COOPER WINS SECOND STRAIGHT IN NEW ZEALAND

Kiwi internationals Cody Cooper and Scotty Columb have consolidated their rankings as the New Zealand Motocross Championships reached the halfway point in the Thames Valley on Sunday. Mount Maunganui’s Cooper (Moto City Suzuki) and Queenstown’s Columb (JCR Yamaha Racing) are now further in front in the MX1 and MX2 classes, respectively, after the second of four rounds in this season’s Backflips Clothing-sponsored series at Patetonga, near Morrinsville, on Sunday. Cooper has stretched his lead in the MX1 class out to 20 points over Scottish former Grand Prix star Billy MacKenzie (JCR Yamaha Racing), while Columb now enjoys a 16-point advantage over the new number two man in the MX2 class, Australian visitor Brock Winston (CMR Red Bull KTM). MX1 class defending champion Ben Townley (Honda), of Tauranga, crashed to the sidelines at round one of the series at Timaru a fortnight earlier and he was at the Patetonga race track as a spectator only on Sunday.