Coppins 2009 World FIM Champ thread

[denill]

Date: 5 April 2009

Josh Coppins takes top step of the podium in Bulgaria

Kiwi motocross star, Josh Coppins , has traveled to sunny Bulgaria this past weekend for round 2 of the FIM Motocross World Championship. After the rain and deep mud in Italy a week ago, the Monster Energy Yamaha racer, was especially happy to be greeted by a perfectly prepared race circuit and weather conditions in Sevlievo.

Saturday’s qualifying race saw a super energized ‘Lizzard’ back on form. Having to fight back from a mediocre start, exiting corner 1 in 9th, Josh was on the gas as he battled bar to bar with team mate David Philippaerts. At the end of the intense 20 minute and 2 lap race Coppins had pushed his way through to 6th

Coppins was ready for heat 1 on Sunday and when the gate dropped his distinctive black and white race gear could be seen at the front of the charging pack as he launched towards the first corner. Completing lap 1 in 3rd position the New Zealander was in a great position, and in no time he pushed himself passed Max Nagl and into 2nd position. In his groove, the Coppins rode a smooth race until the end of the heat, crossing the finish line in 2nd position and claiming 22 valuable championship points.

Heat 2 was yet another great show up front, with Coppins positioning himself in the heat of the battle. He hounded German, Max Nagl with both riders setting a blistering pace. With 10 minutes to go, it was Coppins who took over the lead as he made his way past Nagl, however a fast charging Barragan in turn took moved to the front a lap later. This left a charging pack behind Coppins as he was trying his best to maintain his second position. At the end of a nail biting race Coppins crossed the finish line with another 2nd position, giving him the overall win for the day and putting him just one point off the lead in the MX 1 World Motocross Championship.

“This weekend it came together for me,” explained the delighted Kiwi. “I have been training really hard and my fitness is good – This has given me the confidence to ride hard. I was not the fastest rider out there today, but my starts were great and I rode very smooth, kept out of trouble, and got the results.”

Coppins will return to his home base in Belgium where he will have very little time to rest before heading to Turkey for round 3 next weekend.

Race results:

Heat 1 Results

1 de Dycker, Ken BEL

2 Coppins, Joshua NZL

3 Nagl, Maximilian GER

4 Barragan, Jonathan ESP

5 Philippaerts, David ITA

6 Leok, Tanel EST

7 Cairoli, Antonio ITA

8 Ramon, Steve BEL

9 Strijbos, Kevin BEL

10 Desalle, Clement BEL


Heat 2 Results

1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP

2 Coppins, Joshua NZL

3 Philippaerts, David ITA

4 Cairoli, Antonio ITA

5 Nagl, Maximilian GER

6 Leok, Tanel EST

7 Ramon, Steve BEL

8 de Dycker, Ken BEL

9 Mackenzie, Billy GBR

10 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA


Overall Results - Bulgaria

1 Coppins, Joshua NZL

2 Barragan, Jonathan ESP

3 de Dycker, Ken BEL

4 Philippaerts, David ITA

5 Nagl, Maximilian GER

6 Cairoli, Antonio ITA

7 Leok, Tanel EST

8 Ramon, Steve BEL

9 Vuillemin, David FRA

10 Desalle, Clement BEL


MX1 World Championship Standings after Rd 2

1 de Dycker, Ken BEL 60

2 Coppins, J. NZL 59

3 Leok, Tanel EST 55

4 Barragan, J. ESP 54

5 Nagl, M. GER 50

6 Philippaerts, D. ITA 48

7 Cairoli, A. ITA 48

8 Desalle, C. BEL 37

9 Ramon, Steve BEL 36

10 Leok, Aigar EST 23

[Reckless]

Shit HOT!!! Won the round and one point off the lead in the championship!! Well done!!

[denill]

Shit HOT!!! Won the round and one point off the lead in the championship!! Well done!!

Yeah! Could just be Josh's year. He says quietly..................

[thommo77]

Bloody brilliant! Go the Mot boy!

[Storm]

Go boy go !!

[camchain]

This is great news. There's a big difference in 'knowing' you can do it to Knowing you can do it. Can't beat results sheet where name at top of page. Good on the lizzard. Just the boost he's been badly wanting.

[kezzafish]

Torrent for round 2 Bulgaria
http://www.mininova.org/tor/2456705
real slow right now (1 seed) but i should have it by tonight and i'll seed it till tomorrow morning for anyone who wants it

[denill]

12 April 2009

Tough Turkish MX GP for Josh Coppins:

A historical first visit of the FIM Motocross championship to Turkey has seen Josh Coppins battle with the newly built Hezarfen race circuit in Istanbul. The Yamaha Monster Energy racer struggled to find form all weekend but did his best to remain in the MX1 title hunt.

A slow jump at the start gate of the first moto left Coppins having to take some risks in the first few turns. It paid off for the Kiwi as he emerged in 7th however a string of inconsistent laps relegated ‘The Lizzard’ outside of the top ten. Coppins finally settled and moved his way back up the standings to 8th but could not salvage any positions by the end of the race.

Knowing how important a good start would be in a stacked field, Coppins once again made the most of the first few corners in what seemed to be a carbon copy of race 1. The New Zealander made it as far as 5th before losing his rhythm and having to settle for 8th position again.

