Words and photos: Andy McGechan/bikesportnz.com
It was case of close but yet so far
for Team NZ at the 71st annual MXoN
W
hile 21st overall was a slight step
down from what the Kiwis had
achieved in 2016, it was still
a courageous effort from
Team New Zealand at this
year’s 71st annual edition of
the Motocross of Nations
in the United Kingdom.
It started off quite badly for
the Kiwi trio – Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper,
Takaka’s Hamish Harwood and Tauranga’s Josiah
Natzke – who qualified 20th of the 38 teams
present this year and, depressingly, they were
therefore forced to race in the “last chance
qualifier,” the B Final first thing on Sunday morning.
Cooper (Honda) finished 12th in his MXGP
qualifier, the race won convincingly by Slovenian
Tim Gajser. Natzke (KTM) was next up on the
programme and he battled back bravely after
a crash early in his MX2 class qualifying race to
finish 23rd, that race won narrowly by American
rider Zach Osborne, who stole the lead from