Defending New Zealand motocross champion Cody Cooper of Papamoa faces a familiar game of catch-up heading into Sunday's second round of the championship at Patetonga.
Cooper is fourth in the MX1 standings behind round one winner Ben Townley (Tauranga), Josh Coppins (Motueka) and Justin McDonald (Christchurch) - a similar position to that which the Suzuki team-leader has found himself in the last two national championships which have started at the Timaru track.
"It's the same story," said Cooper.
"Timaru is one of my weakest tracks and I always seem to leave there needing to make-up points."
Last year Cooper achieved that, overhauling Coppins to win the MX1 title while the previous year he came up one point short of catching McDonald.
"I felt good and strong on the bike but we were using different suspension and it was too soft. It was bottoming out everywhere and I couldn't carry any momentum," said Cooper.
Cooper started the series with a third placing but slipped to sixth in the second moto. "After the second race the team changed all the suspension valving and internals to harden up the suspension which was better and I got third."
Cooper is 20 points behind Townley (Honda), 11 behind Coppins (Yamaha) and trails third-placed McDonald (Honda) by one point. Rotorua's Michael Phillips (Honda) is fifth.
"I'm feeling really good on the bike and I've been training really hard," says Cooper.
"I really like Patetonga and also the other two tracks at Pukekohe and Taupo. I'll go back to the same settings as last year and try to get back to the front again."
The second round of the championship is at the fast and narrow Patetonga track in the Thames Valley on Sunday. Each of the three national classes (MX1, MX2 and the combined 125cc and under-21 Youth class) have a three-moto format.
The MX2 class is again looking like the most competitive with the Timaru round producing three different race winners.
Queenstown's Scott Columb (Suzuki) leads on 69 points from defending champ Darryll King (Yamaha) of Hamilton on 67 and Hawera's Daryl Hurley (Suzuki) on 65. Papamoa's Rhys Carter (Suzuki) is fourth on 56 points and Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Honda) holds eighth place.
Bay of Plenty riders are strongly positioned in the 125cc class with Rotorua teenager Cameron Vaughan (Yamaha) in second position behind series leader Micah McGoldrick (KTM) of Rangiora.
McGoldrick won all three races at Timaru and leads with 75 points from Vaughan on 62, Te Puke's Logan Blackburn (Yamaha) has 60 points and veteran Rotorua racer Cam Negus (Yamaha) is on 58.
McGoldrick, Vaughan and Blackburn are the top-three in the under-21 Youth standings.
Saloons add spice
The super saloon cars remain in the spotlight at Baypark Speedway this weekend with the touring GT Radial SSCAR series making its first appearance at the track.
With five of the seven rounds completed it's Auckland hard charger Ben Harding in front in the series and looking for more Baypark success after winning the North Island title at the track earlier this month. Mount Maunganui's Brent Emerson hold second place in the series ahead of Tauranga's Kristin Vermeulen.
The SSCAR series has already visited the Wellington, Rotorua, Napier, Huntly and Waikaraka Park (Auckland) tracks and the final is at Palmerston North on March 3.
The entry list of Saturday night features a strong 23-car lineup that includes national champ Steve Flynn (Napier) and South Island racer Josh Boulton.
Saturday's other attraction will be the final three races of the La-Z-Boy saloon car series with a closely packed leaderboard after four races.
Tauranga's Brett Kaye and former series winner Jeff Barron (Matamata) share the series lead with 76 points from Matamata's Paul Cressey on 73, Tauranga's Steve Cowling 70 and Daniel Corrin (Gisborne) 69.
Defending champ Brent McClymont had shared the series lead with Kaye after the opening round but an ignition problem resulted in a non-finish at round two and McClymont has slipped back to sixth equal with Matamata's Tony Heuvel on 67 points.
McIntyre two clear
The super saloons raced for the Waikato title at Huntly Speedway last Saturday night with a 14-car field contesting a three-heat championship. Tauranga's Shane McIntyre finished two points clear of Ben Harding with Cambridge racer Geoff Fletcher completing the podium.
Dirt track racing
There is racing at the Waihi Beach Dirt Track Club on Saturday, starting at 11am. The event is round nine of the club's 2011-12 points series.