Coppins Strikes Back to Win Italian GP

New Zealand’s MX1 star, Josh Coppins, has bounced back to win both moto’s of the Italian GP in Mantova. The Factory Yamaha Rinaldi rider used good starts and smart riding  to extend his lead in the FIM MX1 world championship series.

With arguably one of the most exciting MX1 opening laps in history, the sellout Italian crowd were on their feet. Coppins lost some positions while the dog fight ensued up front and smartly kept out of trouble. Crowd favourite, David Philippaerts and Marc de Reuver, tangled in the fight and went down, allowing  Coppins to make a move on Belgians Strijbos and De Dyker to take the lead.  De Dycker retaliated  but Coppins quickly stamped his authority on the race and took control to the checkered flag.

Track conditions were considerably tougher in the second moto but Coppins was placed well at the start and took his time in getting past, fast starter, Mike Brown. “Lizzard” seemed to be settling into a good rhythm when a challenge from Ken De Dycker caught him off guard.  Using his head, the Kiwi  regrouped and re-passed the Belgian with five minutes left on the clock to cruise to a double victory, his second of the season.

“It’s no secret that I don’t like this track and it was pretty obvious yesterday.  I worked really hard with the team. The Yamaha Rinaldi guys were very smart in making some decisions for me. We really improved the bike over the two days. I knew my race pace was good – I just couldn’t go that little bit extra to put the whole lap together so I had to be a little bit smart and fight to the end. The first moto was crazy – a lot of guys were trying to win the race in the first ten minutes but I just let them do their own thing.  This is probably my best win ever. I kept a cool head and played it smart and did better than ever expected.” commented Coppins.

Coppins heads round 5 in Teutschenthal, Germany next weekend, with a 36-point advantage over championship rival Kevin Strijbos.

http://www.joshcoppins.com/

Race results: 

MX1 Race 1

1          Coppins, Joshua       NZL     Yamaha

2        Leok, Tanel    EST    Kawasaki

3        Strijbos, Kevin          BEL     Suzuki

4        Pourcel, Sebastien    FRA     Kawasaki

5        Noble, James  GBR     Honda

6        Mackenzie, Billy        GBR     Kawasaki

7        Ramon, Steve BEL     Suzuki

8        Crockard, Gordon      IRL      Honda

9        Philippaerts, David     ITA     KTM

10      Nemeth, Kornel         HUN    Suzuki

11      Desalle, Clement       BEL     Suzuki

12      Priem, Manuel BEL     TM

13      Leok, Aigar     EST    Yamaha

14      Brown, Mike   USA    Honda

15      Bill, Julien       SUI     Kawasaki

 

MX1 Race 2

 

1          Coppins, Joshua       NZL     Yamaha

2        de Dycker, Ken         BEL     Honda

3        1de Reuver, Marc      NED    Yamaha

4        Pourcel, Sebastien    FRA     Kawasaki

5        Ramon, Steve BEL     Suzuki

6        Leok, Tanel    EST    Kawasaki

7        Noble, James  GBR     Honda

8        Strijbos, Kevin          BEL     Suzuki

9        Brown, Mike   USA    Honda

10      Barragan, Jonathan   ESP     KTM

11      van Daele, Marvin     BEL     Honda

12      Crockard, Gordon      IRL      Honda

13      Leok, Aigar     EST    Yamaha

14      Renet, Pierre A.        FRA     Honda

15      Pyrhonen, Antti        FIN     Kawasaki

 

MX1 Championship standings:

1          Coppins, J.    NZL     194

2        Strijbos, K.     BEL     158

3        Ramon, Steve BEL     116

4        de Dycker, Ken         BEL     106

5        Pourcel, S.     FRA     103

6        Barragan, J.   ESP     100

7        Leok, Tanel    EST    98

8        Noble, James  GBR     91

9        Brown, Mike   USA    81

10      de Reuver, M. NED    80

11      Philippaerts, D.         ITA     74

12      Priem, Manuel BEL     70

13      Nagl, M.        GER     63

14      Nemeth, Kornel         HUN    62

15      Mackenzie, B. GBR     61