New Zealand MX1 Motocross Champion Cody Cooper won the Tarawera 100 over the weekend. Image: Andy McGechan/BikesportNZ.com.

Team Rockstar Motul Suzuki’s Cody Cooper has made it back-to-back wins at the challenging Tarawera 100 cross-country dirt bike endurance race near Kawerau, a virtual repeat of his start-to-finish win at the event last season.

Defending his 2010 win, Cooper took the lead early and was never headed over the 100-mile (160-kilometre) distance.

By race end Cooper had stretched his advantage to four minutes and 17 seconds, taking the race win for the second year in a row.

“It was harder than last year”, said Cooper afterwards. “The organisers had used virtually the same track this year and, although they had run a bulldozer blade over some of it, it was still very rough.”

Cooper’s focus will now move to the eighth round of the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals at Moree on 24 July.

At the Moree track in 2010 Cooper qualified third and put his RM-Z450 on the podium with a third place overall.

“It is a track I do well at so I am keen to keep challenging for round wins,” Cooper concluded.