Cooper also took his GasGas MC450F to outlast all riders in the feature shoot-out, a series of races that eliminated riders at each phase.
The shootout started with the top riders from each of the 125cc, MX2 and MX1 classes, culling out the slowest riders each time, reducing the competition from 40 riders until eventually, there were just three in the final outing.
Cooper was the last man standing, winning the final three-rider shootout ahead of Watts and Oparau’s James Scott.
Cooper had finished 1-3-1 in his MX1 class races, and his eventual 12-point winning margin over Treloar gave him a massive boost in confidence, with a jam-packed season of racing now ahead of him.
Individuals will battle for the silverware at the annual New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville in late January before the nationals kick off near Rotorua in February.
Cooper is the current national MX2 champion and also a multi-time former national champion in the 125cc and MX1 categories.
“It’s a great way to start the season. I had no problems physically, and this is possibly because I have been riding at a good level a fair bit lately,” he said, in reference to his representing New Zealand at the Motocross of Nations in France earlier this month.
“I had not ridden the GasGas much at all before the Motocross of Nations [from October 7-8] and I’m still fine-tuning suspension settings.
“I felt better on the bike here in Taupō this weekend than I usually do at this time of the year, so I couldn’t have asked for much more than what I achieved this weekend,” Cooper said.
