Coppins World 2008 FIM Thread

**denill** · 11th August 2008, 07:28

Date: 10 August 2008

Press release:

Loket MX GP unforgiving to Coppins.

Yamaha Monster racer, Josh Coppins, has suffered a luckless outing at the 12th round of the FIM MX World championships at Loket in the Czech Rep. The unforgiving circuit does not carry any good memories for the New Zealander after a crash at last years event broke the Kiwi’s shoulder and MX1 title aspirations.

After a strong Saturday qualification, Coppins looked set on using the tricky and hilly circuit in his favour, however the first MX1 moto had only just started when Coppins was dealt a disasterous blow. A rock destroyed the pivot holding his goggle strap which meant that Coppins lost his goggles and only protection against the dangerous debris and dirt from his competitors back wheels. Coppins braved the pain and fought to keep his fifth position but with ten minutes to go he could no longer keep his pace with impaired vision and had to settle for 7th.

Going into the second moto, Coppins was at an immediate disadvantage with his eyes still weeping from the dirt and battering they had been exposed to. He had a good start and with a mistake by Barragan he then passed Belgian youngster Clement De Salle to take over third spot. Coppins was setting a good pace and with 6 laps to go he had just posted his fastest lap of the race when he hit false neutral and was flung over the bars with his bike landing on top of him. He managed to scramble from underneath and remount to join the race in 10th spot. Grazed and bruised Coppins never gave up and held on to 10th at the finish line.

“This place really doesn’t like me” admitted Coppins. “After the rock broke my goggles in the first moto I couldn’t see the lines properly with all the dirt and muck that my eyes were taking on. I couldn’t judge the braking points properly and I don’t know how I managed to hang on for forty minutes. I knew the second moto would be a battle but did not expect the bike to hit neutral and to be thrown over the bars. Of course I’m disappointed and but I’m happy to leave Loket behind - this place has not done me any favours.”

Before Coppins heads to Dublin, Ireland for round 13 on the 31st August he will take part in the Belgian champs at the former GP circuit at the ‘Keiheuvel’ this Friday.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1

1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

2 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

4 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

5 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki

6 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki

7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

9 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki

10 Nemeth, Kornel HUN KTM

11 Priem, Manuel BEL Kawasaki

12 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki

13 Anderson, Bradley GBR Suzuki

14 Boniface, Steve FRA Honda

15 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda

16 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha

MX1 Race 2

1 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

2 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki

3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

4 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

5 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

6 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki

7 Priem, Manuel BEL Kawasaki

8 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki

9 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

10 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

11 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki

12 Nemeth, Kornel HUN KTM

13 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha

14 Salvini, Alex ITA Suzuki

15 Anderson, Bradley GBR Suzuki

MX1 World championship standings:

Philippaerts, D. ITA 405

2 Ramon, Steve BEL 398

3 Coppins, J. NZL 370

4 Barragan, J. ESP 369

5 de Dycker, Ken BEL 369

6 Pourcel, S. FRA 344

7 Nagl, M. GER 327

8 Leok, Tanel EST 275

9 Mackenzie, B. GBR 257

10 de Reuver, M. NED 224

11 Desalle, C. BEL 215

12 Priem, Manuel BEL 197

13 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 159

14 Bill, J. SUI 148

15 Leok, Aigar EST 131

**k14** · 11th August 2008, 08:00

Gee, talk about a season to forget. I wonder if he is still gutted about last year that he may be past his best??

**denill** · 11th August 2008, 08:52

Originally Posted by k14

Gee, talk about a season to forget. I wonder if he is still gutted about last year that he may be past his best??

I know what you're saying and I may be just being the eternal optimist - but I have for the whole season, been expecting that JC's results are going to turn around and he will march to the world title. And still do.

**camchain** · 11th August 2008, 12:42

Competitor may have stashed a rock magnet on his bike (again). Always have to be careful about attributing bad result to bad luck, but this would have been very hard to take. Definitely bad luck! Still within striking distance of the title. Victory will be incredibly sweet after such a battle. I think he can do it.

**arj127** · 11th August 2008, 18:44

Theres only three rounds left, chances are slim i reckon.

Hope he makes it, but......

**paturoa** · 31st August 2008, 06:57

JC 10th fastest qualifier and 2 seconds off the pace, Scotty 26th.

**paturoa** · 1st September 2008, 07:36

Chin up dude!

