Image: Andy McGechan (BikesportNZ).

Reigning five-time New Zealand MX1 champion Cody Cooper extended his 2017 New Zealand Motocross Championship lead over the weekend at Rotorua’s second round of the series.

In wet and challenging conditions, Honda Racing’s Cooper still managed to put together a consistent moto scorecard featuring a pair of second place motos topped off with a win in the third and final of the rain-delayed day.

Australia’s Dean Ferris came out swinging aboard his Altherm JCR Yamaha winning moto one, the current Australian MX1 champion followed through fifth and third place finishes to secure the runner-up spot on the day.

It was fellow Australian Todd Waters who claimed the final step on the podium, the Queensland-based rider used a 4-3-2 moto scorecard to lock in third place aboard his Honda Racing machine.

KTM Motocross Racing Team’s Luke Styke was fourth overall, the rebuilding MX1 front-runner claiming his first moto victory of the 2017 series during moto two along the way.

MX Nationals regular Kade Mosig also made his first appearance on this year’s NZ schedule. Yamaha-mounted Mosig was fifth overall on the day using 5-7-4 moto scores.

Cooper now leads the premier class championship by 13 points over Ferris, followed by Ferris in second position with Todd Waters, Rhys Carter and Luke Styke rounding out the top five.

In the MX2 category it was Kiwi Josiah Natzke who took top honours with a strong moto scorecard of 2-1-2 on the day, edging out defending series champion, Hamish Harwood.

Harwood took second position using 1-2-3 moto scores ahead of Dylan Walsh who used an improving score of 8-3-1 during the day to claim the final step on the podium.

Fourth place on the day went to Ethan Martens who claimed 4-5-4 moto finishes, rounding out the top five behind Martens was MX Nationals rider Kaleb Barham with a 3-4-12 moto scorecard.

It’s Harwood who continues to hold the MX2 series lead with a 20-point advantage over Walsh in second position. Martens currently sits third overall with Barham and Logan Blackburn holding down fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

The 2017 New Zealand Motocross Championship will head to Manawatu Orion Motorcycle Club in Himatangi for round three on 12 March.