Coppins on the podium in Latvia
By TMX Archives on 28th Jun 09
Josh Coppins looks to be back on form as he powered his Monster Energy Yamaha through the Kegums sand to take 3rd overall in the first ever Latvian Motocross Grand Prix. After putting on an invigorating display last week in the German GP, to tie for 3rd place, Lizzard' arrived in Latvia this weekend self-assured of getting up on the podium.
In Saturday's short qualifying race, Coppinsgot a reasonable jump out the gate, heading through the first turn just insidethe top 10. With the top 5 riders all still within striking distance of thisyear's MX1 championship everyone was pushing as hard as possible to get the bestpossible gate pick for the two Sunday GP races. Racing hard through the packCoppins clawed his way into 6th place, securing a good startingposition for Sunday.
As the gate dropped for the first moto onSunday the crowd watched in awe as the MX1 ‘field of stars' launched themselvesinto the first corner. It was de Dycker who got the early advantage, with Naglright on him. Coppins at this point was in 7th position fightinghard for track position with World Championship leader Cairoli. By lap 4 thedetermined Kiwi had managed to get up into 5th place, before losingthe battle to Cairoli and dropping back into 6th. The next person inthe ‘crosshairs' was team mate Philippaerts, Coppins wasted no time in huntinghim down and eventually getting past. ‘Lizzard' continued his forward momentumto the very end, crossing the chequered flag in 4thposition.
With the track getting really roughthroughout the day and the temperature rising, race 2 was going to be a show ofstrength, and an ultra-fit Coppins knew these conditions would give him theupper hand on many of the riders. With a slightly better start this time,Coppins rounded up the opening lap in 5th position, as he settledinto a good rhythm. On lap 5 ‘Lizzard' started to turn up the pressure on theother riders, at a point where all except Cairoli looked to be tiring. Coppinslooked fresh as he closed down and passed the competition one by one. By lap 14Coppins closed in on Desalle and made the pass for 3rd, then just onelap later did the same to de Dycker to take over 2nd position and puthimself on the podium for the Latvian GP.
"I enjoyed racing here in Latvia today”smiled Coppins. "My goal was to improve from Teutschenthal last weekend and Imanaged to do that today. I'm feeling strong and I know I have it in me to endoff the championship with a fight. There are some tough tracks coming up whichare going to sort the men from the boys – we saw it today as well. I'm lookingforward to Sweden as well. I have one there before and will be focusing on apodium spot once again.”
Next weekend Josh Coppins and the YamahaMonster Energy Team head to Sweden for Round 11 of the 15 round MX1 WorldChampionship.
Image: CDS
Raceresults:
MX1 Race 1
1 Desalle,Clement BEL Honda
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
3 Nagl,Maximilian GER KTM
4 Coppins,Joshua NZL Yamaha
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
6 Leok,Aigar EST TM
7 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
8 Aranda,Gregory FRA Kawasaki
9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
10 Campano,Carlos ESP Yamaha
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
12 Church,Tom GBR CCM
13 Carlsson, Johan SWE Suzuki
14 Steinbergs,Ivo LAT Honda
15 Terreblanche, Shannon RSA Kawasaki
MX1 Race 2
1 Cairoli,Antonio ITA Yamaha
2 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
3 deDycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
4 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
5 Desalle,Clement BEL Honda
6 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
7 Philippaerts,David ITA Yamaha
8 Leok, Aigar EST TM
9 Priem,Manuel BEL Aprilia
10 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
11 Dougan,Jason GBR CCM
12 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
13 Mackenzie,Bryan GBR Honda
14 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Yamaha
15 Leonce,Loic FRA Aprilia
MX1 GP Overall:
1 Cairoli,Antonio ITA Yamaha 47
2 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 41
3 Coppins,Joshua NZL Yamaha 40
4 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 35
5 de Dycker,Ken BEL Suzuki 34
6 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 30
7 Leok,Aigar EST TM 28
8 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia 22
9 Campano,Carlos ESP Yamaha 22
10 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 21
11 Leok,Tanel EST Yamaha 18
12 Church, Tom GBR CCM 13
13 Aranda,Gregory FRA Kawasaki 13
14 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Yamaha 12
15 Dougan,Jason GBR CCM 10
Mx1 World Championshipstandings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 385
2 Nagl, M. GER 328
3 Philippaerts,D. ITA 327
4 Coppins, J. NZL 314
5 Desalle,C. BEL 309
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 298
7 Leok, Tanel EST 270
8 Barragan,J. ESP 215
9 Leok, Aigar EST 167
10 Swanepoel, G. RSA 151
11 Vuillemin,D. FRA 137
12 Priem, Manuel BEL 117
13 Aranda, G. FRA 104
14 Mackenzie,B. GBR 103
15 Ramon, Steve BEL 100