TEAM SUZUKI RIDERS PODIUM AT MOREE MX
Motul Pirelli Suzuki team mates Todd Waters and Cody Cooper put their fuel-injected RM-Z450s on the podium at Moree's penultimate round of the MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship, in New South Wales on Sunday.
Waters (pictured) will enter this weekend's final round of the 2012 season with a legitimate shot at challenging for the premier MX1 crown, trailing experienced New Zealander Josh Coppins by just 14 points into the all-important Coolum finale.
Second place overall at Moree over the weekend saw Waters remain in title contention, losing just two points to former world number two Coppins in the title chase. After qualifying quickest, he was victorious in moto one and then rounded out his weekend with third in moto two and second in moto three.
After a miraculous season to date that has consisted of eight podiums in nine attempts since signing with Motul Pirelli Suzuki, Gold Coast resident Waters will enter Coolum with the single focus of claiming the final round win of the season. If he can manage that, he's hoping the championship will play out in his favour.
"Today was a good day. I got on the podium and second place is nothing to cry about," 21-year-old Waters commented. "On the other hand, I thought I could have done a lot better. The first moto was great, got the moto win, and then in moto two I got caught up in the first turn and made it through to third.
"I felt like I had good speed in those opening two races, but in the third moto I was all over Josh and made some massive mistakes. I let it get in my head and by the end of the race I couldn't even line it up in the ruts and all of my confidence was gone. I'm a little disappointed, but we can't change it.
"I'm going to go home now, keep training and get ready for Coolum. I'm just going to go there and have some fun, do the best that I can and hopefully end up as close to the championship as I can - the plan is to make things interesting up there."
Cooper finished third overall for the round at Moree, the Kiwi claiming third in moto one, a win in the second and fifth to conclude the weekend. He remains fifth in the championship as the season enters its final stage.
"I felt really good all day until the last race; I just struggled to adapt to the hard-pack track in the final moto," Cooper explained. "The guys rode good today, it was a fast pace, but my starts were good and I've been working on them a lot. It was a positive day though, the team has been working hard and I'm happy with the result."
The MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship, will now head direct to Coolum on the Sunshine Coast for the 10th and final round on August 25-26th.
MX1 Overall Results:
1. Josh Coppins 69 2. Todd Waters (Motul Pirelli Suzuki) 67 3. Cody Cooper (Motul Pirelli Suzuki) 61 4. Brad Anderson 51 5. Lawson Bopping 49 6. Jay Marmont 44 7. Billy Mackenzie 41 8. Daniel McCoy (Hart & Huntington / InsureMyRide Suzuki) 40 9. Craig Anderson 38 10. Dean Porter (Suzuki) 31
MX1 Championship Standings (after 9 of 10 rounds):
1. Josh Coppins 549 2. Todd Waters (Motul Pirelli Suzuki) 535 3. Lawson Bopping 469 4. Brad Anderson 463 5. Cody Cooper (Motul Pirelli Suzuki) 449 6. Jay Marmont 332 7. Jake Moss 311 8. Daniel Reardon 301 9. Daniel McCoy (Hart & Huntington / InsureMyRide Suzuki) 289 10. Dean Porter (Suzuki) 288
