New Zealand’s Josh Coppins is perhaps now just a couple of races away from claiming the open class motocross crown in Australia this season.

The man from Motueka took his Yamaha YZ450F to 2-2-1 results on Sunday, topping the podium and stretching his championship lead to 14 points over main title rival Todd Waters (Suzuki).

Fellow Kiwi Cody Cooper (Suzuki) finished 3-1-5 on Sunday to claim the No.3 spot on the podium (making it two Kiwis on the MX1 podium at Moree) and he is fifth overall in the championship with just one round, at Coolum next weekend, remaining.

Coppins was in scintillating form at Moree.

“It wasn’t a bad day overall and good to win the last moto,” Coppins commented. “I had arm-pump in the first two motos, but the last one went to plan. It was good to win the final 30-minute moto and that’s three of them in a row now, so I’m happy.

“Being just 14 points ahead heading into Coolum isn’t a big lead, but I’d rather be 14 ahead than behind. I’m healthy, the bike’s good, so … I want to win [at Coolum] and the championship.”

British champion Brad Anderson (Honda) and Coppins’ Yamaha team-mate Lawson Bopping continued their fight for third in the series, finishing fourth and fifth respectively at Moree.

Kawasaki’s defending champion Jay Marmont finished sixth overall on the weekend following a mixed round, but boosted himself up into sixth in the series. Marmont will miss out on claiming the MX1 title for the first time since 2008.

Rotorua’s Michael Phillips (Honda) finished 12-19-15 in his three MX1 outings on Sunday, good enough for 16th overall on the day.

Meanwhile, it was a pivotal day in the MX2 championship, with former series leader Luke Styke suffering a disastrous penultimate round.

The Yamaha ace entered the weekend with a 31-point advantage, but left with a deficit of 21.

New series leader and Sunshine Coast resident Ford Dale (Honda) takes over the red plate ahead of Coolum next weekend. Dale won all three races at Moree.

“It was awesome, because I came into the last few rounds just hoping to win races and let the rest fall into place behind me,” Dale reflected. “It’s all gone to plan, so I just can’t wait until Coolum last weekend and hopefully do the same thing.

“I’ve been working hard all year and have won the past five motos, but there’s another round to go and anything can happen. I feel for Stykes, but that’s racing. I’m always excited to race at Coolum, so I’ll take it one race at a time and see what happens.” concluded Dale

Styke was forced to settle for 13th overall after he suffered a non-finish in moto three. Earlier, he finished moto one in sixth despite a flat tyre and then finished 13th in moto two after stalling out of the start gates.

Second for the round in a continuation of his podium form was Josh Cachia (KTM), taking home two seconds and a third to conclude the weekend. Styke’s team-mate Kirk Gibbs rounded out the podium with 9-3-2 finishes.

Completing the top five for the weekend was Kawasaki’s Kade Mosig and Suzuki’s Errol Willis in fourth and fifth respectively, while Keiron Hall (Yamaha) was sixth overall.

A group of four Kiwis also battled bravely in the MX2 class at Moree on Sunday – Queenstown’s Scotty Columb (Suzuki), Mount Maunganui’s Rhys Carter (Suzuki), Christchurch’s Justin McDonald (Honda) and Waitakere’s Ethan Martens (Yamaha) each scored points in all three races in what was ultimately an up-and-down weekend for them.

Columb finished 7-17-7 to place ninth overall for the day, while Carter went 11-9-11 for 10th overall. Martens (20-20-16) and McDonald (19-21-18) finished the day 20th and 21st overall respectively.

In the MX Development Under-19 class, a new name appeared at the top of the scoreboard, with Luke Clout returning from a lengthy stint in the US to claim MX Factory Honda’s first national victory with a clean-sweep of three wins.

“It feels really good to get this win and the team has been really helpful all weekend,” Clout said. “I was impressed with the calibre of riders here after spending so much time in America, the racing was good and it worked out really good for me today.”

Second was Kawasaki’s Dylan Leary, finishing runner-up across all three motos in his best performance of the season to date. Completing the podium was round eight winner Jay Wilson (Suzuki), with 3-5-5 finishes.

Kiwi Kayne Lamont stretched his series lead to 32 points with a single round remaining, the KTM rider finishing the day fourth overall in the season’s penultimate weekend.

