Cooper flicks the switch in Oz MX

Suzuki's Cody Cooper won the sixth round of the 2010 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals in Wodonga (Vic) this afternoon, breathing life into a campaign that hadn't yet done justice to the New Zealander's mercurial talent.

Cooper won the opening two Open class motos, and then was fourth in the finale to finish the day with the overall honours ahead of Kawasaki's Billy Mackenzie (2-3-2), Yamaha duo Jay Marmont (4-5-3) and Cheyne Boyd (5-4-5) and KTM's Tye Simmonds (DNF-2-1). Simmonds wasa running second in race one before retiring with mechanical problems.

"The last few weeks have been massive for me and the team," Cooper said.

"I've been over here and we've been working so hard to get the bike right and getting me sorted and the entire team has done an amazing job.

"We made some changes to my program as well, and I'll even make some more changes as a result of today which will be even more positive.

"I'm pumped to be up on the top step and certainly hope to keep it this way for the rest of the Series."

Marmont retained his championship lead in Wodonga, and now sits 16pts (295 to 279) clear of Mackenzie, followed by Simmonds (275), Boyd (264), Dean Ferris (Honda, 264) and Cooper (255).

In the Lites class, KTM's PJ Larsen continued to run amok with three crushing victories, while Yamaha's Ross Beaton was the Under 19s victor but still trails KTM's Josh Cachia in the overall standings.

"I got three good starts on the concrete today, but the track was a little tricky and it was easy to make mistakes on," Larsen said.

"I just really tried to break away quickly, find my pace and just settle in for the ride.

"There's more that I could do in those first three laps, but I just need the pace to get a good gap and after that I just keep my eye on the guys behind me and set into a pace the same as theirs so they can't catch me!"

Round seven, the penultimate, will be held on July 18 in Moree (NSW).