Tough Swedish MX GP for Coppins
Monday 7 July 2008, 4:48AM
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Mixed weather conditions have seen Yamaha Monster racer, Josh Coppins, fight to stay in the MX1 championship hunt.
The New Zealander suffered crashes in both motos at the picturesque circuit of Uddevalla in Sweden, and with track conditions making it harder on the Kiwi to come through the pack, Coppins had to settle with 10th overall for the GP.
Scattered rain showers made the slippery underground unpredictable for the riders, and from the start of the first moto, Coppins had his work cut out for him. He spun on the startgate and exited the first turn way down the field. He could not avoid a fallen rider on the opening laps and got caught up in the mayhem and crashed. With track conditions making it difficult to pass Coppins did all he could to limit the loss of points and pushed up to 13th spot by the end of a difficult race.
Knowing that the start would be detrimental for a good result, Coppins had a great jump but was cut off by Spaniard Jonathan Barragan in full speed down the start straight. A few turns later Coppins was down in the dirt and once again had a mammoth task ahead. He fought for every position and passed Billy MacKenzie on the last lap to secure 5th spot.
“It’s been a tough day at the office.” admitted Coppins. “I missed my start when I spun off the gate and then ran into the back of Loic Leonce when he crashed in front of me on the second lap. I re-started more or less last and worked my way through the field. It was hard to pass, one lined and really tricky. I improved on my start in the second moto but then got pushed wide and lost some places. I pushed too hard to get to the front too quickly and went down in the fourth turn. I’m pretty disappointed because my riding was good, I knew the starts would be tough on the gravel behind the gate. You need a little bit of luck and there is no technique involved in it. I lost a lot points and I just need to focus on the next race and not think about the championship. When I had the bad starts I was thinking about trying to win and not thinking about having a good race. That’s something I need to change for next time.”
With a welcomed week’s break in the 15 round series, the GP teams and riders will head to the continent of Africa for the South African GP in Nelspruit for round 9 on the 20th July.
Race results:
MX 1 Race 1
1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
2 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda
3 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
4 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
6 Boniface, Steve FRA Honda
7 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
9 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
10 Bill, Julien SUI Honda
11 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
12 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
13 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
14 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha
15 Noble, James GBR KTM
MX1 Race 2
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
3 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
4 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
5 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
6 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
7 Bill, Julien SUI Honda
8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
9 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
10 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
11 Boniface, Steve FRA Honda
12 Nemeth, Kornel HUN KTM
13 Noble, James GBR KTM
14 Church, Tom GBR Kawasaki
15 Correira, Luis POR Suzuki
MX1 World championship standings:
1 Philippaerts, D. ITA 302
2 Ramon, Steve BEL 290
3 Coppins, J. NZL 286
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL 266
5 Pourcel, S. FRA 241
6 Barragan, J. ESP 239
7 Nagl, M. GER 213
8 Leok, Tanel EST 209
9 Mackenzie, B. GBR 205
10 de Reuver, M. NED 178
11 Desalle, C. BEL 162
12 Priem, Manuel BEL 137
13 Bill, J. SUI 131
14 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 115
15 Brown, Mike USA 107