Karaitiana Horne
to reel in Connolly , but , when the chequered flag came out , Cooper was still five seconds adrift and forced to accept a rare defeat . Connolly also won the day ’ s third and final MX2 race and claimed the class honours , with Cooper forced to settle for overall runnerup , with fellow Bridgestone Kawasaki Racing Team rider Jared Hannon , from Cambridge , completing the MX2 podium . So , you could say it has been a busy three weeks for Cooper , but he ’ s showing no signs of slowing down , with a slew of major events still to come on his calendar . “ I feel pretty good actually ,” he said , also not ruling out the possibility of also racing both the MX1 and MX2 classes at the 2023 nationals in February and March . “ I haven ’ t been getting the starts with the 250 and I ’ m still trying to work out a few things . I wanted to do two classes here ( at Huntly ) just as a test for my fitness .”
Meanwhile , racing on the smaller bikes , Taranaki ’ s Rian King was also impressive at Huntly . His dad , Shayne King , was once a world champion and his big brother Curtis King is pretty handy on a motocross bike too , but it was Rian King who stole the spotlight in racing near Huntly . The 16-year-old , a year 12 pupil at Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth , was in simply scintillating form . He lined up to race in the Junior 15-16 years ’ 125cc class and he also took his distinctive orange and white KTM SX125 bike into battle in the senior 125cc class . To cut a long story short , he dominated both classes , finishing with an unbeaten hat-trick of wins in his three junior races and he compiled a 1-2-1 score-card to win the senior 125cc category too . King won the junior 15-16 years ’ 125cc class ahead of Bombay ’ s Reuben Smith ( KTM ) and his own cousin , Cambridge ’ s Jayden King ( Yamaha ), and he won the senior 125cc class ahead of Kerikeri ’ s Logan Denize ( GasGas ) and Hokianga ’ s Damon Nield ( KTM ). “ I wasn ’ t really surprised I did so well . It was good fun doing two classes and having double the time on the track ,” said King . He gives part of the credit to his father and coach , former KTM factory rider and 1996 500cc motocross world champion Shayne King , “ I have been working on a few things with
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