9th moto 1 for 12 points and DNF moto 2.

Originally Posted by youthstream

The final moto was quite unfortunate for Coppins who sat out of the race due to a first lap tangle that damaged the front end of his machine.

12 points for the day dropping him to 5th overall now in the championship 59 points behind the lead.

Scott was 22nd and 25th, no points this round.

**Katoomer** · 1st September 2008, 12:53

2nd race he came into the pits to sort out something with his front wheel. The mechanics couldn't fix whatever it was so that was it.
Bummer for Josh but at least hes still healthy.
Maybe those front guys could have some his luck for a change

**paturoa** · 5th September 2008, 19:52

Heads up, racing this weekend.

I'm off to the Cold Kiwi so will catch up on Sunday night.

**paturoa** · 7th September 2008, 20:36

6th fastest in timed practice and scott 25th.

**arj127** · 8th September 2008, 06:43

4th and 6th, that should move him up the ladder a bit

**denill** · 8th September 2008, 08:41

Date: 7 September 2008
Press Release:

Coppins challenged in Dutch sand GP

The penultimate round of the FIM Motocross championship has seen an amazing performance by Yamaha Monster racer, Josh Coppins. The resilient Kiwi tried his best to conquer the treacherous Lierop circuit however he fell victim to the sadistic sand with one lap to go in the final moto.

After qualifying 6th in Saturday’s timed practice session, Coppins was sure of a good gate pick for Sunday’s two 35 + 2 lap motos. He managed to keep out of trouble in the start of the first moto and completed the first lap in 7th spot. After jostling for positions Coppins settled into a race rhythm and tried his best to reel in the front runners. He eventually fought his way into 4th behind fellow Yamaha team-mate David Philippaerts and finished the race strongly with some extra energy still in reserve.

Coppins displayed lightening reflexes in the second moto yet he was out-powered into the first turn by German Maxi Nagl and lost his advantage on the first lap. A crash; two laps later with Dutchman Marc De Reuver almost put an end to his outing but Coppins was far from done and rejoined the race in mid pack. While Belgian , Ken de Dycker and Philippaerts were battling out front, Coppins quickly gained momentum and started an amazing comeback. He posted lap times 4 seconds faster than the front runners and with just over 5 minutes to go he was up to 6th spot and closing fast. Within 3 laps Coppins went from 6th to second place and on the final lap was setting up de Dycker to take the lead when he hit a hay bale and went down. As some slight consolation, he managed to stay out of the track bunting and remounted to end 6th, making it 5th overall for the GP.

“I felt good enough to win here but it turned out to be another disappointing weekend. I rode steady in the first race and knew that I had plenty in the tank for the second race. I had some problems with a tear-off on the first lap which lost me a few positions and I then went down when I got caught up with Marc De Reuver. It took me a little while to get going again as I had used some energy to pick up the bike but then found my rhythm and caught up to second. I didn’t even know I was in second because the last pit signal I got said 7th place. The last lap I went to pass De Dyker by doubling round the outside like I did the lap before but I got cross rutted and hit the hay bale.” explained the New Zealander.

The final and deciding round of the 15 round series will take place next weekend in Faenza, Italy. With Coppins out of title contention he will still be looking to end off the season on a high note.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1

1 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda

2 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

4 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

5 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

6 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki

7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

9 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki

10 Schiffer, Marcus GER KTM

11 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki

12 Priem, Manuel BEL Kawasaki

13 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha

14 Roos, Patrick NED KTM

15 Columb, Scott NZL Suzuki

MX1 Race 2

1 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

3 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda

4 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki

5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

7 Schiffer, Marcus GER KTM

8 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

9 Priem, Manuel BEL Kawasaki

10 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha

11 Saris, William NED Yamaha

12 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki

13 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

14 Melotte, Cedric BEL Aprilia

15 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha

MX1 World championship standings:

1 Philippaerts, D. ITA 477

2 Ramon, Steve BEL 463

3 de Dycker, Ken BEL 452

4 Barragan, J. ESP 419

5 Coppins, J. NZL 415

6 Nagl, M. GER 394

7 Pourcel, S. FRA 392

8 Leok, Tanel EST 337

9 Mackenzie, B. GBR 293

10 de Reuver, M. NED 277

11 Desalle, C. BEL 263

12 Priem, Manuel BEL 245

13 Leok, Aigar EST 164

14 Bill, J. SUI 159

15 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 159