Former Opotiki man Cody Cooper,
now Mount Maunganui, took his
Honda CRF450 to another
Summercross win at Whakatane
unconcerned and didn’t react either when
Carter passed him to take the No.2 spot,
relegating him to third.
“I may not be very good at spelling, but I know
how to add and I knew, at that stage, that third
or fourth in the final race would be good enough
to secure the overall victory,” said Cooper
afterwards.
The race finished in that order – Lamont
winning ahead of Carter and Cooper –
and the outright Summercross win in the
premier MX1 class went to Cooper.
“I’ve been unwell from the middle of this week
and was coughing all the time,” said Cooper.
“I have not been riding much lately and so
wasn’t at my best anyway.
“But I did what I needed to do today and got
the win. I just had to ride smart,” he said.
“I made sure I took maximum points in the four
sprint races and then the pressure was off me
for the longer final race.”
For Cooper to win this major event, even on a
“bad day”, is perhaps the sign of a true champion
and his rivals for the national MX1 crown will
surely have had their respect for the man
reinforced by this result.
KIWI RIDER 83