Joshua Coppins Fit To Defend His Championship Llead

United Kingdom 23/08/2007
Joshua Coppins Fit To Defend His Championship Llead

Yamaha Motocross Team’s Joshua Coppins will make his return this  weekend for round
14 of the MX1 world championship held at the  Donington circuit in the UK. The 30 year
old Kiwi has recovered  from his shoulder injury to take up the defense of his 12
points  lead over Belgian Steve Ramon. With 100 points up for grabs the  championship
will most likely be decided at the last round  scheduled at Lierop (NL) the weekend
straight after Donington.

A CT scan made last Tuesday confirmed that Coppins’ shoulder has  healed very well,
enabling him to compete again and providing the  confidence to start riding his YZ450FM
for the first time yesterday  since his unfortunate crash at Loket on the 29th of June.
In the period off the bike Coppins made sure he retained his  strength and fitness by
following an extensive training program  consisting out of swimming, cycling, mountain
biking, running and  general fitness training. In fact the yesterday’s riding
exceeded  his expectations; “I rode the bike four times yesterday and apart  from a
bit of pain it went really well. I’m 100% in terms of  fitness and strength, just
down on riding time. But in a way that  is also a positive thing because I feel really
fresh now. I have  trained so hard for this season that at times I felt a bit tired, 
but now after a month off the bike I feel very excited and eager to  jump on again.”

Coppins expects that the participation of Cairoli could make a  positive difference, as
Antonio’s debut track at Donington will be  hard packed; “Antonio is riding
incredibly well this year, so who  knows what he might be able to do, the circuit will
suit his  aggressive style and ability. Yet I feel totally able to be more  than a
match to Ramon, I won’t say I can win in Donington, but I’ll  be very competitive
for sure.’
‘I feel great and the doctor confirmed that the healing of the bone  is going very
quickly at this stage of my recovery, I’m already in  the UK and will be riding a lot
again today. Tomorrow I’ll make my  way to the track where I will work with my
medical team to get  ready for the race. I expect no restrictions in terms of strength,
  fitness or movement come Sunday, just a bit of pain maybe, but that  can be sorted if
needed!”