CODY COOPER WINS IN AUSTRALIAN MX NATIONALS

Taking full advantage of the combined conditions of weather and superb track preparation, Cody Cooper of No Fear Honda who took 1st overall in the Pro-Open Class on the day. Cheyne Boyd of CDR/Nokia Yamaha took 2nd place and series leader Dan Reardon of Kawasaki placed 3rd .

Cooper rode both Motos with a knee injury which he said did not actually affect his performance. "I only felt my knee once during Moto 1. Reardon went hard at the start but it felt like he slowed down a little after that. I felt great during the race, this is probably the fittest I've felt all year.

I've been working with Dave Borlase which I think has really helped me get on the right track."

In Moto 1, series leader Daniel Reardon stole the holeshot but ran into trouble in lap 13 when he came off at the bottom of a jump. Reardon was straight back on the bike despite looking dazed and by the end of the Moto was back to 3rd.

Cooper wasn't without his own problems either as his header pipe blew apart in the early laps.

However he was in fine form, never letting Reardon draw more than 2 to 5 seconds in front and taking full advantage of Reardon's mishap at lap 13. With his bike far from 100% Cooper forged on and took the win by 28 seconds ahead of Cheyne Boyd. Reardon was third, 48 seconds adrift.

Moto 2 was reported as 'a little mundane' as dominated by the same three riders but this time Reardon made no mistakes and led from start to finish, followed by Cody Cooper in 2nd and Cheyne Boyd in 3rd.

Reardon was quick not to use his flu as an excuse for any average performance, but conceded that he didn't feel himself.

Pip Harrison, Team Manager of No Fear Honda, was proud of all three of his riders. "Cody rode really well today. He injured his knee earlier so we were just hoping he did his best. I'm also very happy with Kade Mosig's performance for a 5th overall and Craig Anderson (defending champion) rode extremely well for 9th, especially considering this was his comeback round."

It was Cooper's second victory of the year and his 47 points haul has elevated him back up to 3rd. Daniel Reardon leads with 355, Daryl Hurley 295, Cody Cooper 284 and Jay Marmont 279.

The final two Rounds are The Lakes (NSW) on 5 August and Coolum (QLD) on 12 August.