prix. She claimed an impressive third-place finish in Saturday’s opening moto before a pair of crashes in race two relegated her to tenth at the chequered flag.
Despite the setbacks, her combined scores were enough to secure fifth overall, missing the podium by just a single point.
After starting race two in second position and showing the speed to challenge the leaders, Duncan’s performance will give her confidence heading into the next round of the championship in Britain in July.
With her fitness continuing to improve and valuable race mileage accumulating, a return to the podium now looks increasingly likely for one of New Zealand’s most successful motocross racers. And with 3 rounds and 150 championship points remaining, Duncan is still in with an outside chance of taking world title number 5!
Watch Race 1 Below
Top 5 Overall – WMX Germany
- Daniela Guillen (GasGas)
- Kiara Fontanesi (GasGas)
- Shana van der Vlist (Yamaha)
- Lynn Valk (TM)
- Courtney Duncan (Kawasaki)
2026 WMX Standings after 2 of 6 rounds
Pos. Num. Rider Bike Nat. Pts.
1 #255 Daniela Guillen GASGAS ESP 97
2 #8 Kiara Fontanesi GASGAS ITA 91
3 #151 Courtney Duncan Kawasaki NZL 58
4 #705 Malou Jakobsen KTM DEN 58
5 #188 Shana van der Vlist Yamaha NED 57
6 #274 Amandine Verstappen Yamaha BEL 57
7 #172 Lynn Valk TM NED 57
8 #310 Lucy Barker KTM GBR 57
9 #1 Lotte Van Drunen Yamaha NED 53
10 #153 April Franzoni Honda FRA 49
