Coppins makes most of Portuguese MX GP

The 4th round of the FIM Motocross world championships saw mixed weather conditions play a roll in Agueda Portugal over the weekend. Factory Aprilia racer Josh Coppins, made the most of the tricky track conditions after rainfall on Saturday threatened to turn the well groomed Agueda circuit into a quagmire.

A derailed chain forced the Kiwi out of the 20 min qualifying race on Saturday, however as mid morning sunshine dried the track on Sunday, Coppins was determined to make the most of his wide starting position. A faulty start gate had riders on edge as the first moto start was red flagged with officials doing their best to repair the problem. The restart went smoothly however ‘Lizzard’ was caught in the second half of the pack as he tried to jockey for positions. Battling to find his true race rhythm, Coppins broke into the top 20 and picked off a few positions as the clock ticked by. 17th place was the best that the Kiwi could produce in track conditions that were difficult to pass on.

With clouds clearing and track conditions drying out fast, the second moto would make for some exciting racing. ‘Lizzard’ once again had his work cut out with his wide starting gate, however he put in some aggressive opening laps and pushed through to 10th place around the halfway mark. A good battle with Belgian, Steve Ramon and Frenchman, Sebastien Pourcel would see the trio trading positions as they caught a tiring Davide Guarneri with a lap to go. Pourcel got by the Italian however Coppins ran out of time but managed to keep Ramon at bay to cross the line in 11th.

“Today was always going to be difficult from where I was placed on the start gate” explained Coppins. “The first moto was not good at all and I just couldn’t seem to get going and battled the entire moto. The second moto was much better for me and I really enjoyed the rough lines and tricky sections. I seemed to flow better and was pleased with my speed and result.”

Coppins heads to Bellpuig, Spain next weekend for round 5 in the 15 round series.

Race results:

Mx1 Race 1
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki
5 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM
6 Leok, Tanel EST Honda
7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
8 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
9 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda
10 de Reuver, Marc NED Suzuki
11 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
12 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
13 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM
14 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Kawasaki
15 Guarneri, Davide ITA Honda
17 Coppins, Joshua NZL Aprilia


MX1 Race 2
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM
2 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Yamaha
4 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki
5 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
6 Leok, Tanel EST Honda
7 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda
8 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
9 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
10 Guarneri, Davide ITA Honda
11 Coppins, Joshua NZL Aprilia
12 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
13 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
14 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
15 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM
16 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Honda

Mx1 GP Overall:
1 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki 44
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA KTM 41
3 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 41
4 Boog, Xavier FRA Kawasaki 36
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 33
6 Leok, Tanel EST Honda 30
7 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS Honda 26
8 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki 25
9 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki 23
10 de Dycker, Ken BEL Yamaha 20
11 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM 18
12 Guarneri, Davide ITA Honda 17
13 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki 16
14 Coppins, Joshua NZL Aprilia 14
15 Boissiere, Anthony FRA TM 14
16 de Reuver, Marc NED Suzuki 13
17 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Kawasaki 7
18 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Honda 6


Mx1 Championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 179
2 Nagl, M. GER 161
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 133
4 Ramon, Steve BEL 124
5 Desalle, C. BEL 123
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 114
7 Boog, Xavier FRA 106
8 Leok, Tanel EST 96
9 Bobryshev, E. RUS 79
10 Pourcel, S. FRA 75
11 Guarneri, D. ITA 73
12 Coppins, J. NZL 63
13 Albertson, J. USA 59
14 Swanepoel, G. RSA 57
15 Barragan, J. ESP 56

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