Motorsport: Hat-trick for MotoX champ

Cody Cooper. File photo / Supplied

Three wins from three starts ... it doesn't get much better than that.

If there was ever any room to question the veracity of the big, bold No1 emblazoned across Cody Cooper's Suzuki RM-Z450 bike, the Mount Maunganui man left no room for doubt when he finished the day unbeaten at the recent annual Auckland Motocross Championships.

Not only did national champion Cooper win all three MX1 (open class) races at the Pukekohe track, but his dominance was impressive, sounding alarm bells for his rivals as the motocross season gets more serious. The national MX1 champion will build on his performance at Pukekohe as he works towards winning the annual Whakatane Summercross just after Christmas, the annual Woodville Motocross at the end of January and then, hopefully, a successful national title defence, beginning with the first of four rounds in South Canterbury in February.

"I'm two weeks into my hard training now," said the 28-year-old. "I'm pretty determined ... and looking forward to the start of the national championships. I want to win every race I enter, give it 100 per cent.

"And, not only do I want to retain the No1 plate in New Zealand, but I want to gain the No1 plate in Australia as well in 2012."

Riding for the Mount Maunganui-based Moto City Suzuki team for the New Zealand phase of his campaign, and for the Rockstar Motul Suzuki team in Australia, Cooper knows he has all the support necessary to achieve his goals. "The bike was great. The guys at Moto City set it up perfectly for me. It handles great and has awesome power."

However, Cooper also knows he'll need to be at his best to fend off the challenges from the same man who chased him all day at Pukekohe, Hamilton's Hayden Clark (CMR Red Bull KTM), as well as fellow Kiwi internationals Josh Coppins (MXDK Rockstar Yamaha), of Motueka, fellow Bay of Plenty riders Ben Townley (Carlton Dry Honda), Michael Phillips (Honda) and Mason Phillips (Kawasaki) (no relation), Christchurch's Justin McDonald (Honda) and Taupo's Nick Saunders (Kawasaki), to name a few.

Clark rode his 350cc KTM to three runner-up finishes in the MX1 class at Pukekohe, while Saunders raced his 450cc Kawasaki to third overall each time.

"It was good to follow Cody ... I learned a lot from that," said 21-year-old Clark. "I got closer to him in each race. I rode a stock standard bike too, straight off the showroom floor, so by the time the nationals kick off [I] expect to show a lot more speed."

Meanwhile, Masterton's Luke Burkhart (CMR Red Bull KTM) dominated the MX2 (250cc) class at Pukekohe, scoring a hat-trick of wins from national MX2 champion Darryll King (MXDK Rockstar Yamaha), of Hamilton, with Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Botany Honda) finishing third overall. The National 125cc class was won by Stillwater's Aiden Kiff (Location Homes KTM), ahead of Kumeu's Chase Smith (CMR Red Bull KTM) and Tauranga's Logan Blackburn (Bayride Yamaha).