Cody Cooper took out the MX1 win at round one of the New Zealand Motocross Championships. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

New Zealand native Cody Cooper has taken top honours in the MX1 class at round one of the 2013 New Zealand Motocross Championships aboard his MotoCity Belray Suzuki backed ride.

Cooper kicked off the day with the fastest qualifying time ahead of current New Zealand MX1 champion Ben Townley aboard his Carlton Dry Honda, with Motorex KTM’s Kirk Gibbs qualifying third overall.

Townley scored the opening MX1 moto win, with Cooper following closely in second place while Motorex KTM’s Todd Waters rounded out the top three positions.

However, during the second moto Townley took a hard fall, forcing him out of contention for the remainder of the day. Waters also suffered misfortune in moto two when his subframe bolts came loose, forcing him to retire from the moto with a DNF finish.

Cooper went on to win moto two, with Motorex KTM’s Kirk Gibbs finishing up in second, while Billy Mackenzie took third on his JCR Yamaha.

Waters came back strong in the third and final moto, taking the race win ahead of Mackenzie. Cooper took the final podium position in third, which was enough to secure him the overall win.

Behind Cooper it was Mackenzie who took second overall with Gibbs taking a solid third place finish in his MX1 debut.

In the MX2 class it was another Kiwi, Scott Columb who took out the MX2 class aboard his JCR Yamaha. Reigning MX2 champion Darryll King finished up in second place overall, while CMR Red Bull’s Brock Winston rounding out the podium in third.

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