Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper has done it again.

Last season he won the opening round of the Backflips Clothing New Zealand Motocross Championships at Timaru on a Suzuki and this time around he did it on a Honda and on both occasions he had to fend off a stern challenge from a couple of Australian KTM riders and a flying Scotsman on a Yamaha.

He also had to again duck rocks and survive the dusty and demanding Pleasant Point circuit and also beat the cream of New Zealand’s home-grown talent riding on potent Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, KTM and Honda machinery.

Cooper, the defending national MX1 champion, ended the day at Timaru with a slender three-point lead over Queensland rider Ford Dale, with Edinburgh’s Billy MacKenzie only another three points further back in third position overall.

Another Australian visitor, Kirk Gibbs (KTM), and Taupo’s Brad Groombridge (Suzuki) rounded out the top five as the riders now pack up and head to Tokoroa for round two in a fortnight.

If the trend continues that the round one winner goes on to wrap up the title at the fourth and final round at Taupo in March, then Cooper must be favoured to keep a hold of his No.1 number board in 2014.

But nothing is guaranteed, particularly so if the on-track action remains fierce and brutal as it was at Pleasant Point on Saturday.

“With the speed that these guys are going, I can’t afford any mistakes,” said Cooper. “I shot off the track at one stage, when I couldn’t see where I was going in the blinding dust, and that cost me a bit.”

Cooper won two of his MX1 races on Saturday but was beaten to the chequered flag by Dale and MacKenzie in the other race.

The MX2 (250cc) class was no less intense, with Mangakino’s Kayne Lamont (Husqvarna) ending the day just three points ahead of defending MX2 champion Scott Columb (Yamaha), with another visiting Australian rider, Jay Wilson (Yamaha), third on the podium, 14 points behind Columb.

Dargaville’s Hamish Dobbyn (KTM) and Rotorua’s John Phillips (Honda) respectively settled for fourth and fifth overall.

Te Puke’s Logan Blackburn (Yamaha) secured the early lead in the 125cc class and this was perhaps the most frantic battle off all, with Blackburn ending his day just one point clear of his nearest challenger, Hamilton’s Josiah Natzke (KTM).

Tauranga’s Aaron Wiltshier (KTM) took the third step on the 125cc podium, with Otago’s Courtney Duncan (Yamaha) and Atiamuri’s Hadleigh Knight (KTM) rounding out the top five.

Following the Timaru event, the series heads to Tokoroa for round two on February 23. Round three follows in Pukekohe on March 9 and, finally, it all wraps up in Taupo on March 22.

Check back here as we bring you more background and stories from Timaru, and more photos too, all through this week as we build up to the next round, at Tokoroa in a fortnight.

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

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