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New Zealand\'s top motorcycle racer Josh Coppins has stormed the first race of the European season, grabbing an unchallenged second place behind his top-rated Suzuki teammate in France.
At the demanding Saint Lo circuit, venue of a traditional pre-season warmup for the world motocross champs, the kiwi expat secured three solid second placings on the day.
The Motueka-born 23-year-old was bettered only by the other star from the Suzuki Corona team, Frenchman Mickael Pichon.
The squad\'s dynamic 1-2 throws down the challenge to rival teams in the premier 250 class with just a month to go until round one of the 15-event championship in Spain.
Last year Honda\'s top rider relegated Pichon to second in the title hunt while Coppins, in just his first season as a factory rider, took fourth behind a Kawasaki.
\"It\'s still early days but this is just the start I need to push on up the ladder,\" said the mature Kiwi.
\"I trained hard in New Zealand over Christmas and we\'ve been doing a lot of work since I got back to Europe . now we\'re starting to see the results.
\"The new Suzuki is great, it went really well last year as a brand new model and now the engineers have developed it further.
\"I just can\'t wait to get to Spain and into the season,\" Coppins said.
Changes to the championship calendar see events at Catalunya on 18 March and Holland 1 April before the only southern hemisphere round at Broadford in Australia on Easter Sunday 15 April.