“It’s been one of the those days where you just have to concede, do the best you can and look forward to the next few races and get back into the title hunt. I didn’t gel with the track at all and with such a strong field of riders, 8th was the best I had in me. I battled to find the speed all weekend and although I could put in a hot lap it was difficult to string them together for the entire race. I’m looking forward to Valkenswaard as it will be a change of surface and it’s somewhat of a home GP for me being close to my home base in Belgium” commented a disappointed Coppins.

The ‘Eurocircuit’ will see a drastic change in underground as round four of the fifteen round series will take place on the 25-26th of April in the Valkenswaard sand, close to Eindhoven.

Results:

MX1 Race1

1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

2 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

3 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Honda

4 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

5 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

6 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

7 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

8 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

9 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda

10 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki

11 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

12 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda

13 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia

14 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda

15 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia

MX1 Race 2

1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

2 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

3 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

5 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha

6 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM

7 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Honda

8 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

9 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda

10 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki

11 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki

12 Noble, James GBR Suzuki

13 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

14 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki

15 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia

16 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

MX1 GP Overall:

1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

2 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

MX1 World championship standings:

1 Cairoli, A. ITA 98

2 de Dycker, Ken BEL 94

3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 88

4 Coppins, J. NZL 85

5 Barragan, J. ESP 83

6 Ramon, Steve BEL 78

7 Leok, Tanel EST 73

8 Nagl, M. GER 73

9 Desalle, C. BEL 61

10 Strijbos, K. BEL 50

11 Vuillemin, D. FRA 40

12 Swanepoel, G. RSA 34

13 Leok, Aigar EST 32

14 Noble, James GBR 27

15 Pourcel, S. FRA 26

[paturoa]

Bummer, still, 26 points keeps the water boiling.

Cairoli had a stormer 1, 1.

Just noticed there are no Ausies in the champs.

[kezzafish]

check this cool little vid of josh on Freecaster... Has he got a book coming out or something? a DVD maybe?

http://freecaster.tv/mx/1007441/snak...re-year?page=5

Oh and this big interview from last year

http://freecaster.tv/mx/1004470/josh...erview?page=24

[paturoa]

sand sand and more sand!

[paturoa]

3rd in qualifying and ahead of all title contendors.

[paturoa]

11 and 5th, his best lap times were 1 to 2 seconds behind the main competition so must have been hard in the sand.

[denill]

Date: 26 April 2009
Coppins racks up steady points in Valkenswaard

Josh Coppins made a short trip up the road from his Belgian base to Round 4 of the World Motocross Championship which took place in Valkenswaard in the Netherlands this past weekend.

Racing started well for Josh on Saturday as a good start in the qualifying heat put him in the leading pack rounding up lap 1. Riding a smooth race ‘Lizzard’ brought home his YZ450FM in 3rd position, giving a great gate pick for Sunday’s main races.

As heat 1 got underway on Sunday it was hard to tell who would come out the first corner in front as a group of riders went down in the first turn mayhem. Luckily Coppins came through un-scathed and in 7th position. He battled back and forth jockeying for position with a number of different world class MX1 riders as they all battled it out for vital points in this championship that stands wide open. At the end of a tough race 1 ‘Lizzard’ crossed the finish line jump in 10th position, somewhat disappointed with his result.

Heat 2 was an even better start for the flying Kiwi as his distinctive black Yamaha rounded up the opening lap in 4th place as Steve Ramon hounded his back wheel. An epic battle ensued with a hand full of riders fighting for every last second around the rough sandy circuit. Doing his best to maintain position Coppins was able to hold on for a 5th position at the end of the grueling 35 minute and 2 lap race.

“Today was disappointing for me.” admitted a frustrated Coppins. “I was not able to push hard because I am not physically at 100% and still need to reach my full potential. I had to just ride for points rather than being able to race hard for a win. That disappoints me. In the coming weeks I hope to get myself back to 100% again and then I know I can do the whole team justice.”

Coppins will contend the opening round of the Belgian MX Championship next Friday before heading to Portugal a week later for round 5 of the FIM MX world championship.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
2 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda
3 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
5 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
6 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
7 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Honda
8 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
9 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
10 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
11 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
12 Melotte, Cedric BEL Honda
13 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
14 Noble, James GBR Suzuki
15 Anderson, Bradley GBR Honda

MX1 Race 2
1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
2 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
3 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
4 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Honda
5 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
6 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
8 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
9 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
10 Leok, Aigar EST TM
11 Krestinov, Gert EST KTM
12 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
13 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki
14 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
15 van Vijfeijken, Rob NED Yamaha

MX1 GP overall:
1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM 45
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 45
3 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 38
4 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Honda 32
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 30
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 27

MX1 World championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 143
2 Barragan, J. ESP 128
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL 124
4 Philippaerts, D. ITA 118
5 Coppins, J. NZL 112
6 Leok, Tanel EST 111
7 Ramon, Steve BEL 100
8 Nagl, M. GER 87
9 Desalle, C. BEL 86
10 Strijbos, K. BEL 82
11 Leok, Aigar EST 48
12 Vuillemin, D. FRA 48
13 de Reuver, M. NED 45
14 Swanepoel, G. RSA 43
15 Mackenzie, B. GBR 42

[paturoa]

I thought he was at peak fitness and has a new trainer this year. Is he carring an injury?