    |
 |
|
|
|
Contributed by: Ian Miles.
COPPINS & TOWNLEY HEAD EAST
The world\'s best motocrossers head into the unknown this week, travelling to Bulgaria in eastern Germany for that country’s first ever grand prix.
Sunday’s event at Sevlievo a couple of hours east of the capital Sofia gives top Kiwi Josh Coppins the chance to consolidate his second position in the glamour 250 class.
Meanwhile young sensation Ben Townley is set to climb from sixth in the 125 category.
The genuine title contenders have already been sorted out before arriving at this seventh round of the championship, the first GP of the season’s second half.
Now Coppins, Townley and the others begin the squabble over the spoils.
Coppins, 25-year-old star of the Vismara Honda team out of Italy, has a handy break over his German-born teammate Pit Beirer. <
On 116 points the expat Kiwi has eight points up his sleeve and although he cannot afford a slip he has steadily built a cushion over his longtime rival.
More formidable is his bid to close on the 138 points amassed by reigning champion Mickael Pichon, the Frenchman who has won five of this year’s six races with Schumacher-like domination.
Coppins and Pichon were teammates at Suzuki last year, now the Motueka-born pro racer is looking to end the run of his old employer.
But not even Pichon can claim the stats which underscore Coppins’ current form: the New Zealander is the only 250 rider to stand on the podium of the past four grands prix.
He flies to Bulgaria on a high after a comfortable second place at a German national event this past weekend. The day at Aichwald was won by Beirer riding out of class on a 450 Honda.
“It was a good bit of practice in racing conditions,” commented Coppins. “I was able to work on a few things like my starts. “Although it’s a bit of a challenge heading out to Bulgaria, we’ve never been there before, I’m happy with my riding at the moment and I’m keen to get more points on the board.”
Fellow expat Townley also hits the east with his tail high.
After plunging to 20th place for one point at the grand prix a week earlier, the 17-year-old flew to sixth in his American national debut this past weekend.
US events carry the reputation of breaking riders from Europe, with many Americans believing their championship bigger than grand prix, but Townley’s one-off ride at Budds Creek showed he can be as much a revelation there as he has proved in the world champs.
“Everyone’s asking if I’ll go back and have a crack at the American scene, and I would like to do that one day, but right now I have a world title to chase,” said the young find of the Big Five Vangani KTM team.
“I just signed a great contract with KTM a week ago and I’m grateful they gave me an American ride, but my main job for them is here in grand prix this year and next.”
Already considered the break-through rider of 2002 after two runner-up placings in the first half, the Taupo tornado is seeking consistency to consolidate a top-five spot in the hard-fought 125 class.
Townley will at least have the benefit of seeing the larger class riders tackle Sevlievo’s unknown circuit first. Coppins rides the 250 grand prix at 11am Sunday local time, then Townley follows the big-bore 500c class.
[Darryl Atkins will also be in Bulgaria riding his MJ Church Kawaski and he will be out to repeat his qualifying ride at the Austrian round.]
The logistics of transporting the massive grand prix circus to the eastern nation have been a task on their own, running a huge loop south through Europe and back up into Bulgaria.
The big transporter trucks and semi-trailers carrying the bikes, support gear and pit crews head first to the western coast of Italy, catching a ferry to Greece from where they push east and north into Bulgaria.
This avoids the problems of the Baltic states, where names like Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia, and Albania have their own international meanings. It also avoids travelling south through Romania, on the northern border of Bulgaria.
The Motorcycle Federation of Bulgaria has invested big time and money to bring the lucrative world championship round to Sevlievo; Russia and Qatar are other newcomers taking a slice of the action.
Bulgaria, with a population of 8 million, has an unemployment rate of 17.7 percent and inflation running at 7.6 percent. The average wage is one euro per hour (approx one US dollar), just one-tenth of the average in the EU which the nation wants to join soon.
Only seven percent of the population has access to the internet.
However the country is fast growing and its investment in motocross grand prix racing is seen as a building block.
Bulgaria will be the furtherest east the highly-promoted championship has so far travelled on mainland soil; for this year’s final round in September it goes all the way to Moscow.
After Bulgaria the racers contest round eight in Sweden before a month layoff.
