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COPPINS QUALIFIES, TOWNLEY CRASHES:
Motocross ace, Josh Coppins has sprung through clouds of dust to grab fourth fastest qualifying time for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix.
In sun-baked Umbria north of Rome the 25-year-old Honda star again displayed the golden form that has placed him second on this year’s glamour 250 championship ladder.
“That’s a lap time I’m pretty happy with,” said the expat Kiwi after today’s frantic dash for supremacy.
“The dust is quite thick out there and it’s hard to get a clear run through the traffic to set your fastest time.
“There are so many fast guys all looking for a gap and I didn’t really put together one whole lap at top speed … but it’ll be less crowded in the race tomorrow morning as the field gets spread out.”
Third in the last grand prix, Coppins is looking for another podium place this weekend to keep the pressure on points leader and reigning champion Mickael Pichon of France.
Today Motueka-born Coppins was bettered only by Pichon, Norwegian Kenneth Gundersen who has already won a grand prix this year, and two-time world champ Fred Bolley.
This fifth round of the world championships, the Gran Premio d’Italia at Castiglione del Lago near Assisi, gives the racers a ride in the sun after rain at all previous grands prix this year.
Heat will be a factor in tomorrow’s 40-minute races and dust is a virtual certainty from the hard-packed track.
For Coppins this is virtually a home grand prix: his high-flying Vismara Honda team is Italian with his training base just half an hour north in Tuscany.
This is the first time in his career that Coppins has held outright second place, although he rose to third two years ago before slipping one notch at the final race of the year.
Now, after a horror 2001 season in which mechanical and other problems relegated him to sixth overall, he is back on his career path to the top.
Pichon, runaway winner of three of this year’s four events, has a 14-point lead over Coppins’ tally of 74.
Vismara Honda teammate Pit Beirer, the German who Coppins pipped on the last lap to take third place at the last GP, is four points further back with Frenchman Bolley just a point adrift in fourth.
The qualifying order is:BR>Pichon; Gundersen; Bolley; Coppins; Aubert; Beirer.
The first non-qualifier was Darryl Atkins!
Rising young star Ben Townley fell heavily today in a timed session to select starting gate positions for the 125 class.
The 17-year-old is not seriously injured but will carry torso and leg injuries into tomorrow’s grand prix.He will have the 9th place on the grid.
“It was one of the heaviest falls I’ve had,” commented the KTM rider from the Big Five Vangani team.
“The back end came up high over a bump down the bottom of the track on lap two, and I hit the ground real hard.”
Townley, sensational runner-up at the first race of the year, was checked out at the circuit medical centre and will have follow-up attention this evening.
“I’m among the walking wounded, but I’m sure I’ll be out there tomorrow,” commented the Taupo tornado. “I can ride through these injuries.”
Townley did not have to qualify for the GP thanks to his top-ten position in the 125 class, but the fall relegated him to ninth quickest for gate selection.
It’s a setback as he looks to climb back to the top of the 125 class after being tragically crashed out last grand prix, slipping from second to sixth in the points standings.
Coppins races at 11am Sunday and Townley four hours later.
The sixth of 12 rounds in the season is in Austria in a fortnight.
Points after four of 12 rounds:
World 250 championship:
1 Mickael Pichon (France) Suzuki, 88 points; 2, 56; 2 Josh Coppins (NZ) Vismara Honda 74; 3 Pit Beirer (Germany) Vismara Honda, 70; 4 Fred Bolley (France) Yamaha, 69; 5 Kenneth Gundersen (Norway) Kawasaki 67; 6 Paul Cooper (UK) Honda, 59; 7 Jussi Vehvilainen (Finland) Honda, 57; 8 Jamie Dobb (England) KTM 53.
Constructors:
Suzuki 88, Honda 78, Yamaha 78, Kawasaki 69, KTM 59, TM 37, Husqvarna 20.
World 125 championship:
1 Mickael Maschio (France) Kawasaki, 85 points; 2 Patrick Caps (Belgium) KTM, 74; 3 Philippe Dupasquier (Switzerland) KTM, 65; 4 Steve Ramon (Belgium) KTM 63; 5 Alex Puzar (Italy) Husqvarna, 62; 6 Ben Townley (NZ) Big Five Vangani KTM 54; 7 Erik Eggens (Netherlands) KTM 51; 8 Tyla Rattray (South Africa) Big Five Vangani KTM, 48.
Constructors:
KTM 97, Kawasaki 85, Husqvarna 62, Yamaha 50, Honda 35, Suzuki 15.
