COOPER
N
ational MX1 champion Cody Cooper
and national junior 250cc champion
Jack Dunlop propelled the Pukekohe
Motorcycle Club contingent to an impressive
39-point win at the 2019 Battle of the Clubs
(BOTC) fundraiser event.
The BOTC was inaugurated 10 years ago as
a fun way to raise funds for New Zealand’s
assault on the annual Motocross of Nations
(MXoN), the “Olympic Games of motocross”,
the 2019 edition of which is to be held in The
Netherlands this September.
A team from the Pukekohe Motorcycle
Club won the inaugural BOTC in 2010 and
this year’s team manager for the club, Craig
Brown, said he was thrilled to be able to
clinch the trophy for a second time.
“The team rode well,” he said, in classic
understatement. “Jack Dunlop (junior 250cc
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106 KIWI RIDER
class) went 1-1 in the juniors and Cody
Cooper (MX2 class) went 1-2 in the seniors.
Our riders raced consistently and rode smart.
“It was a team manager role for me for the
first time this year and I enjoyed it. I usually
race, but I have a bit of an injury. It wasn’t a
tough job being manager, they all knew what
they had to do. I just needed to nurse young
Reuben Smith along, because he was on an
85cc bike against the 125cc and 250cc riders
in the junior races. I told him not to try to
bully the bigger bike riders around because
he’ll come off second best. We had a lot of
supporters here today and that was good to
see.”
Unfortunately, news was also released
at Taupo that all three members of New
Zealand’s team that raced the MXoN in the
United States’ team last year are unavailable