WORDS & PHOTOS:
ANDY MCGECHAN, BIKESPORTNZ.COM
AUSSIE VERSUS
KIWI BATTLE
HEATS UP
The battle between the
Kiwis and Aussie invaders
reached boiling point as the
four-round 2019 NZ MX Champs
hit Rotorua for Round 2.
ustralian visitor Kirk Gibbs
finished with a 1-2-1 score-
card in his three MX1 class
races at Rotorua, a virtual mirror
image of Cody Cooper’s results at
round one in Taranaki a fortnight
earlier. Mount Maunganui’s
Cooper finished with a 2-1-2
score-card in Rotorua, a virtual
mirror image of Gibbs’ results at
Taranaki, and so the two men were
level on the points table after two
of four rounds.
Constant in the third ranking
position was Hamilton’s Kayne
Lamont, thanks to him finishing
third in each of the six MX1 races
in the first two rounds of the Fox-
sponsored series.
Gibbs had started the day in
Rotorua three points adrift of
Cooper but the deficit was wiped
out during the day’s frantic
race action.
“Me and Coops (Cody Cooper)
didn’t really get to race today,
to be honest,” said just-turned
30-year-old Gold Coast rider Gibbs.
“We were never close together on
the track,” he explained. “Either
he got a good start and I got a bad
start, or I got a good start and he
got a bad start.
“I felt like I had good speed
and rode well and the bike was
handling really well.”
KIWI RIDER 83