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Factory Yamaha Rinaldi rider, Josh Coppins has experienced his toughest GP of the 2007 World Motocross championship at a re-designed Uddevalla circuit in Sweden.
Suffering from a bout of flu coming into the event, Coppins knew his goal would be to limit any loss of points in the MX1 title chase. He battled to get a quick jump in the first moto with a newly laid gravel start and lost his rhythm in the opening laps as riders were jostling for positions. Coppins settled in 6th place and focused on catching championship rival Steve Ramon. He pushed past the Belgian with four laps to go and secured 4th spot at the checkered flag.
Coppins missed out on a much needed good start in moto 2 and had his work cut out from the time the gate dropped. He traded positions with Tanel Leok and Billy McKenzie losing time to leaders Ken de Dycker and Steve Ramon. With Ramon moving to the front in the later stages of the race, Coppins posted a 6th place finish, losing championship points to the Belgian.
“It’s been a bad weekend for me,” admitted Coppins. “I had no physical power and never felt good all weekend - I just struggled. The other guys were all really fast and were attacking and I couldn’t retaliate. I didn’t get good starts in any of the moto’s which didn’t help out all. I have managed to limit the amount of points lost and still have a comfortable lead but am disappointed with today.”
The New Zealander still holds the championship red plate with an 89 point advantage over Belgium’s Steve Ramon, going into the 10th round which will be held in Faenza, Italy in two weeks time.
