Coppins Wins Spanish MXGP
Factory Yamaha Rinaldi rider, Josh Coppins, has dominated the second round of the FIM Motocross World championships in Bellpuig, Spain. Rain showers on Saturday forced organizers to cancel the qualification sessions which meant riders only had an a combined warm up and timed training session to get accustomed to the muddy circuit.
Coppins posted second fastest time and rolled onto the line for the first moto with confidence. He just missed out on the hole-shot to American, Mike Brown, however it didn’t take the Kiwi long to take over the lead and build a comfortable cushion. Coppins controlled the race from the front and took the first victory with 20 seconds to spare.
Powering his YZ450F to the hole-shot in moto 2, Coppins was unchallenged as he put his head down and once again worked on a steady lead. A faultless ride saw the New Zealander cruise to his first double victory of the season to take maximum points.
“I’m really happy with the result today. After Valkenswaard we worked on a whole bunch of little things and these have definitely helped. The Yamaha has been really awesome on the hard circuits so I came into this race with a lot of confidence and a good feeling. The weather made the track conditions difficult and one-lined and I knew it was important to get a good start. I need to stay focused and take this momentum through to Portugal next weekend” explained Coppins.
Coppins will return to Belgium for a few days before heading to Agueda in Portugal with a 19 point lead in the MX1 World championship.
Race results:
MX1 Race 1:
1 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
2 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
3 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
4 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
5 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
7 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
8 Philippaerts, David ITA KTM
9 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
10 Noble, James GBR Honda
11 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
12 Brown, Mike USA Honda
13 Coulon, Cyrille FRA Honda
14 de Reuver, Marc NED Yamaha
15 Allier, Thomas FRA Kawasaki
MX1 Race 2
1 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
3 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
4 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
5 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Kawasaki
6 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
7 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
8 Philippaerts, David ITA KTM
9 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
10 de Reuver, Marc NED Yamaha
11 Allier, Thomas FRA Kawasaki
12 Priem, Manuel BEL TM
13 Brown, Mike USA Honda
14 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha
15 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
MX1 World championship standings:
1 Coppins, J. NZL 97
2 Strijbos, K. BEL 78
3 Barragan, J. ESP 74
4 Nagl, M. GER 63
5 Ramon, Steve BEL 63
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 61
7 de Reuver, M. NED 53
8 Leok, Tanel EST 43
9 Noble, James GBR 40
10 Brown, Mike USA 36
11 Pourcel, S. FRA 36
12 Mackenzie, B. GBR 29
13 Priem, Manuel BEL 28
14 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 27
15 Philippaerts, D. ITA 26
