Motorsport: Courtney Duncan claims third straight motocross world championship title

Courtney Duncan secured her third world title in a row. Photo /Monster Energy

Kiwi Courtney Duncan has secured a third successive women's motocross world championship following pair of podiums in the season's final round in Italy.

Duncan finished third and first in this morning's two races, handing her a 31-point margin on the final rider standings.

Nancy Van De Ven of the Netherlands finished second behind the Kiwi, with Italy's Kiara Fontanesi in third. Duncan also led Kawasaki to top the manufacturer standings.

"This year's been really tough. We've had ups and downs along the way and hasn't been a smooth run. But I've made the best out of every situation and tried to get as much points as possible and what a feeling to do it three times in a row, with the same team, the same brand…it's amazing. Words don't describe it," Duncan said after the title was secured.

Duncan ended the season winning three of the six rounds and had five victories in total with her worst race result a sixth placing across a 40-rider field.

Heading into today's final grand prix in Trentino, Italy's far north, the Dunedin rider held a 16-point lead over local Fontanesi - a six-time world champion.

Fontanesi's hopes of chasing down the Kiwi however ended on the first hill of race one when she was taken out by Britt Jans-Bekenr of Netherlands. Fontanesi got back on her bike and recovered to finish 15th but Duncan secured the title by finishing third behind German Larissa Papenmeier and Van De Ven.

Duncan found her flow in the second half of the race to work her way onto the podium - enough to claim the title with a race to spare.

The celebrations began early but they didn't seem to stop her momentum in race two. Fontanesi capped off a disappointing home grand prix when she clipped Duncan's wheel to fall down the field from third, while the recently crowned world champion cruised by Papenmeier to eventually win by eight seconds.