Josh Coppins Wins Opening Round of the 2007 FIM MX GP Series

Yamaha factory rider, Josh Coppins, has raced  to a superb overall victory at the first round of the FIM MX1 GP series in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands.

Coppins had a good gate jump in moto 1  and powered his way past  Belgian, Ken de Dyker, moments after the start to take the lead in front of 25 000 spectators.  De Dyker retaliated in the same lap with Coppins watching his every move from behind in second.  With 6 laps gone “Lizzard”  pressured the Belgian and took back the lead with De Dycker fading with every lap.   Coppins  posted fast and consistent lap times on the rough and technical sand circuit and took the checkered flag, over 15 seconds ahead of rival Steve Ramon, for his first GP win of the season.

The final decider would see team-mates Jonathan Barragan and David Philippaerts lead the start of second 40 min + 2 lap race with Coppins pursuing in third.   The Kiwi made his way past Italian, Philippaerts, however he lost  too much ground on  Barragan who succeeded in opening up a comfortable gap.  Coppins tried to close the deficit with a few minutes left on the clock but had to settle for a strong second and his first overall win in the 15 round series.

“This is a great start to the season.   I didn’t expect to be this fast in the sand but we have been putting in some hard work on the practice tracks and in the pre-season races and that has paid off here.  I took my time in the first moto to get past Ken as I knew he would not be able to run a fast pace for the entire race.  Once I was out front I controlled the race and won with quite a big gap.   The second moto wasn’t as easy and I tried to move in on Jonathan but he was riding really well so he deserved the win in the second moto.  I am happy for the Rinaldi Yamaha team -  we achieved more than our goal today,” explained an elated Coppins.

The second round of the MX1 GP series will move South to sunny Spain where the hard pack circuit of Bellpuig will see Coppins start with a 6 point lead.

www.joshcoppins.com

MX1 Results:

Race 1
1          Coppins, Joshua       NZL     Yamaha
2        Ramon, Steve BEL     Suzuki
3        de Dycker, Ken         BEL     Honda
4        Strijbos, Kevin          BEL     Suzuki
5        Barragan, Jonathan   ESP     KTM
6        de Reuver, Marc       NED    Yamaha
7        Nagl, Maximilian        GER     KTM
8        Nemeth, Kornel         HUN    Suzuki
9        Mackenzie, Billy        GBR     Kawasaki
10      Noble, James  GBR     Honda
11      Leok, Tanel    EST    Kawasaki
12      Leok, Aigar     EST    Yamaha
13      Pourcel, Sebastien    FRA     Kawasaki
14      Brown, Mike   USA    Honda
15      Meo, Antoine  FRA     Honda

Race 2
1        Barragan, Jonathan   ESP     KTM
2          Coppins, Joshua       NZL     Yamaha
3        de Reuver, Marc       NED    Yamaha
4        Strijbos, Kevin          BEL     Suzuki
5        Priem, Manuel BEL     TM
6        Ramon, Steve BEL     Suzuki
7        de Dycker, Ken         BEL     Honda
8        Noble, James  GBR     Honda
9        Brown, Mike   USA    Honda
10      Nagl, Maximilian        GER     KTM
11      Crockard, Gordon      IRL      Honda
12      van Daele, Marvin     BEL     Honda
13      Renet, Pierre A.        FRA     Honda
14      Leok, Tanel    EST    Kawasaki
15      Vanni, Julien   FRA     Honda

MX 1 championship standings:

1        Coppins, J.    NZL     47
2        Barragan, J.   ESP     41
3        Ramon, Steve BEL     37
4        Strijbos, K.     BEL     36
5        de Reuver, M. NED    35
6        de Dycker, Ken         BEL     34
7        Nagl, M.        GER     25
8        Noble, James  GBR     24
9        Priem, Manuel BEL     19
10      Brown, Mike   USA    19
11      Leok, Tanel    EST    17
12      Renet, P.       FRA     13
13      Nemeth, Kornel         HUN    13
14      Mackenzie, B. GBR     12
15      Crockard, G.   IRL      10