The 21-year-old Palmerston rider crashed in both races of the last leg of the women’s world motocross championship in Italy.
That allowed rival and four-time world champion Kiara Fontanesi to slip past in both races to claim the series win in her home nation.
But Duncan remains at the top of the standings in the overall classification with 83 points after two events. Fontanesi is just six points behind and defending champion, Frenchwoman Livia Lancelot, is in third place with 67 points.
For Duncan, the battle is staying upright when the championship resumes in France this weekend.
She was leading both races in Italy and was on track to record a win had it not been for a couple of costly mistakes. Duncan was travelling yesterday but her mother Linda Duncan said her daughter was keen to make amends.
"She is always pretty hard on herself when she makes errors," Linda said.
"But she seems to be pretty happy. The plan is to get there and stay on her bike type of thing."
That is a good plan given how quick she can get around the course on two wheels. After falling in the opening race in Italy, she picked her bike back up and went for it.
She was able to overhaul Nancy van de Ven but Fontanesi stayed out in front.
Duncan set a blistering pace in the second race but tumbled over again and had to settle for third. Lancelot took the win with Fontanesi second.
The conditions in Ernee this weekend are expected to be fairly bleak with thunder storms forecast for day two of racing. That will not make the task of staying upright any easier.
"Courtney shows she has the speed, it is just she has to pull it all together. Fingers crossed it all goes well for her."
Racing gets under way about midnight on Saturday New Zealand time. The second race is on Sunday evening.
