Coppins back on the podium with second in Faenza
By TMX Archives on 16th Jul 07
Yamaha Motocross Team's Joshua Coppins closed the second third of the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with runner-up position at a sun-soaked Monte Coralli circuit for the Grand Prix Citta di Faenza.
The 30 year old New Zealander guided his works YZ450FM to a pair of secondplaces in front of 29,000 spectators and under the heavy weight of near-40degree temperatures to return to the podium at the second home event of theseason for his Rinaldi team.
Monte Coralli had been the subject of a dedicated facelift from the club inorder to host their first premier class Grand Prix since the 1990s and the firstevent since the creation of the MX1 and MX2 categories in 2004. The track wasdwarfed by a long and fast uphill drag from the start gate that was onlyinterrupted by a narrow kink that made the section a perilous prospect. Thecourse was typically Italian with rock-hard and sometimes dusty terrainconstituting the fast and twisty layout.
Coppins, who was fighting fit again after feeling weak in Sweden two weeksago after suffering with flu, started slowly in the first moto but paced himselfexcellently. The New Zealander pulled through to second position from the lowerhalf of the top ten and passed former team-mate Ken de Dycker on the last lap totake the runner-up slot behind runaway victor Sebastien Pourcel. It was one ofthe best performances of the day.
In the second race the championship leaderstarted better and gave chase to Pourcel. For most of the moto Coppins was aloneand although he tried to close down the gap, the Frenchman was elusive. Withtitle rival Ramon struggling down in eighth position Coppins not onlyparticipated in his ninth podium ceremony of the season but extended hisadvantage by 18 points over the Belgian.
Marc de Reuver was unable to compete after complications from the leftshoulder he hurt in the heavy practice crash at the Grand Prix of Sweden twoweeks ago. The Dutchman had medical checks prior to travelling to Italy thatrevealed no damage to the joint but lacked strength in his arm during the firstfree practice session at Faenza and was in no condition to lap at speed orconsider the race.
Coppins fronts the world championship by 107 points andwith just five rounds and 250 points remaining. De Reuver is still fourteenth.
The eleventh round will start an intense run of four meetings in five weeksas the World Championship hurries towards it climax. The Grand Prix of CzechRepublic is next on July 29th and is followed by visits to Belgium, Ireland andthe UK to complete the month of August. The final GP of the year will occur inHolland on the first weekend of September.
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team:
"Every race I try to win and,like the team, I always do my best but if I cannot take the victory then I wantto be on the podium and that's what I did this weekend. I didn't focus at thestart of the first race and tried to do something different with my approachwhich was a mistake. It did not work and made it a hard race for me. I had to bepatient and could not attack too hard as there was nowhere to pass, but I soonfound some spots and I really pushed to get to the front. The second moto wasmore like normal but I had to pace myself a little bit. My worst race was Swedentwo weeks ago and I lost eight points there but I recouped those and more today.For me it is all about the big picture. I still have some goals left this yearand I want to win more but of course the championship is getting nearer."
Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team:
"The crash from Sweden wasreally hard and it was not about the pain this weekend because I can handle thatbut on the downhills the muscle on the back of my shoulder had no power and Icould not control the bike. We have made scans and everything but there was noproblem. I have a plate in my neck and there is nothing wrong with that so I ama little bit lost as to where the trouble might be."
Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team:
"Marc could notride because of too much pain with his left shoulder but Josh shone today. Hehad a fantastic ride in the first moto after a bad start and he came back verystrong to second position. He was in the first three for the second moto andtried for some laps to catch Pourcel but was not close enough for a finalattack. Second overall was very good though especially because the nearest guysto us in the championship had a bad day."
2007 GP of Faenza, Italy 15/07/2007
Race 1 - 22 Laps
1Sbastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 38'56.573
2 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'3.639
3 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'7.226
4 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'9.356
5Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'14.101
6 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'16.277
7 Julien Bill Honda CHE 0'19.546
8 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'35.468
9Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'38.093
10 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'39.626
11 James Noble Honda GBR 0'41.143
12 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'41.448
13 Manuel Priem TM BEL 0'51.177
14 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 0'53.057
15 Christian Beggi Honda ITA 0'57.445
16 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA1'1.776
17 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'5.955
18 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST1'14.056
19 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'18.509
20 Alessio Chiodi ApriliaITA 1'27.852
Race 2 - 22 Laps
1 Sbastien PourcelKawasaki FRA 39'38.053
2 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'4.413
3 BillyMacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'6.376
4 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'7.476
5 JonathanBarragan KTM ESP 0'9.288
6 Julien Bill Honda CHE 0'10.745
7 Tanel LeokKawasaki EST 0'25.927
8 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'29.295
9 Marvin VanDaele Honda BEL 0'35.660
10 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'42.629
11 JamesNoble Honda GBR 0'48.552
12 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'50.685
13 ManuelPriem TM BEL 0'58.123
14 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 1'4.748
15 DavidPhilippaerts KTM ITA 1'8.429
16 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'14.034
17 KevinStrijbos Suzuki BEL 1'17.080
18 Lauris Freibergs Yamaha LVA 1'18.687
19Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 1'21.247
20 Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 1'25.706
Rider Standings 15/07/2007
1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL445
2. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 338
3. Sbastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 285
4. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 278
5. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 272
6. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 256
7. Mike Brown Honda USA 255
8. KevinStrijbos Suzuki BEL 250
9. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 240
10. BillyMacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 218
11. James Noble Honda GBR 195
12. ManuelPriem TM BEL 155
13. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 152
14. Marc De ReuverYamaha NED 136
15. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 107
16. Gordon Crockard HondaIRL 102
17. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 93
18. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 84
19. Julien Bill Honda CHE 83
20. Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 65
Manufacturer Standings 15/07/2007
1. Yamaha 445
2.Suzuki 385
3. Kawasaki 353
4. KTM 351
5. Honda 331
6. TM 155
7. Aprilia 9