Cooper continues fine form
BY JEM ANSHAW
The proof is in the results – track time is helping Cooper Norman hone his speedway craft.
A fortnight ago he took the feature win at Archerfield in Queensland on a night when keeping his eyes forward proved to be the trick.
The first heat Cooper said was a bit of an eye opener, having never been to the track before and finding it longer than others he has previously raced at.
He started seventh and moved up one place by the finish, between the heats some changes were made to the car set up.
“We started second, got a good start and then we stayed in second the rest of the race,” the Murrurundi teen shared.
Come the feature there was an 11 car Junior Formular 500 field and Cooper was starting from position 2.
“When the flag dropped, we got a jump off the start and the inside shouldered to the first corner,” Cooper recalled.
“But before we went out dad said if she is still there on the bottom, come into the corner and hold it flat around the top, and then we just got a drive around the outside.
“By the third lap we were a quarter of the track in front of everyone and we were lapping cars.”
Right on his tail for the race was fellow Hunter junior Kobi Wright from Muswellbrook who finished second in the feature.
“It felt good, but the whole time I felt like Kobi was right behind me and I was just holding it flat because I didn’t want to lose first,” Cooper said of the race.
Cooper’s family are staunch supporters of his racing, with his dad Brett and two younger siblings being at the track for his races and this trip was no different.
They made the drive to Victoria last weekend with the hopes of getting in two race meetings while there, but the first at Warrnambool was washed out.
On Saturday night Cooper ran at Blue Ribbon Speedway in Horsham where he placed first and fourth in the heats and third in the feature.