Though it was a day when little went right for Team New Zealand, the three-man team still managed a respectable eighth overall at the 62nd annual Motocross of Nations at Donington Park, in the British Midlands, on Sunday.

While the result wasn’t as bright for the Kiwi trio as it had been in previous years -- when New Zealand finished on the podium in England in 1998, again in Belgium in 2001 and, most recently, in England in 2006 –- there were still several glimmering moments over the weekend.

The first was the sensational race victory by Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Suzuki RM-Z450), who crafted a surprise start-to-finish win in MX3 qualification on the Saturday.

He backed that up with a solid fourth placing in Sunday’s combined MX3-MX2 race, despite crashing the bike while running in second spot.

He picked himself up to pass French GP star Anthony Boissiere before becoming locked in a titanic struggle with Belgian two-time former world champion Steve Ramon, only losing out to the factory Suzuki star when fatigue finally got the better of him with three of 16 laps to go.

Tiredness was also a factor in his final outing, the combined MX1-MX3 race, and he battled home in 21st spot.

“I’m actually surprised my fitness was as good as it was, although obviously not good enough. I have not raced in about a month, since the American season finished,” said Cooper, who had finished fifth in the United States nationals at his first attempt this season.

“I just couldn’t hang on in the end. My shoulders were very sore,” he said.

The second bright spot was the rock solid performance of Motueka’s Josh Coppins (Yamaha YZF450), who finished sixth and seventh in his two outings.

"We did our best but our best was not enough this time," said a philosophical Coppins. "We've had so many good years in the past that we as a team and our supporters too all expect a top result now and that's sometimes hard to live up to. We'll be back next year."

The third New Zealand team rider was Queenstown’s Scotty Columb (Suzuki RM-Z250), the South Islander drafted into the squad at the last minute to ride the MX2 class, and his weekend was dogged by difficulty.

He suffered poor starts in both his combined MX1-MX2 and MX3-MX2 races and his problems compounded when he then also crashed in both outings.

His second crash was spectacular, with Columb colliding with a Japanese rider while the pair were mid-air over the circuit’s huge 40-metre finish line jump.

A battered a bruised Columb said afterwards he was extremely satisfied with his riding, despite the accident that cut short his day.

“I think I showed I was on the pace with some of the top GP riders. I only rode the bike for the first time yesterday … I usually ride a 450. Sure I’m disappointed but I gave it my all and that’s all you can ask.”

The United States team won the event for a record 19th time with Kawasaki trio James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto and Tim Ferry topping the podium ahead of France and Belgium, with host country Great Britain ending up fourth and Italy fifth.

Images: CDS
Words: Andy McGechan

Race results:

Race 1 (MX1 + MX2)
1 Stewart, James USA Kawasaki
2 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha (THOR)
4 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
5 Bill, Julien SUI Honda
6 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
9 Searle, Tommy GBR KTM
10 Villopoto, Ryan USA Kawasaki
11 Boissiere, Anthony FRA KTM
12 Reed, Chad AUS Suzuki
13 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
14 Monni, Manuel ITA Yamaha
15 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
16 van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL KTM
17 Metcalfe, Brett AUS Kawasaki
18 Tonus, Arnaud SUI KTM
19 Pyrhonen, Antti FIN Honda
20 Bradshaw, Neville RSA Honda
21 Facciotti, Colton CAN Yamaha
22 Krestinov, Gert EST KTM
23 Kullas, Harri FIN KTM
24 Rattray, Tyla RSA KTM
25 Columb, Scott NZL Suzuki
26 Nunes da Silva, Leandro BRA Honda
27 Arai, Hiroaki JPN Kawasaki
28 Chittaro, Manuel GER KTM
29 Klein Kromhof, Ceriel NED KTM
30 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Yamaha
31 Garcia Matos, Wellington BRA Honda
32 Medaglia, Tyler CAN Suzuki
33 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda
34 Larsen, Nikolaj DEN Suzuki
35 Gieger, Tarah PUR Yamaha
36 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
37 Karro, Matiss LAT Honda
38 Kitai, Yoshiki JPN Suzuki

