Coppins on the podium in Balen

Josh Coppins enjoyed a solid performance at this past weekend’s Belgian Championship round 4, which took place on the rough and sandy Keiheuvel circuit in Mol, Balen. The ‘Kiwi’ pumped out three solid and consistent motos to place himself on the 3rd step of the podium.

The day started on a positive note for ‘Lizzard’ as he posted the 3rd fastest lap time in timed practice.

In the opening moto Coppins exited turn 1 just inside the top 10. Quickly finding his rhythm in the deep sand ‘Lizzard’ blasted his way through to 4th place by the end of the short race.

In the 2nd moto the Monster Energy Yamaha rider rounded up the opening lap in 4th place, and was racing hard with Nagle and Barragan. Quickly dropping Barragan, ‘Lizzard’ soon came under fire from Ramon who was fighting his way through. Lap after lap the two GP stars battled it out, however on the final lap Ramon got the upper hand, leaving Coppins in 5th place as they crossed the finish line.

In the 3rd moto Coppins was ready for the battle and was determined to get a good result. Rounding the first corner in 7th place behind Van Horebeek, Coppins very quickly started moving his way up through the international field of racers. Lap after lap ‘Lizzard’ scraped his way through, edging ever closer to the front. With just 2 laps remaining Coppins was into 2nd and hunting down current World Championship leader, Cairoli. As the chequered flag waved it was Cairoli who took the win, however Coppins had closed the gap to just 2.9 seconds. Crossing the line in 2nd rewarded Coppins with a well deserved podium.

Josh Coppins had this to say: “That was a good day, had fun in that last race. I feel stronger than ever in myself and look forward to Lierop now.”

Josh now prepares for the penultimate Grand Prix of the 2009 season which takes place in Lierop, Holland, at the end of this month.

Results

Race 1
1 DESALLE Clement
2 DE DYCKER Ken
3 BARRAGAN Jonathan
4 COPPINS Joshua
5 CAIROLI Antonio
6 ROOS Patrick
7 DE REUVER Marc
8 STRIJBOS Kevin
9 PRIEM Manuel
10 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy
11 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy
12 NAGL Maximilian
13 ROELANTS Joel
14 VAN DAELE Marvin
15 VAN NOOTEN Jurgen

Race 2
1 DESALLE Clement
2 DE DYCKER Ken
3 NAGL Maximilian
4 RAMON Steve
5 COPPINS Joshua
6 BARRAGAN Jonathan
7 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy
8 LEOK Tanel
9 ROOS Patrick
10 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy
11 CAIROLI Antonio
12 ROELANTS Joel
13 VAN DAELE Marvin
14 SALAETS Kristof
15 DE REUVER Marc

Race 3
1 CAIROLI Antonio
2 COPPINS Joshua
3 NAGL Maximilian
4 DESALLE Clement
5 DE DYCKER Ken
6 BARRAGAN Jonathan
7 ROELANTS Joel
8 ROOS Patrick
9 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy
10 VAN DAELE Marvin
11 STRIJBOS Kevin
12 RAMON Steve
13 SALAETS Kristof
14 LAEREMANS Bengt
15 MARTENS Yentel

Overall results:

1 DESALLE Clement 68
2 DE DYCKER Ken 60
3 COPPINS Joshua 56
4 CAIROLI Antonio 51
5 BARRAGAN Jonathan 50
6 NAGL Maximilian 49
7 ROOS Patrick 40
8 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy 36
9 ROELANTS Joel 31
10 RAMON Steve 27
11 VAN DAELE Marvin 26
12 STRIJBOS Kevin 26
13 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 22
14 DE REUVER Marc 20
15 SALAETS Kristof 19

Championship standings:

1 DESALLE Clement 270
2 DE DYCKER Ken 264
3 COPPINS Joshua 216
4 VAN DAELE Marvin 145
5 CAPS Patrick 111
6 ROELANTS Joel 107
7 VERBRUGGEN Dennis 95
8 RAMON Steve 85
9 CAIROLI Antonio 72
10 STRIJBOS Kevin 71
11 BARRAGAN Jonathan 70
12 PRIEM Manuel 70
13 DE REUVER Marc 69
14 LEOK Tanel 66
15 PHILIPPAERTS David 64