Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper, Taupo’s Nick Saunders, Rangiora’s Micah McGoldrick and Pahiatua’s Scott Sowry (pictured above) could be the men to watch at round three of the New Zealand Supercross Championships near Motueka this weekend.

Cooper (Suzuki RM-Z450) has been in hot form of late, winning the stand-alone New Zealand Supercross Open near Te Puke a week ago and then also winning round two of the Backflips Clothing-sponsored national supercross series at Taupo on Sunday.

He heads to Motueka’s famous Rat Track facility this Sunday brimming with confidence but wary, too, that home-town hero Josh Coppins (Yamaha YZ450F) is also on top of his game and he is a rider who will be extremely hard to dislodge from the top of the supercross championship rankings.

Coppins leads Cooper by 13 points in the open class standings, with Honda pair Justin McDonald, of Christchurch, and Michael Phillips, of Rotorua, close behind in third and fourth respectively. Ranked fifth after two rounds is Hamilton’s Hayden Clark (Yamaha) and he has also shown enough form to be a podium candidate.

Paraparaumu’s Jesse Donnelly (Suzuki), Mount Maunganui’s Davi Fisher (Suzuki) and Hamilton’s Jesse Wiki (Honda) are also waiting in the wings.

But Coppins is very definitely in charge of the class.

“I just need to keep riding smart and get good points on the board,” said Coppins.

“If I get enough of a buffer, perhaps I can relax a bit at the final round.”

The senior lites (250cc) class is headed by Christchurch Honda rider Craig Smith, the 17-year-old thrusting his way to the top of the rankings after scoring a hat-trick of wins in Taupo at the weekend.

He leads Taupo’s Nick Saunders (Kawasaki) by 13 points, with Tauranga’s Peter Broxholme (Honda) third overall, just three points further back. Yamaha pair Ethan Martens, of Waitakere, and Jayden Jessup, of Wellington, are also in touch with the lead.

This class has been something of a battle of attrition as first the defending champion, Mount Maunganui’s Mason Phillips (Kawasaki), crashed out, followed by round one winner Scotty Columb (Suzuki), of Queenstown, and then Taupo’s Brad Groombridge (Suzuki) joined them on the sideline with a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder.

Meanwhile, Atiamuri’s Dion Picard (Suzuki) leads the junior lites (250cc) class, a solid 16 points ahead of Rangiora’s Micah McGoldrick (KTM), while Hamilton’s Josiah Natzke (Yamaha) tops the junior 85cc class, 20 points clear of Pahiatua Kawasaki rider Scott Sowry.

Sowry inflicted the first defeat of the series on Natzke, in race two at Taupo last weekend, but the Pahiatua rider will need to at least repeat that a few more times if he’s to catch and overtake Natzke’s points lead.

The fourth and final round of the series is set for Timaru on January 15.

Backflips Clothing NZ is the series’ main sponsor, with additional support coming from Demon Energy Drinks.

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