Motorsport: Cooper dusts up rivals to start title defence

Te Puke's Logan Blackburn in mid-flight as he raced to the lead in the 125cc 2-stroke class at Timaru.Photo/Andy McGechan, BikeSportNZ.com

Defending champion Cody Cooper (Papamoa) got the jump on the international opposition as he began the defence of his New Zealand motocross title near Timaru on Saturday.

The four-round series kicked off in dusty conditions at Pleasant Point with Cooper riding his Honda to wins in the first and third motos for the premier class and a third in race two.

He leads the MX1 (450cc) standings with 70 points chased by international riders Ford Dale (Australia) with 67 points, Australia-based Scotsman Billy MacKenzie on 64 and Kirk Gibbs (Australia) with 54 points. Taupo's Brad Groombridge completes the top five with 46 points.

"Timaru has never been my favourite track but I have learned how to ride it and set up the bike for it and I get a bit better each year." said Cooper.

"I felt I had three wins in me but I didn't get a very good start in race two. Normally third would be an okay start but there were dust issues and I ran off the track in one place. With the dust it's hard to find the right lines to make passes."

Cooper is expecting strong opposition from the international riders at the remaining rounds at Tokoroa, Pukekohe and Taupo.

"Those guys are all riding well. You can't give them any gap at the start of a moto."

There was BOP success in the 125cc 2-stroke class, the category which showcases the teenage rising stars of the sport.

Te Puke's Logan Blackburn advanced from a mid-pack start in the opening moto to finish fourth and then stepped up with two winning rides on his Yamaha.

With 68 points, Blackburn leads Hamilton's Josiah Natzke - the race one winner - by a single point, while Omokoroa's Aaron Wiltshier (KTM) continued his strong recent form, posting two seconds and a fifth at Timaru and is seven points further back in third place.

"It was good start to the series and I feel like I'm on the right track," said Blackburn, 19, who finished runner-up in the championship last year.

"When I got a bad start in the first race the track was still muddy and one-line. I rode back up to fourth but I had no energy left at the end. The rest of the day went really well."

Mangakino's Kayne Lamont was the first-round MX2 (250cc) winner, going 1-1-2 in the three races to establish a three-point lead over defending champion Scott Columb (Yamaha), of Queenstown, who won race three.

The 37-rider MX2 field provided the biggest mix of results over the first-round action and Australian Jay Wilson (Yamaha) was third.

Rotorua's John Phillips (Honda) and Mount Maunganui's Rhys Carter (Suzuki) were fifth and seventh respectively and Tauranga's Peter Broxholme eighth in the MX2 battle. Carter crashed out in the third race after fourth and fifth places in the earlier races.

Round two of the MX Nationals is at Tokoroa's Amisfield track on February 23.

Backflips NZ Motocross Nationals, Round 1

(Timaru):

MX1 (450cc): 1 Cody Cooper (Papamoa) Honda, 70pts; 2 Ford Dale (Australia) KTM, 67pts; 3 Billy MacKenzie (Scotland) Yamaha, 64pts; 4 Kirk Gibbs (Australia) KTM, 54pts; 5 Brad Groombridge (Taupo) Suzuki, 46pts.

MX2 (250cc): 1 Kayne Lamont (Mangakino) Husqvarna, 72pts; 2 Scott Columb (Queenstown) Yamaha, 69pts; 3 Jay Wilson (Australia) Yamaha, 55pts; 4 Hamish Dobbyn (Auckland) KTM, 51pts; 5 John Phillips (Rotorua) Honda, 47pts.

125cc 2-stroke: 1 Logan Blackburn (Te Puke) Yamaha, 68pts; 2 Josiah Natzke (Hamilton) KTM, 67pts; 3 Aaron Wiltshier (Tauranga) KTM, 60pts; 4 Courtney Duncan (Palmerston) Yamaha, 56pts; 5 Hadleigh Knight (Atiamuri) KTM, 52pts.