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TITLES TO KING, COOPER AND PRUMM
There was action all day yesterday and some very brave last ditch attempts to take out titles at Rotorua in the ultimate round of the 2005 SSANGYONG NZ MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP.
Luke Burkhart, Suzuki (Masterton) came closest to working the oracle. Placed eleven points in arrears of Shayne King, Honda (New Plymouth) at the start of the day. However, Burkhart didn’t have the best of days crashing in race one and race three. King took out the title for the fourth consecutive year. Cody Cooper, Honda (New Plymouth) retained third placed just ahead of Rotorua’s local Michael Phillips, Kawasaki.
Cody Cooper, Honda, won back his National 125cc title after being placed second last year. Cooper won eleven out of the twelve races being one of the most consistent riders throughout the series. Scott Columb, Suzuki, (Queenstown) MNZ High Performance Squad Member was placed second overall in the series, Columb heads to the UK today to start preparing to compete in their Supercross Series. Damien King, Yamaha (Cambridge) secured third placed overall in a tough battle through-out the series with Blake Gillard, KTM, (Auckland) finishing fourth, Gillard also finished fourth in the World Junior Motocross Championship in Europe earlier this year.
The 500 title stays in Shayne King’s trophy cabinet, the former world champion produced three wins yesterday on the technical Rotorua track. King now has 30 NZ Titles to his name. Team mate and previous 500cc Champion Corrie Sargent (Wellington) did enough yesterday to secure second place overall four points ahead of Yamaha’s Mason Phillips (Te Puke).
Run for the second time in conjunction with the men’s championship, the Women’s Open Title produced a clean sweep for Katherine Prumm (Pukekohe) – the 17 year old maintained a 100% win record throughout and was the only rider to achieve maximum points. Honda’s Mary Perkins had a consistent series to finish second overall. Youngster Nikki Scott, Yamaha, (Palmerston North) finishing third.
