Joshua Coppins fit to defend his championship lead

Yamaha Motocross Team’s Joshua Coppins will make his return this weekend for round 14 of the MX1 world championship held at the Donington circuit in the UK. The 30 year old Kiwi has recovered from his shoulder injury to take up the defense of his 12 points lead over Belgian Steve Ramon. With 100 points up for grabs the championship will most likely be decided at the last round scheduled at Lierop (NL) the weekend straight after Donington.

A CT scan made last Tuesday confirmed that Coppins’ shoulder has healed very well, enabling him to compete again and providing the confidence to start riding his YZ450FM for the first time yesterday since his unfortunate crash at Loket on the 29th of June.

In the period off the bike Coppins made sure he retained his strength and fitness by following an extensive training program consisting out of swimming, cycling, mountain biking, running and general fitness training. In fact the yesterday’s riding exceeded his expectations; “I rode the bike four times yesterday and apart from a bit of pain it went really well. I’m 100% in terms of fitness and strength, just down on riding time. But in a way that is also a positive thing because I feel really fresh now. I have trained so hard for this season that at times I felt a bit tired, but now after a month off the bike I feel very excited and eager to jump on again.”

Coppins expects that the participation of Cairoli could make a positive difference, as Antonio’s debut track at Donington will be hard packed; “Antonio is riding incredibly well this year, so who knows what he might be able to do, the circuit will suit his aggressive style and ability. Yet I feel totally able to be more than a match to Ramon, I won’t say I can win in Donington, but I’ll be very competitive for sure.’

‘I feel great and the doctor confirmed that the healing of the bone is going very quickly at this stage of my recovery, I’m already in the UK and will be riding a lot again today. Tomorrow I’ll make my way to the track where I will work with my medical team to get ready for the race. I expect no restrictions in terms of strength, fitness or movement come Sunday, just a bit of pain maybe, but that can be sorted if needed!”

www.joshcoppins.com