Race 2 (MX2 + Open)
1 Villopoto, Ryan USA Kawasaki
2 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
3 Searle, Tommy GBR KTM
4 Cooper, Cody NZL Suzuki
5 Salvini, Alex ITA Suzuki
6 Osborne, Zach PUR Yamaha
7 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Yamaha
8 Byrne, Michael AUS Suzuki
9 Ferry, Tim USA Kawasaki
10 Metcalfe, Brett AUS Kawasaki
11 Monni, Manuel ITA Yamaha
12 Jorge Balbi Jr, Antonio BRA Honda
13 van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL KTM
14 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
15 Simpson, Shaun GBR KTM
16 Laansoo, Juss EST Yamaha
17 Klatt, Dusty CAN Kawasaki
18 Boissiere, Anthony FRA KTM
19 Seistola, Matti FIN Honda
20 Lozano, Alvaro ESP KTM
21 Tonus, Arnaud SUI KTM
22 Medaglia, Tyler CAN Suzuki
23 Karro, Matiss LAT Honda
24 Kullas, Harri FIN KTM
25 Rattray, Tyla RSA KTM
26 Chittaro, Manuel GER KTM
27 Brakke, Herjan NED Honda
28 Siegl, Daniel GER Suzuki
29 Jorgensen, Rasmus DEN Suzuki
30 Fitzgerald, Kerim RSA Honda
31 Wicht, Gregory SUI Yamaha
32 Livs, Davis LAT Yamaha
33 Garcia Matos, Wellington BRA Honda
34 Krestinov, Gert EST KTM
35 Gieger, Tarah PUR Yamaha
36 Kojima, Yohei JPN Suzuki
37 Kitai, Yoshiki JPN Suzuki
38 Columb, Scott NZL Suzuki
39 Larsen, Nikolaj DEN Suzuki

Race 3 (MX1 + Open)
1 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
2 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
3 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
5 Ferry, Tim USA Kawasaki
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
7 Bill, Julien SUI Honda
8 Reed, Chad AUS Suzuki
9 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
10 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Yamaha
11 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
12 Salvini, Alex ITA Suzuki
13 Simpson, Shaun GBR KTM
14 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
15 Facciotti, Colton CAN Yamaha
16 Lozano, Alvaro ESP KTM
17 Seistola, Matti FIN Honda
18 Bradshaw, Neville RSA Honda
19 Jorge Balbi Jr, Antonio BRA Honda
20 Pyrhonen, Antti FIN Honda
21 Cooper, Cody NZL Suzuki
22 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
23 Stewart, James USA Kawasaki
24 Osborne, Zach PUR Yamaha
25 Nunes da Silva, Leandro BRA Honda
26 Siegl, Daniel GER Suzuki
27 Kojima, Yohei JPN Suzuki
28 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Yamaha
29 Laansoo, Juss EST Yamaha
30 Livs, Davis LAT Yamaha
31 Wicht, Gregory SUI Yamaha
32 Jorgensen, Rasmus DEN Suzuki
33 Arai, Hiroaki JPN Kawasaki
34 Fitzgerald, Kerim RSA Honda
35 Klatt, Dusty CAN Kawasaki
36 Byrne, Michael AUS Suzuki
37 Brakke, Herjan NED Honda
38 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda

Final results MXON:
1 USA 26  
2 France 31  
3 Belgium 41  
4 Great Britain 42  
5 Italy 45  
6 Australia 55  
7 Spain 58  
8 New Zealand 63  
9 Switzerland 82  
10 Germany 96  
11 Finland 98  
12 Estonia 103  
13 Canada 107  
14 Brazil 113  
15 Republic of South Africa 117  
16 Latvia 143  
17 Japan 160  
18 Netherlands 164  
19 Puerto Rico 100  
20 Denmark 134