COOPER
he action was fierce throughout the
day’s race action at the fourth and
final round of the Fox-sponsored
New Zealand Motocross Championships in
Taupo on March 10, but Mount Maunganui
man Cooper eventually prevailed in the
premier MX1 class, winning the 2019 title
ahead of Australian invader Kirk Gibbs, the
defending 2018 New Zealand champion
from Australia.
Cooper had enjoyed a slim three-point
advantage in the MX1 class over 30-year-
old Gold Coast rider Gibbs at the start of
the day at Taupo and, after Cooper and
Gibbs had shared the wins in the first
two of three MX1 races on Sunday, the
difference between the pair was still only
three points.
In a cliff-hanger final scenario that could
possibly not have been better scripted, it
transpired that whomever won the series’
third and final clash would take the title.
Gibbs had the jump on Cooper at the start
of this deciding MX1 race, but Cooper was
on fire and soon closed in on race leader
Gibbs, dramatically snatching the lead on
the third lap of 11.
Cooper never looked back from there,
eventually winning this crucial third race by
an impressive 10 seconds from Gibbs and
clinching the premier motocross title for
2019.
Gibbs finished second overall, six points
behind Cooper, while Hamilton’s Kayne
Lamont grabbed the third podium spot.
“It was hard, that final race was one of
the hardest races I’ve ever done,” said the
35-year-old Cooper afterwards.