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Coppins pulls back valuable points at British GP
With the memory of his first ever GP victory claimed at the Gore Basin circuit a year ago, CAS Honda racer, Josh Coppins had high expectations coming into the 15th round of the MX1 series at the Isle of Wight. The Kiwi could not go home with victory however he did prove that his determination and fighting spirit have won him back eight valuable points as he keeps his championship hopes alive.
Close to thirty thousand enthusiastic English fans lined the boundary fences to see the gate drop for the first MX1 race. The CAS Honda star almost grabbed the hole-shot however, Belgian Steve Ramon, managed to take the advantage but overshot the next corner and pushed Coppins wide, losing the Kiwi precious time and positions. The worst was feared when Coppins signalled to the CAS Honda pits that something was not right with his machine in the opening laps of the race. He kept circulating at race pace but lost his third position to fellow Kiwi, Ben Townley. Everts was now behind Coppins and breathing down his neck. The New Zealander never once panicked and managed to find some extra seconds and succeeded in pulling away from his championship rival. He crossed the finish line in fourth but was not happy with the result due to a carburetion hitch.
Coppins could not count on his usual great start and race two would see the Kiwi having to elbow his way through the pack in the opening laps. ‘Lizzard’ soon caught Everts who was in fourth and started to hound the Belgian at every opportunity. Coppins stalled his bike as he exited the whoop section and lost a position to Pichon and valuable time on the train in front. He quickly got his bike going and what was to follow totally had the cheering fans gob smacked. Coppins shut down Pichon, Everts and Ramon in the latter half of the race and left them trailing in his dust. The amazing speed which he was carrying took him to within five seconds of fellow Kiwi Ben Townley by the time the chequered flag had been waved – an amazing show of raw speed and determination.
“I didn’t have the best of starts this weekend,” explained Coppins with disappointment. “We had some small problems in both motos but no complaints; I did the best I could. It just wasn’t my weekend. I was riding pretty well and quite fast but it just didn’t come off for me – sometimes it’s like that. I rode pretty bad in Germany and got on the podium and I rode well here today and didn’t.”
Race Results: MX1
