> Factory Yamaha Rinaldi racer, Josh Coppins, has posted a solid 2-2
> result at the Italian MX GP in Faenza to extend his MX1
> championship lead to 107 points. The Kiwi rode two smart races
> under scorching conditions, on a fast technical circuit only 2
> hours from the team’s base in Parma.
> >
> Locking elbows as the gate dropped for the first moto, Coppins lost
> his advantage of a good start and was in for a tough race. He was
> well out of the top ten on lap one as he tried to be patient and
> pick his passing lines. Championship rival, Steve Ramon, had an
> equally bad start and was losing ground as Coppins put his head
> down and started his attack on the very fast and technical Faenza
> circuit. By the halfway mark he had clawed his way back to 6th
> spot but it was the closing minutes of the 35 minute + 2 lap moto
> that were the most impressive. While the riders in front were
> tiring under the scorching heat, Coppins strung together his most
> effective laps of the race to rocket into second spot. Frenchman,
> Sebastien Pourcel, took his first career moto win with Coppins
> right behind, gaining valuable championship points over Ramon.
> >
> Certain not to make the same mistake as in the first moto, Coppins
> made sure of his jump and was just ousted out of the hole-shot by
> Italian, David Philippaerts. With Sebastien Pourcel sneaking by
> ‘Lizzard’ settled in third before planning his attack on
> Philippaerts. Ten minutes into the moto he made his move and kept
> Philippaerts at bay before pulling a comfortable gap to settle in
> second. Pourcel deservedly won the second moto with Coppins a few
> seconds adrift.
> >
> “I always come to every race trying to win. If I can’t do that
> then I need to make sure that I’m on the podium and that’s what
> I did today. I didn’t focus at the start of the first moto and
> changed a few things which I shouldn’t have – I tried something
> a little bit different but it didn’t work and that made it a
> really hard race for me. I had to push quite hard in the first
> moto and that cost quite a lot of energy but I thought rather give
> it 100% and have two solid races.” smiled a content Coppins.
>>
>
> The GP teams and riders will have a week’s break before heading to
> Loket in the Czech Rep for round 11 of 15.
>
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