With this year ’ s success , it now makes it seven major senior New Zealand trophies won by him in the past five years . Harwood had built up a commanding 23-point advantage after the earlier three rounds – at Woodville , Rotorua and Pukekohe – and he headed to Taupo for the final showdown confident with the knowledge that the pressure was off him . He was therefore comfortable at Taupo to see Cooper reel off three straight wins , knowing that a “ steady as you go ” approach would be enough to get the job done . However , the championship chase was actually just a little bit closer than the 10-point final margin might suggest . Harwood nearly saw his title hopes evaporate in the first of his three MX1 class races when he and another rider collided in the first corner after the start .
Several spokes on Harwood ’ s front wheel were ripped out by the foot-peg on the other rider ’ s bike and , although Harwood recovered from last position in that race to claim third at the chequered flag , it would so easily have been a non-finish result for him and potentially a lost title too . “ It was pretty wobbly and , over the jumps , I kept looking down at the wheel to see if it was holding together . I just nursed it to the finish ,” said Harwood , that statement remarkable in itself if his idea of “ nursing ” the bike was still fast enough to earn him a podium result . The broken wheel replaced , Harwood finished runner-up in the next race and then crossed the finish line third in his final outing , a fist pump as he flew past the chequered flag signalling a mix of relief and celebration .
28 KIWI RIDER