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Team New Zealand do their country proud at the MX of Nations.
The Motocross of Nations in Ernee France saw and amazing sell out crowd turn out to see the best riders in the world battle for the coveted Chamberlain trophy. Likened to the “Olympics of Motocross” the best three riders of each country are chosen to take part and it was the Kiwi team of Josh Coppins, Ben Townley and Cody Cooper that would have the honour of representing New Zealand.
The first race of the day would see Josh Coppins (MX1) and Cody Cooper(MX2) opening up the scoreboard. Coppins had a good start and managed to keep French hero Mikael Pichon at bay while protecting second position. Ricky Carmichael had the lead from the word go and Coppins could not match the American’s speed but managed to control his second position until the end of the race. Cody Cooper who was on the smaller capacity machine did the best he could to gain as many positions as possible. The twenty-one year old made up many places after a bad start and crossed the finish line 23rd.
Next up it was Ben Townley (MX Open) and Cody Cooper (MX2) that had to do battle. Townley was not up front as the pack entered the first turn however the soon to be twenty-one-year-old worked his magic and with five laps gone he had already recovered from a small crash and was back into second. Townley honed in on Kevin Windham and started to reel the American in when Windham made a mistake and handed New Zealand the lead. Townley cruised to victory while Cody Cooper was having a tough time coming through the pack. Cooper matched his first race result by finishing 23rd after a hard fought race.
The grand finale had New Zealand’s top MX stars, Ben Townley (MX Open) and Josh Coppins (MX1) lined up to give it their best shot of making it onto the podium. Coppins grabbed a great start but team-mate Townley was on the move and was looking to latch onto Ricky Carmichael who was again out front. Townley quickly made his move on Kevin Windham in second place and went after Carmichael. The two contenders matched each other lap for lap and the 30 000 strong French crowd were amazed at the Kiwi’s tenacity and determination. Coppins had a small crash in the meantime and was recovering his rhythm and making time on the group ahead.
Townley eventually lost time on Carmichael and finished a few seconds down on the American for what can be considered a truly commendable ride. Coppins came home in fourth but unfortunately for New Zealand they missed out on an overall podium spot to Belgium by one point.
Quotes:
Ben Townley: “It’s been a good day! First I want to say congratulations to RC – he was awesome. He was untouchable, I mean I tried my hardest to catch him in that second moto but he was really good. I also want to thank team USA for making the effort to come over here. The atmosphere was just amazing over the entire weekend. I’m pretty happy with the result and my ride was what I wanted. I got handed the first race when Kevin went down but I compared my lap times to Ricky and they were pretty similar. I said to the guys in the truck before the last race that I was going after R.C. this time. I tried my hardest but I didn’t quite get there. Cody rode really well and did the best he could and I don’t think we could have done any better than we did.”
Josh Coppins: “I’m quite happy with my result today. I was 2-4 and Ben rode extremely well with a 1-2. On the other hand I’m a little bit disappointed because I crashed in both races and I think I could have been at bit closer to Ricky than I was. I think we can be pretty proud of our result as a team. Cody rode really well and we couldn’t have expected more from him. He jumped in to help at the last minute so I think he rode really well and I don’t think any of us could have done any better. It was a good result.”
Cody Cooper: “I was happy with my riding today although in the last race I think I gave it away a little bit there. The heat got to me and I stalled the bike which left me with a lot of work to do. I think my lap times were ok I just couldn’t get the starts I needed. It has been a real honour riding for New Zealand especially with guys like Ben and Josh. Daryl Hurley was meant to be riding but he hurt his knee and I was called in at the last minute. I would like to wish him a speedy recovery.”
