The NZ vs Australia race format which sees the best Pro, Junior and Women riders from each country battle it out at the famous Barrabool circuit west of Melbourne, has seen Kiwi star Josh Coppins blitz all races at the annual event. The NZ team captain won both Pro races, the one-on-one Super Pole against former GP rival and guest American racer Ryan Hughs, and to add the icing on the cake, Coppins cleaned up the Pro feature race which had the 20 top scoring Pro Lites riders trying to making their mark against the 20 top Pro Open riders.

“I really enjoyed myself this weekend” smiled Coppins. “I set the fastest time in practice and qualifying on Saturday and stayed out of trouble on Sunday and managed to win all races. The track was fast and technical which I liked and we had good weather with some wind in the morning making it a bit dusty.”

Despite Coppins’s full house of wins, Team NZ were still not able to pry the trophy from a hungry Aussie team. “NZ did well in the Pro class and in the woman’s class with a great ride from Katherine Prumm but we really struggled in the Junior classes which I guess is where we lost out to Australia. I love doing this event and am going to stay on a little longer in Oz for a bit of a holiday before heading back home to Motueka.” added the factory Yamaha racer.

Overall results: Pro Open class.

1.Josh Coppins
2.Daryl Hurley
3.Ryan Hughs
4.Craig Anderson
5.Daniel Mc Coy.