Racing became something of a lottery at Toowoomba at the weekend, the fifth round of nine in the Australian Motocross Championships.
The riders spent most of the weekend spitting mud from their mouths as overnight rain on Saturday turned the steep, red clay surface of the Echo Valley circuit into a
slippery and treacherous mess.
The rider who finished the day with the widest grin was perhaps Mount Maunganui's Cody Cooper, the Rockstar Motul Suzuki star topping the podium thanks to his 1-2-1-3 results.
Fellow New Zealanders, former world No 2 Josh Coppins (CDR Rockstar Yamaha YZ450F), of Motueka, and Rotorua's Michael Phillips (Carlton Dry Honda CRF450), both had difficult days.
Coppins had led the series after round three and had been ranked second overall, and just nine points off the lead, at the start of the weekend's racing at Toowoomba, Queensland.
But luck did not favour the Kiwi hero on Sunday.
Coppins snatched the holeshot in the day's first 20-minute open class race but was then shunted by another rider, which sent him tumbling into the glue-like mud.
From last position, Coppins began his fight-back, getting very creative with his selection of lines.
He was often forced to leave the favoured one dry line and pop out sideways to churn through deep slop instead as he managed to pick off rider after rider before eventually settling for ninth spot at the chequered flag.
In all, Coppins passed more than 20 riders during his incredible charge through the field.
With traction nearly impossible to find, Coppins struggled in the three races that followed and finished fifth each time.
"I was really only ever going to be a fifth-placed rider today," Coppins shrugged.
"I know I can win these races in the dry but I don't really feel comfortable in the wet."
It was a similar story for Phillips, the Bay of Plenty rider finishing 6-8-7-7, good enough for seventh overall on Sunday, and he remains sixth in the series standings.
Coppins' CDR Rockstar Yamaha teammate, defending champion Jay Marmont, finished 5-6-6-8 as he too suffered in the treacherous conditions.
Coppins is now third in the series standings, 20 points behind the second-ranked rider, Scottish international Billy Mackenzie (Monster Energy Kawasaki), and 29 points behind the series leader, Australian international Dean Ferris (Monster Energy Kawasaki).
An injury suffered at round two had forced Cooper to skip round three and he therefore finds himself down at eighth overall in the championship standings.
With four rounds still to come, all the riders have their fingers crossed that the sun will shine and they can show their true speed.
Marmont is fifth overall, just four points adrift of fourth-ranked fellow Australian Cheyne Boyd.
The series now heads to round six in Coonabarabran, New South Wales, on June 19.
Racing became something of a lottery at Toowoomba at the weekend, the fifth round of nine in the Australian Motocross Championships.
The riders spent most of the weekend spitting mud from their mouths as overnight rain on Saturday turned the steep, red clay surface of the Echo Valley circuit into a
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