The Suzuki brand stood proudly on the podium in both the main senior classes at the weekend’s 51st annual Woodville Motocross, thanks to stand-out performances from Moto City Suzuki team-mates Cody Cooper and Scotty Columb.

Fresh from winning their respective Senior Open class and Senior Lites (250cc) classes at the just-completed New Zealand Supercross Championships, Mount Maunganui’s Cooper (Suzuki RM-Z450) and Queenstown’s Columb (Suzuki RM-Z250) switched over to the outdoor style of racing to tackle the Woodville event at the weekend and straight away they were featuring near the front.

Cooper was beaten to the top step on the MX1 podium by fellow Bay of Plenty international Ben Townley, although Townley did have to give up the win to Cooper in the second of three MX1 motos on Sunday.

Cooper then battled his way to third spot in the Invitation International feature race, this time shaded by Townley and yet another Kiwi international, Motueka’s Josh Coppins.

But Cooper declared afterwards that he was “very pleased” with his afternoon.

“It was a good build-up to the nationals, which kick off in just under two weeks’ time,” said Cooper, the defending national champion in the MX1 class.

“It was a very technical track here at Woodville ... very challenging with so many ruts and the wind played a big part in the pacing too, catching the bike at the wrong moment on several occasions.

“But I got some great starts today. I have real confidence that I can grab the holeshot from almost anywhere on the start gate. I am really looking forward to the nationals now.”

His Moto City Suzuki team-mates, Columb and Mount Maunganui’s Rhys Carter, battled well in the MX2 class at Woodville, Columb finishing the day third overall and Carter settling for sixth. This class was won by Masterton’s Luke Burkhart, with Hamilton’s national MX2 champion Darryll King taking the runner-up spot.

Both Columb and Carter then surprise everybody by finishing fifth and sixth respectively in the all-capacity feature race, lacking horsepower against the 450cc riders but finishing 1-2 respectively among the smaller bike riders and making it three Suzuki riders among the top six in what was the highlight race of the event.

Moto City Suzuki team boss Andrew Hardisty said it was a “good, productive day” for the team.

“It was a great chance for us to develop a few things with the bikes and to gauge where we were at after changing settings from supercross to motocross mode.

“We are heading into the business end of the season now and we’re looking pretty good,” he said.

For further information contact Simon Meade, Motorcycle Sales Manager, simon@suzuki.co.nz.