Motorsport:Cooper closes in on Coppins

Having closed the deficit to just one point, Suzuki racer Cody Cooper (Papamoa) has a full throttle strategy to move ahead of Josh Coppins during this Sunday's final round of the NZ Motocross Championship at New Plymouth.
"My plan is the same as always," said Cooper, looking ahead to the final at the Barrett Rd track.
"I'll try to qualify fastest and win all three races. But he (Coppins) is going to try to do the same."
Cooper had trailed Coppins by 14 points in the MX1 (450cc) battle after round one at Timaru last month but has since won the Patetonga and Rotorua events and is now just one point behind the former GP star.
Cooper won twice and claimed a second place at Rotorua while Coppins rode his Yamaha to a first, second and third. The scoreboard shows Coppins on 203 points and Cooper with 202.
"I got a good start in the first race and was able to win that one. The other guys all seemed to get tangled up for awhile behind me," said Cooper.
"The second race was the opposite. I didn't get a good start but the other guys did. Josh was leading and I caught him but I couldn't pass him.
"In the third race, I got a good start, put my head down and pulled a good lead."
In that race, Mt Maunganui's Michael Phillips (Honda) stepped up from two earlier fourth placings - after early race crashes - to claim second place and push Coppins back to third. That result effectively presented Cooper with two more bonus points.
"Mike was riding really well. It would be good if he can take some more points off Josh at New Plymouth but not beat me," said Cooper.
Phillips remains is third in the title race with 180 points, well clear of his Honda teammate and defending champ, Justin McDonald (Christchurch), on 150.
Success for the BOP riders at Rotorua wasn't confined to the MX1 class.
Tauranga's Scott Barr-Smith claimed a career-best result, winning the 125cc class - and its under-21 youth section - with a first and two second placings on his KTM.
"It was a good weekend. I got three holeshots and had a first and two seconds to win the round overall," said Barr-Smith.
The win wasn't without its challenges.
"I found out three days before that I had a fracture and a chip in my fibula (shin)," said Barr-Smith.
"It didn't really hinder my riding but I need to be careful and precise with my lines. I'll strap it up to ride this weekend, then have some time off the bike to recover."
Also producing top-10 performances were Tauranga's Roydon White (KTM) and Logan Blackburn (Yamaha) who were seventh and ninth respectively in the 125cc class at Rotorua.
Going into the final round, Blackburn is tenth in the 125cc class and sixth in the Youth class while White is 13th and ninth respectively.
The MX2 (250cc) class of the Demon Energy MX Nationals continued to provide the biggest mix-up of results - once again producing three different race winners.
Australian Daniel McCoy, riding for Mt Maunganui's Moto GB Suzuki squad, took the Rotorua win ahead of Honda's Cameron Dillon (Taupo). McCoy has now edged two points ahead of veteran Darryll King - who was third at Rotorua - in the championship.
Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Honda) was fourth. He was the fastest qualifier and he finished sixth in the opening race.
"It got better once I finally got some good starts," said Broxholme.
"I was fourth in race two and I chased Daniel McCoy right till the end of the third race.
"It's an amazing class this year. You can take the top 10 in one race and almost turn it upside down in the next one."
Broxholme is fifth in the championship but only six points behind Australian Cody Mackie (Honda), who holds third place, and two points behind Masterton's Luke Burkhart (KTM).
"I won the final round at New Plymouth last year so I'll give it a really good go this weekend and see what happens," Broxholme said.
For Suzuki racer Rhys Carter (Mt Maunganui), the Rotorua round produced his best points haul of the series and he remains in seventh place.
"I closed up eight points on Damien (King) and I'm only four points off sixth now," said Carter.
The Motocross Nationals are a return to the sport for Carter who injured his shoulder racing in Canada last year. "I feel a lot stronger on the bike now and my next goal is to finish in the top five this weekend," Carter said.