"It was harder than last year," said Cooper afterwards. "They had used virtually the same track this year and, although the organisers had run a bulldozer blade over some of it, it was still very rough."
"I nearly vomited inside my helmet a couple of times.
"I nearly ran out of gas too, the bike stopping just a few metres before the end of the first lap but I was close enough to get it to the pits. I had to ride slower after that to conserve fuel."
In the fight for class honours, however, Cooper and Carter were both winners, Cooper taking the over-300cc four-stroke section ahead of Burgess and Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Honda), and Carter winning the under-300cc four-stroke class ahead of Smith and Te Awamutu's Mark Penny, who was on an identical Suzuki RM-Z250.
"It wasn't easy," said Carter. "I hit a fence strainer post soon after the start and came off the bike. I crashed again before we headed into the forest for the first time. I was back in about 30th position."
For Carter to battle back and achieve runner-up at the end speaks volumes for his talent and tenacity.
Meanwhile, it was a Yamaha 1-2-3 in the battle for over-200cc two-stroke honours with MXDK Rockstar Yamaha team boss King winning ahead of fellow YZ250 riders Cam Negus, of Rotorua, and Tokoroa's Trevor Wilson.
"I took the holeshot but I couldn't match Cody in the horsepower stakes and he got by me during the first lap," said King. Perhaps it was the one that got away for King, a former Tarawera 100 winner. He had looked comfortable in the lead and still looked a threat to Cooper later in the race, until he experienced a malfunction with his front suspension.
"I was forced to back off and take it easy. I thought we might be able to make a switch and replace the front forks during the next pit stop but we decided against it in the end and just pushed on until the finish.
"Okay, I couldn't win the race overall but it was still nice to win the over-200cc two-stroke class."
The 42-year-old King, the national MX2 class motocross champion, will now refocus on several international motocross excursions. He will tackle the final two rounds of the Australian Motocross Championships in the open class and then head to the United Kingdom for the British Motocross Grand Prix, where he will race in the veterans' world championship class.
The under-200cc two-stroke class was won by Tauranga's Scott Barr-Smith (KTM), followed by Whakatane's Mark Mexted (Honda) and Tokoroa's Tony McLaren (Yamaha).
Auckland's Julie Greenslade (Gas Gas) won the women's class, while Whakatane's Darren Capill (Honda) and Taupo's Darryl August (Suzuki) won the over-40 years' and over-50 years' veterans' classes respectively.
