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COPPINS FLIES IN MOTOCROSS:
Motocross hero Josh Coppins passed with flying colours today in his first ride back from severe injury.
Just 12 weeks after spinal surgery, the Kiwi-born star of the world championships completed two tough races at a British title event, claiming positions around the top ten . then capped the day by surviving a five-bike pileup!
The 26-year-old Coppins was riding for the professional CAS Honda team of the UK in his return from a broken back, ankle and both feet.
Runner-up in the world\'s glamour class last year, the expat Kiwi was told
he may never race again after a heavy crash in the USA in January.
But a rigorous training regime and the determination for which he is
legendary on the world circuit carried the Honda ace through the pain
barrier at today\'s fifth round of the British Champs at Culham near Oxford.
\"It\'s my first ride for CAS Honda who have been so helpful to me since my
crash, and I wanted to fly the flag in front of their home crowd . we\'re
only an hour or so from the team base here,\" Coppins commented after a
hectic day of racing on a fast hillside circuit.
\"I knew I was more or less ready to race but you\'re never sure till you get
out there.
\"It was tough, real tough,\" said the pro racer after the second race of the
day. \"I\'m buggered.
\"I haven\'t ridden a proper race since last September, and that\'s too long away.
\"My fitness is not yet at the level I need and I have to get back into race
mode. But I\'m on the comeback trail now and eventually I\'ll get back to the
top.\"
On the opening lap of the final, all-in event, Coppins was railroaded from
behind and went down in a melee of bikes and riders.
\"I instinctively curled into a ball, which you should do in a crash in
traffic . then I thought, hang on, someone could hit me in the back where
I\'ve had the operation.
\"But I was fine and in a way it\'s good to know I can survive a fall as well
as lasting a race,\" he mused.
\"I was using today as a warmup for my first world championship race, the
Italian Grand Prix next weekend.
\"I know I\'m still way off the pace, there won\'t be any podium for me next
Sunday,\" said Coppins.
He faces the most gruelling return possible to world title racing: Italy and then the Bulgarian Grand Prix are just a week apart, a rarity on the 12-round calendar.
Fellow world championship star Gordon Crockard of Ireland kept the CAS Honda colours at the front today, despite breaking a finger in race two, whileJapan\'s Yoshi Atsuta provided support before wrenching a knee.
