Cooper Makes It Back to Back Titles

NZ MX Nationals 2014

maddix park mx

CAPTION: Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Honda), national champion again in the premier MX1 category. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

MARCH 22, 2014: Bay of Plenty's Cody Cooper was always going to take a lot of stopping.

The Honda Shop Racing Team's MX1 class rider arrived at the fourth and final round of the 2014 New Zealand Motocross Championships in Taupo on Saturday with an entire race up his sleeve, having dominated the three previous rounds of the series.

The Mount Maunganui rider took his Honda CRF450 to 1-1-3 results in the premier MX1 class on Saturday and that was sufficient to see him easily wrap up the crown for a second consecutive season.

So convincing was his win that he finished the four-round (12-race) series a massive 51 points clear of his nearest challenger, fellow international star Billy MacKenzie, from Scotland.

Cooper's dominance was clear -- he had wrapped up the title before he even lined up for the final race of the championship.

"We got the trophy we came for," said the Honda Shop Racing Team's boss, former world champion Ben Townley.

"The MX1 national title is the biggest one in New Zealand and this season we have won all three major titles, the supercross nationals in the open class, the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville in the MX1 class and now the New Zealand Motocross Championships in the MX1 class as well.

"Our goal was to help Cody carry on from his national MX1 title-winning efforts of last year."

Cooper now heads across the Tasman Sea to tackle the 10-round Australian Motocross Championships, which kick off just outside Melbourne next weekend, and, according to Townley, "we'll be treating that as if it's round five of the New Zealand Champs ... we want to keep this momentum going".

"The motocross in Australia has a greater depth of talent but I believe Cody has shown he has the ability to win in that company too."

Cooper echoed those thoughts.

"I just need to carry on with what I've been doing," Cooper said.

"It has been awesome this season racing with The Honda Shop Racing Team. They have all the equipment I needed to do the job and I had Ben Townley at my side to give me advice. I can really relate to Ben and we communicate well together," said the 30-year-old.

Credit: Words by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

 
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