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In one of the most remarkable fightbacks of his illustrious career, motocross ace Josh Coppins has scrambled to fifth in today’s Australian Grand Prix.
Handicapped by an elusive engine misfire for two-thirds of the gruelling 45-minute event, the expat Kiwi from the top-rated Suzuki Corona team finally cleared the problem and blasted after the leaders.
In just half a dozen steaming laps of the sun-baked Broadford circuit the Motueka-born 24-year-old passed five top riders for a place which sees him battling for 3rd position in the 2001 title chase. He was 4th last year.
“We don’t know what the problem was, it acted just like a fuel blockage but we suspect some sort of electrical misfire,\" said the exhausted professional racer after today\'s GP.
“At one stage I thought the bike was going to stop altogether and I thought oh there go my title points.
“Then it started to come right and finally it got going like it’s been running all the rest of the weekend.
“I could see guys ahead of me so that gave me a tow along, but by the time I was on the pace the leaders were long gone,” Coppins said.
His French teammate Mickael Pichon gave the rest a lesson to run away with his third straight grand prix and a huge lead in the championship in which he was runner-up last year.
Coppins’ fightback rescued invaluable points as he moved to 37 overall, just one point shy of the Yamaha of today’s GP runner-up Claudio Federici (Italy) and five behind Irishman Gordon Crockard (Honda) who took fourth today.
“That keeps me right in the hunt,:” Coppins quipped. “If I can stay there with a tough ride, the future looks OK.
Pre-race predictions went out the window in other camps too, reigning two-time world champion Fred Bolley finishing a miserable weekend by retiring his Honda and sitting in 11th overall.
And the German who just pipped Coppins for third in the world last year, Pit Beirer, threw his Yamaha in a heap while leading Pichon early, struggling back to 11th spot and fifth in the points standings on 33 points.
The championship continues over 15 rounds until September. The next GP is in Belgium in a fortnight.
GP Positions: 1 Pichon, 2 Federici, 3 Yves de Maria (France) Yamaha, 4 Crockard, 5 Coppins.
Championship points: Pichon 75, Crockard 42, Federici 38, Coppins 37, Beirer 33.
