Rhys Carter with the holeshot

The 2012 Backflips supercross series is in the books and we have a set of new faces on the top step of the podium.

  
The opening round kicked off at the Backflips Supercross track in Timaru, and was run on a Wednesday. There were a number or riders who had made the trip from the North Island in every class, a good sign that the competition would be tough across the board.

The Backflips track had been groomed to perfection and the conditions were near perfect for racing. The sun was up and baking the track but some well-timed maintenance during the break, kept the dust to a minimum.

The racing programme started with the Man Vs Man battles, where the class was broken down to a series of one on one, single lap battles that would see an individual come out on top.

After these each of the four classes got a round of racing followed by the final two races in back to back format. These back to back motos would be a true test of the riders endurance.

The MX1 class saw the return of Cody Cooper and Justin McDonald, while 2011 champion Josh Coppins was not able to attend the opening round. The racing was close and Coops and McDonald provided some spectacular battles for the crowd. After winning one each Cody was able to take the win over Justin in the final moto after coming together early on, sending Justin over the berm.

Cody Cooper

Meanwhile in the MX lites class we had a bunch of new faces with Australian Geran Stapelton riding with Bell Ray Honda, South islander Scott Columb returning to the arena, and Rhys Carter from the North. The first moto went to the Australian, while Columb took the next two. Rhys carter had a mixed day but managed to climb back onto the podium for his final race after a shocking second moto.

The junior classes were full of action, With Josiah Natzke making his mark in both of the youth classes, and the only one to do the big triple on an 85cc. behind him Kyle Hartley of Winton was battling with Blake James of Broomfield. The 250 class was taken by Josh May while Backflips rider Josh Bartosh claimed two seconds before crashing out of the final moto.

Round Two of the series rolled around as the Backflips Supercross moved into Motueka. The track had received a few changes from the previous year, including a new woops section and some adjustment to one section in the middle.

By this time, Backflips rider Matt Haworth had arrived in New Zealand after a mix up saw him turned away from a flight due to an expired passport. With that minor detail sorted out he arrived from Aus the day after the opening round.

The MX1 class also welcomed back Josh Coppins who would not be able to defend his title from 2011 after missing Timaru.

The racing went off with Coops and Coppins swapping plastic all day. Matt Haworth rode well and got used to the pace of the Kiwis pretty quickly. He had some good battles with Matt Hunt but maintained fourth all day.

The MX lites class played to the same tune as Timaru with the same three on the podium throughout the day.

The junior 250 class saw Josh May take two wins before Backflips rider Bartosh took a win in moto three. Josiah Natzke took third all day, while in his other class, the 85cc’s Josiah took three wins, doing the main triple all day and occasionally the quad. Reece Walker became the youngest rider ever to do the back triple after seeing his mate Kyle doing it also.

Josh Bartosh

Then it was off to Taupo for the final instalment of the series. Run on a Saturday it was going to be a massive day with two practices, one qualifier and five motos for the day. The Taupo SX track has been going through some changes and remains a difficult one to pass on, its’ pumice like surface can cause problems with traction for the riders.

Matt Hunt, Nick Swanders & Brad Groombridge

The MX1 class saw Cooper take five wins from five starts and claim the overall SX title ahead of McDonald in second and Matt Hunt in third. Haworth got four 4ths behind Coppins after a fifth in the opening race. This gave him 7^th overall after missing one of the three rounds.

During the three NZ Championship scored rounds, The MX lites class saw three different winners with Rhys Carter taking the day with 1-2-2 results. However Rhys finished the series in third behind the young Australian Geran and series winner Scott Columb.

Backflips rider Josh Bartosh took second overall for the series after winning two of the three that counted for the series. He finished with just seven points behind first, Josh May. Josiah Natzke took third, an impressive effort as he was racing the smaller 110cc in an 85cc frame.

Josiah became the only rider to successfully defend his supercross title from 2011 by taking every moto in the Junior lites. Kyle Hartley took second in is first ever supercross season while third went to Cantabrian Blake James piloting the YZ 85.

We now look forward to a seriously talent stacked motocross season, kicking off with round one at the Backflips Motocross facility on the 12^th of February. With the return of some great riders and teams, from across the country as well as Backflips rider Matt Haworth returning from Australia with a new passport.

To check out more photos from the series click here http://www.facebook.com/backflipsclothing

Matty Haworth

Photos Care of MadMax Photography!

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