The men in yellow may be about to strike gold.
The men from Team Suzuki made their intentions very clear at the third round of four in this season’s Demon Energy New Zealand Motocross Championships on steep farmland near Rotorua on Sunday.
Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Power Balance Suzuki MotoGB BikesportNZ.com Suzuki) and Australian Daniel McCoy (Power Balance MotoGB BikesportNZ.com Suzuki) are both capable and now very well positioned to respectively take the national MX1 and MX2 titles at the fourth and final round of the series near New Plymouth this coming weekend.
Cooper again won the MX1 (open class) on Sunday, just as he had at the previous round near Morrinsville last month, and with that crept to within one point of overtaking series leader Josh Coppins, of Motueka, in the series standings.
Copper finished 1-2-1 in his three MX1 outings, taking the top step of the podium at Rotorua.
“It was an excellent day for me, although I would have liked to win all three of course,” said Cooper afterwards.
“I had no strength left in my arms after chasing hard to catch Josh in that second race, said Cooper.
“But I’m looking forward to Taranaki next weekend. I won all three races there last season.”
Coppins finished 2-1 in the first two races, to be level-pegging with Cooper, but the third race was crucial to split the duo and, after a first-lap clash with another rider, Coppins was left on the ground, at the back of the field and with a huge task ahead of him.
He eventually carved his way back to finish third in that fateful final race, but it cost him valuable points and his grip on the championship lead is now very shaky indeed.
In the MX2 class, Australian visitor McCoy came on strong to finish 2-5-1 and win the day at Rotorua.
He has now rocketed up from third in the series standings to the No.1 spot, two points clear of previous leader Darryll King, of Hamilton.
To make McCoy’s performance al the more remarkable, he revealed he had the wrong fork springs in his bike all weekend.
“They were a bit softer than what I’m used to. I just had to deal with it,” said the 26-year-old from Sydney.
“It’s incredible. I was third in the championship but now I’m leading. I could go on to win the title, my first major title … and it’s in a foreign country. I’m looking forward to putting it all together in Taranaki next weekend.”
Meanwhile, Wanganui’s Tom Managh (Power Balance MotoGB BikesportNZ.com Suzuki RM125) is still in the hunt for the national 125cc title.
He is fourth overall in the class after another strong performance in Rotorua on Sunday.
Source: Suzuki NZ