Supercross: Three separate champs at Auckland's Monster Energy S-X Open

Mount Maunganui's Cody Cooper on his way to winning his 'Anzacs versus the USA' race on Saturday night. Photo / Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

Mount Maunganui's Cody Cooper is a national MX1 motocross champion and former New Zealand SX1 supercross champion and his latest win has given the Kiwis plenty to cheer about.

The Monster Energy S-X Open Auckland, which was the fourth of the five-round Australian Supercross Championship, was held at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night, encompassing three separate championships in the one event.

It was also the first of two rounds in the S-X Open FIM Oceania Supercross Championship and the New Zealand Supercross Championships.

During the night, an 'Anzacs versus the United States' feature race was held, which saw Cooper take on the winner of the Auckland champs, visiting American star Jason Anderson, with Cooper claiming victory.

Cooper eclipsed the 2018 US supercross champion, getting the jump on Anderson at the start and never looked back. Cooper's win was a popular one with the vocal crowd.

Cooper will be back in supercross action on the domestic scene this weekend, racing at the final round of the New Zealand Supercross Championships in Tokoroa on Saturday evening.

Another local who did well at the Auckland event was 20-year-old Mount Maunganui rider Josiah Natzke, who focused on the solely-Kiwi aspect of the night.

It was the second round of three for the SX2 (250cc) class only in the New Zealand Supercross Champs and Natzke won the solitary NZ SX2 race, edging out Balclutha's Madison Latta and Ohaupo's Carlin Hedley.

He's now two-thirds of the way to successfully defending his New Zealand Supercross title with the final round this weekend.

The championship points therefore took a reshuffle, with Natzke now alone on top of the standings, 14 points clear of second-placed Latta, with Josh Coppins dropping to third overall, six points further back.

"I learned a lot from racing at Mt Smart, but the Tokoroa track is more my level really, a little bit more tame. But I really have to learn this stuff more if I want to go ahead with my career," Natzke says.

Natzke secured the national SX2 supercross title for the first time last year and, after a season spent racing motocross in the United Kingdom, he returned home last month to sign on for the Kawasaki team.

He celebrated his debut ride for the team by winning the MX2 class at the annual MX Fest extravaganza in Taupō in October, before switching his bike's suspension settings over to "bigger jumps" supercross code.

Natzke shared wins with Motueka's former Grand Prix motocross star Coppins at the opening round of the supercross nationals in Winton a week ago and with Coppins and fellow title threat Wyatt Chase opting not to race at Mt Smart, the way was clear for Natzke to dominate ... and that's just what he did.

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