What a season it has been for New Zealanders in Australia in 2012.

Two out of three Australian national motocross titles are now in Kiwi hands after the 10-round national championship series wrapped at up Coolum, in Queensland, on Sunday.

Motueka’s Josh Coppins (Yamaha) won the MX1 crown and Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont (KTM) took the Motocross Development Under-19 title after long, hard-fought campaigns.

Both victories were significant in starkly contrasting ways – for former New Zealand champion and former world No.2 Coppins it was an immensely satisfying way to sign off a stellar international racing career spanning nearly 20 years.

For multi-time former New Zealand junior champion Lamont it was a superb way to herald his growing status as one of the sport’s rising international stars.

Both men now prepare for the upcoming big annual Motocross of Nations, the “Olympic Games of motocross” set for Lommel in Belgium in less than a month.

At that event they will become team-mates, joined by Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Suzuki), to form the three-rider Team New Zealand.

“I’m just happy it’s all over, to be honest,” said father-of three Coppins. He became a dad again with the birth of a son, Nixon, just a few weeks ago.

“Now I can relax and enjoy the win with the team.

“I was nervous at the start of the day. I was leading this championship by 18 points going into the final round last year but lost it. This year I was 14 points in front.

“I’ve got a television show to do now and then head back to England to prepare for the Motocross of Nations. I just have to get the Motocross of Nations out of the way now and I’ll be officially retired from racing. It would be nice for New Zealand to be at the pointy end of the field in Belgium and we’ll just have to see how that pans out.”

Cooper also shone across the Tasman this season, finishing third overall on the day at Coolum and winding up third overall in the MX1 championship, behind Coppins and Suzuki’s Todd Waters.

Fourth overall for the championship was British rider Brad Anderson (Honda) and, rounding out the top five was Coppins’ team-mate Lawson Bopping.

Waters and Bopping are two-thirds of Australia’s team for the Motocross of Nations.

Rotorua’s Mike Phillips (Honda) was 13th overall in the MX1 at Coolum, good enough to wrap up the championship in 14th place overall.

The only Australian crown to elude the Kiwis this season was the MX2 title, that going to Honda’s Ford Dale.

New Zealand riders in the MX2 class were Queenstown’s Scotty Columb (Suzuki), Christchurch’s Justin McDonald (Honda), Waitakere’s Ethan Martens (Yamaha) and Mount Maunganui’s Rhys Carter (Suzuki).

Columb finished the day seventh overall at Coolum, good enough to wrap up the series in eighth position; McDonald placed 10th overall at Coolum (to finish ninth in the championship) and Carter was 14th overall on Sunday (ending the championship with a ranking of 18th).

Martens was 13th overall on Sunday but this was one of only two rounds he contested this season.

More to come …

Australian Motocross Championships,

Round 10 – Coolum, Queensland:

MX1 Overall Results:

1. Todd Waters 72 2. Josh Coppins 69 3. Cody Cooper 60 4. Brad Anderson 46 5. Dean Porter 43 6. Jay Marmont 42 7. Billy Mackenzie 42 8. Daniel McCoy 40 9. Lawson Bopping 37 10. Jake Moss 36 11. Craig Anderson 30 12. Beau Ralston 27 13. Mike Phillips 23 14. Jacob Wright 21 15. Daniel Reardon 19 16. James Booth-Elliot 17 17. Rhys Dorreen 10 18. Tim Vare 8 19. Aden de Jager 5 20. Ben Dutton 5

MX2 Overall Results:

1. Josh Cachia 72 2. Luke Styke 69 3. Kade Mosig 52 4. Ford Dale 50 5. Cheyne Boyd 45 6. Brock Winston 44 7. Scott Columb 42 8. Kirk Gibbs 40 9. Ryan Marmont 36 10. Justin McDonald 32 11. Lewis Woods 30 12. Geran Stapleton 28 13. Ethan Martens 21 14. Rhys Carter 18 15. Errol Willis 18 16. Daniel McEntee 13 17. Tristen Cachia 11 18. Lincoln Nicol 10 19. Timothy Kelly 10 20. Steve Duncanson 6

MXD Under-19 Overall Results:

1. Dylan Long 68 2. Kayne Lamont 57 3. Sam Martin 52 4. Jay Wilson 47 5. Mitch Norris 46 6. Kale Makeham 46 7. Wade Hunter 46 8. Dylan Leary 44 9. Luke Clout 44 10. Daniel Banks 33

MX1 Championship Standings (after 10 of 10 rounds):

1. Josh Coppins 618 2. Todd Waters 607 3. Cody Cooper 509 4. Brad Anderson 509 5. Lawson Bopping 506 6. Jay Marmont 374 7. Jake Moss 347 8. Dean Porter 331 9. Daniel McCoy 329 10. Dan Reardon 320 11. Tye Simmonds 234 12. Craig Anderson 207 13. Beau Ralston 184 14. Mike Phillips 168 15. Billy Mackenzie 165 16. Dylan Peterson 130 17. Calle Aspegren 112 18. Tim Vare 109 19. Aden de Jager 84 20. Ben Townley 75

MX2 Championship Standings (after 10 of 10 rounds):

1. Ford Dale 571 2. Luke Styke 569 3. Josh Cachia 565 4. Kade Mosig 499 5. Kirk Gibbs 441 6. Cheyne Boyd 411 7. Adam Monea 409 8. Scott Columb 360 9. Justin McDonald 320 10. Lewis Woods 306 11. Errol Willis 297 12. Luke Arbon 249 13. Brock Winston 210 14. Geran Stapleton 192 15. Nick Murray 167 16. Ryan Marmont 149 17. Corey Lucas 114 18. Rhys Carter 75 19. Keiron Hall 72 20. Tristen Cachia 60

MXD Championship Standings (after 9 of 9 rounds):

1. Kayne Lamont 521 2. Dylan Long 500 3. Dylan Leary 462 4. Jay Wilson 439 5. Kale Makeham 428 6. Sam Martin 411 7. Mitch Norris 322 8. Wade Hunter 268 9. Joel Milesevic 230 10. Mitch Budd 201 11. Dylan Wills 164 12. Nicklas Scott 150 13. Ben George 145 14. Jarrad Davis 128 15. Luke Clout 119 16. Daniel Banks 109 17. Josh Melis 107 18. Joel Evans 105 19. Rhys Hobson 103 20. Michael Crugnale 98

© Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com