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Loket MX GP unforgiving to Coppins

Monday 11 August 2008, 1:10PM

By Josh "Lizzard" Coppins

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Josh Coppins
Josh Coppins Credit: CPS

Yamaha Monster racer, Josh Coppins, has suffered a luckless outing at the 12th round of the FIM MX World championships at Loket in the Czech Rep. The unforgiving circuit does not carry any good memories for the New Zealander after a crash at last years event broke the Kiwi’s shoulder and MX1 title aspirations.

After a strong Saturday qualification, Coppins looked set on using the tricky and hilly circuit in his favour, however the first MX1 moto had only just started when Coppins was dealt a disasterous blow. A rock destroyed the pivot holding his goggle strap which meant that Coppins lost his goggles and only protection against the dangerous debris and dirt from his competitors back wheels. Coppins braved the pain and fought to keep his fifth position but with ten minutes to go he could no longer keep his pace with impaired vision and had to settle for 7th.

Going into the second moto, Coppins was at an immediate disadvantage with his eyes still weeping from the dirt and battering they had been exposed to. He had a good start and with a mistake by Barragan he then passed Belgian youngster Clement De Salle to take over third spot. Coppins was setting a good pace and with 6 laps to go he had just posted his fastest lap of the race when he hit false neutral and was flung over the bars with his bike landing on top of him. He managed to scramble from underneath and remount to join the race in 10th spot. Grazed and bruised Coppins never gave up and held on to 10th at the finish line.

“This place really doesn’t like me” admitted Coppins. “After the rock broke my goggles in the first moto I couldn’t see the lines properly with all the dirt and muck that my eyes were taking on. I couldn’t judge the braking points properly and I don’t know how I managed to hang on for forty minutes. I knew the second moto would be a battle but did not expect the bike to hit neutral and to be thrown over the bars. Of course I’m disappointed and but I’m happy to leave Loket behind - this place has not done me any favours.”

Before Coppins heads to Dublin, Ireland for round 13 on the 31st August he will take part in the Belgian champs at the former GP circuit at the ‘Keiheuvel’ this Friday.

www.joshcoppins.com


Race results:
MX1 Race 1
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
5 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
6 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
9 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
10 Nemeth, Kornel HUN KTM
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Kawasaki
12 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki
13 Anderson, Bradley GBR Suzuki
14 Boniface, Steve FRA Honda
15 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda
16 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha

MX1 Race 2
1 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
2 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
4 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
5 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
6 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
7 Priem, Manuel BEL Kawasaki
8 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
9 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
10 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
11 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki
12 Nemeth, Kornel HUN KTM
13 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha
14 Salvini, Alex ITA Suzuki
15 Anderson, Bradley GBR Suzuki

MX1 World championship standings:
Philippaerts, D. ITA 405
2 Ramon, Steve BEL 398
3 Coppins, J. NZL 370
4 Barragan, J. ESP 369
5 de Dycker, Ken BEL 369
6 Pourcel, S. FRA 344
7 Nagl, M. GER 327
8 Leok, Tanel EST 275
9 Mackenzie, B. GBR 257
10 de Reuver, M. NED 224
11 Desalle, C. BEL 215
12 Priem, Manuel BEL 197
13 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 159
14 Bill, J. SUI 148
15 Leok, Aigar EST 131