Josh Coppins: The end of an era!
By TMX Archives on 14th Jan 11
WHEN Josh Coppins rode back to the paddock at Fermo, Italy, in September, an era came to an end; the 33-year-old Kiwi, the last survivor of the 20th century generation front-liners, had just capped his 16-year GP career with a seventh-place finish, his fifth consecutive top ten.
In typically forthright fashion, the best rider never to win a world title, admitted: "I've enjoyed it and I've been a lot more successful than I ever expected to be. I always wanted to be a world champion, but I didn't expect it. Coming from where I was to where I got to was already a big step. I had to go for the biggest goal, but I never thought I'd get this far, to be in the top ten in the world for over a decade. That's why I've been here so long.”
A COUPLE of weeks earlier we had looked back in the relaxed atmosphere of a Friday evening paddock about a career which had brought 11 GP wins, more than 50 podiums, four individual world championship medals and a decisive part in three Motocross des Nations medals.
What were the highlights?
"Definitely 2007 when I could basically win at will. I lost the championship (through injury) but in the actual racing that year I was really dominant. I could pick and chose the races I wanted to win, I got a big points lead, I was a little bit down in the middle of the season but I had set myself two special goals for the end of the year – to win Namur, and to win Lierop.
"I wanted to win Lierop because not many guys from outside Holland and Belgium had won it, and Namur has always been a pretty special place. In the end I never got the chance to win either of them after getting hurt one week beforehand – ironically one-year later I was winning Lierop, not even realising that fact, went over a berm and lost it.
"Desertmartin 2006 when I beat Stefan (Everts) was special too. That was pretty impressive and I still remind Stefan about that when we talk. He wanted that so much to maintain his unbeaten season and I was able to run him down, pass him and leave him. I'd come back from injury and that was all I had focused on, ending his unbeaten run. Not even ‘Bubba' (Stewart) beat him that year – and he had gone 24 for nothing in the States. But I managed to beat Stefan fair and square. I was pretty happy about that!”
The very first GP win at Gore Basin in 2004 must have been sweet too, having taken so long to come after a host of podiums?
"Yeah, that was nice, the first GP win. It had taken too long, and it was funny how it came because I was struggling that year and I said to Lisa: "I'm over this, let's go on holiday for a week.”
"So we did, I recharged my batteries and came back and won that race. And Ben Townley winning MX2 there as well made it extra-special.”
There must have been some lows too?
"Obviously losing the title in 2007, but there's no point in going over it all again. I had a 100-point lead with five races to go and the brake line got damaged. There was nothing I could do about it.
"The 2003 season was pretty bad too, when I got seriously injured in America. Every other injury I've been able to come back and be pretty strong on my first day back in action, but when I came back from that, I realised I had a long way to go.
"That knocked me round and I realised that I was going to have a limp, aches and pains for the rest of my life. Also I remember going mountain-biking my first time back training and I did an easy route I could have done with my eyes closed beforehand, and I nearly didn't make it home. From that day on I realised I had a big mountain to climb.
"It was really hard to take because I felt that I would have been up for it that year. And if there had been two of us – me and Pichon – showing them the way on two-strokes, who knows how the course of history could have been changed?
"In 2006 I was also up for it, until I got hurt three-weeks before the first GP, so that was disappointing, but 2007 was my year until we got to Loket. I'd had some good races there, it was just one of those things. The worst races were the ones which followed because I still kept on hoping, doing everything we could to get me back.
"I think England was the worst. I had planned on finishing the season really strong, my family was there at Donington. I had those races I wanted to win, and I had won at will earlier in the year. I wanted Lierop so bad, and to lose the championship, to not even ride there, was hard.”
So has it all been worth it? ...
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX JANUARY 14