Mallory Park GP a Struggle for Coppins
As the FIM Motocross world championship completes the 6th round of the15 round series, Josh Coppins of the Factory Yamaha Monster team has lost ground in the MX1 title hunt after a luckless Mallory Park GP in the UK.
The Kiwi suffered first lap crashes in two motos which inevitably saw him have to fight his way from stone last in both races. Coppins had a further setback in moto 1 as he was recovering from his first spill he hit the dirt again after pushing hard through the pack. Once he settled into a race rhythm he managed to claw his way back to 11th spot on an extremely fast but technical Mallory Park circuit.
Trying to focus on a better start in moto 2 the first turn became a free for all with riders bumping elbows. Coppins lost some ground and then ran into a stalled rider and went down. After getting back on the track he had to stop again to remove a damaged fork guard before he could give chase to the pack. With the track conditions deteriorating, Coppins had a mammoth task to first catch the pack and then work his way as far up the field in the allotted 35 minutes. By the time the checkered flag was waved he had worked his way back to 12th.
“I’m happier with my riding and with my speed however I’m disappointed with my starts and how the races went. In the second moto I tried to work on getting a better start which I did but I got pushed wide in the first turn and then hit a stalled rider. It was mentally tough to have to come from behind again but I did the best I could and made as many points as possible. I’m a little happier with my riding now than with the past races but disappointed because the result doesn’t show it. I’m going to Italy at the end of the week to work with team so we can improve on some speed and some other settings and then I’m looking forward to going to France for GP7.” commented Coppins.
The spectacular circuit of St Jean d’Angely will welcome the next round of the MX GP series on the 14-15 of June.
Race results:
MX1 Race 1
1 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
2 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
3 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
4 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
6 Leok, Tanel EST
7 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
8 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha
9 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda
10 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
11 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
12 Priem, Manuel BEL Kawasaki
13 Noble, James GBR KTM
14 Schiffer, Marcus GER KTM
15 Nemeth, Kornel HUN KTM
16 Brown, Mike USA Honda
26 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Yamaha
MX1 Race 2
1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
2 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 Mackenzie, Billy GBR Honda
5 Leok, Tanel EST
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
8 Bill, Julien SUI Honda
9 Brown, Mike
10 Noble, James GBR KTM
11 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda
12 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
13 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
14 Priem, Manuel BEL
15 Leok, Aigar EST Yamaha
MX1 World championship standings:
1 Philippaerts, D. ITA 223
2 Ramon, Steve BEL 195
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL 175
4 Coppins, J. NZL 168
5 Mackenzie, B. GBR 159
6 Pourcel, S. FRA 151
7 Barragan, J. ESP 150
8 de Reuver, M. NED 138
9 Nagl, M. GER 132
10 Leok, Tanel EST 129
11 Desalle, C. BEL 95
12 Brown, Mike USA 87
13 Priem, Manuel BEL 83
14 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 80
15 Schiffer, M. GER 71
