Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s Cody Cooper is content with his runner-up MX1 performance at Raymond Terrace’s season opening round of the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals.

The current New Zealand MX1 Motocross champion kicked off his season with a sub-par ninth place qualifying result, but throughout the day Cooper made vast improvements where it counts.

Cooper put together consistent results during the traditional two 30-minute moto format, earning his second place overall spot with a pair of third place moto finishes.

“My day started off a bit average in qualifying ninth, but we knew what we needed to do and prepared for the motos,” said Cooper.

“We improved each moto and I think we will keep improving from here in the coming rounds. I’m happy though and feel very comfortable already at this stage.”

Motul Pirelli Suzuki team manager Jay Foreman is satisfied with Cooper’s round one result, along with Matt Moss who also finished inside the MX1 top five for the team.

“We were able to get a very good amount of points today, which is always important at round one to get the series underway,” Foreman explained. “Qualifying didn’t go to plan, however it was satisfying to see Cody on the podium and Matt was impressive as well in finishing inside the top five for the weekend.”

Cooper currently sits 15 points behind round one winner Todd Waters as the series makes its way to Murray Bridge in South Australia for round two of the series on 28 April.