MX1 class podium photo by Simon Makker/Makkreative.com

 

MX1 championship results from Moree:

1. Josh Coppins Yamaha 69 Points

2. Todd Waters Suzuki 67 Points

3. Cody Cooper Suzuki 61 Points

4. Brad Anderson Honda 51 Points

5. Lawson Bopping Yamaha 49 Points

6. Jay Marmont Kawasaki 44 Points

7. Billy Mackenzie Kawasaki 41 Points

8. Daniel McCoy Suzuki 40 Points

9. Craig Anderson Yamaha 38 Points

10. Dean Porter Suzuki 31 Points

11. Toby Price KTM 26 Points

12. Jacob Wright KTM 24 Points

13. Beau Ralston Yamaha 23 Points

14. Daniel Reardon KTM 23 Points

15. Matthew Phillips Yamaha 19 Points

16. Mike Phillips Honda 17 Points

17. Aden de Jager Yamaha 14 Points

18. Tim Vare Honda 8 Points

19. Zak Newsome Suzuki 8 Points

20. Nathan Brochtrup Honda 4 Points

 

MX1 championship standings after 9 of 10 rounds:

1. Josh Coppins 549 Points

2. Todd Waters 535 Points

3. Lawson Bopping 469 Points

4. Brad Anderson 463 Points

5. Cody Cooper 449 Points

6. Jay Marmont 332 Points

7. Jake Moss 311 Points

8. Daniel Reardon 301 Points

9. Daniel McCoy 289 Points

10. Dean Porter 288 Points

 

MX2 championship results from Moree:

1. Ford Dale Honda 75 Points

2. Josh Cachia KTM 64 Points

3. Kirk Gibbs Yamaha 54 Points

4. Kade Mosig Kawasaki 52 Points

5. Errol Willis Suzuki 50 Points

6. Keiron Hall Yamaha 36 Points

7. Luke Arbon Yamaha 36 Points

8. Adam Monea Suzuki 35 Points

9. Scott Columb Suzuki 32 Points

10. Rhys Carter Suzuki 32 Points

11. Geran Stapleton Honda 31 Points

12. Nicholas Sutherland Kawasaki 29 Points

13. Luke Styke Yamaha 23 Points

14. Ryan Marmont KTM 22 Points

15. Lewis Woods Suzuki 21 Points

16. Corey Lucas honda 15 Points

17. Brock Winston KTM 14 Points

18. Daniel McEntee Honda 11 Points

19. Tristen Cachia KTM 9 Points

20. Ethan Martens Yamaha 7 Points

21. Justin McDonald Honda 5 Points

 

MX2 championship standings after 9 of 10 rounds:

1. Ford Dale 521 Points

2. Luke Styke 500 Points

3. Josh Cachia 493 Points

4. Kade Mosig 447 Points

5. Adam Monea 409 Points

6. Kirk Gibbs 401 Points

7. Cheyne Boyd 366 Points

8. Scott Columb 318 Points

9. Justin McDonald 287 Points

10. Errol Willis 279 Points

 

MXD Under-19 championship results from Moree:

1. Luke Clout Suzuki 75 Points

2. Dylan Leary KTM 66 Points

3. Jay Wilson Suzuki 52 Points

4. Kayne Lamont KTM 50 Points

5. Wade Hunter Yamaha 46 Points

6. Dylan Long KTM 45 Points

7. Kale Makeham KTM 45 Points

8. Mitch Norris Kawasaki 39 Points

9. Nicklas Scott Honda 39 Points

10. Samual Martin Yamaha 36 Points

11. Rhys Hobson Yamaha 33 Points

12. Dylan Hickling Yamaha 27 Points

13. Joel Evans Suzuki 22 Points

14. Daniel Banks KTM 18 Points

15. Elijah Wiese Honda 12 Points

16. Joe Gillespie Yamaha 10 Points

17. Jayden Archer Suzuki 10 Points

18. Tom Buckle Suzuki 8 Points

19. Lenny Magyar Honda 7 Points

20. Geordie McGrath Yamaha 6 Points

 

MXD Under-19 Championship standings after 8 of 9 rounds:

1. Kayne Lamont 464 Points

2. Dylan Long 432 Points

3. Dylan Leary 418 Points

4. Jay Wilson 392 Points

5. Kale Makeham 382 Points

6. Sam Martin 359 Points

7. Mitch Morris 276 Points

8. Joel Milesevic 230 Points

9. Wade Hunter 222 Points

10. Mitch Budd 180 Points