Cody Cooper ( Honda CRF450R ) took the MX1 in relaxed style
steadily building strength and form as he prepares now for the senior nationals early next year . Scott dominated racing on both days of the annual Auckland Motocross Championships at Tuakau in November , winning the 15-16 years ’ 125cc class during junior racing on the Saturday and then stepping up to dominate again the following day , this time in the senior 125cc class . He edged out Wairoa ’ s Tommy Watts ( HLR Husqvarna Racing Team ) to win the junior class on Saturday and overshadowed visiting Australian rider Mason Semmens ( CML KTM ) and Mangakino ’ s fellow international star Maximus Purvis ( Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team ) to take the senior glory on the Sunday . “ It ’ s really good to know that I can run with Max ( Purvis ) and now even beat him . He was always the favourite to win this class , but I guess today was my day ,” said Scott . Scott won the first two senior 125cc races on Sunday , finishing ahead of Purvis both times , but he couldn ’ t quite make it a hattrick , with 16-year-old Melbourne KTM rider Semmens nipping in to steal his thunder by winning the final 125cc race of the day . “ I just couldn ’ t find a way past Mason ,”
Scott explained . “ I have been getting great coaching from [ Kiwi former world motocross champion ] Ben Townley over the past 12 months and that ’ s been awesome ,” said Scott . A first-timer at the Tuakau circuit , Semmens got better as the day wore on and he learned the track and he will obviously be a contender when he returns to tackle the 2018 New Zealand Motocross Championships in the New Year . Meanwhile , an outstanding performance from Taupo ’ s Wyatt Chase ( Chase Racing KTM ) handed KTM a second senior class win at the Auckland event , the 18-year-old dominating the MX2 ( 250cc ) class with a hat-trick of wins to easily out-point dual-class rider Semmens . Both Scott and Chase have been on fire lately – the two young men also won their respective 125cc and MX2 classes at the recent Waikato Motocross Championships near Te Kuiti soon after that . All these riders now look ahead to racing the big annual Summercross event at Whakatane , just after Christmas , followed by the New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville in late January , with the four-round national championships set to kick off in Taranaki in February .
KIWI RIDER 75