Kiwi Motocross star, Josh Coppins, has won the first round of the British champs at a fast and sandy Cadders Hills circuit. Coppins and his CAS Honda team were a bit weary coming into the event as the New Zealander had been experiencing some back problems leading up to the race. The vice-world champion put the injury behind him as he posted a 2-1 to draw first blood in the championship.

Coppins got caught up with a fallen Stephan Sword in the first moto. After recovering well and chasing down fellow CAS Honda team-mate, Ken De Dijker, he made an unforced error which handed De Dijker victory.

A hole-shot in moto two reversed roles as Coppins lead De Dedijker home to victory giving the two CAS Honda riders equal points in the championship.

All in all Coppins was pleased with his results: “Qualifying didn’t go so well – I need to work on my one lap speed. It seems that my qualifying pace is similar to my race pace. I feel that I need more bike time because I haven’t really ridden because of my back. I have quite a lot of work to do to be ready for Zolder in three weeks but I am happy with the progress. We will be testing some different engine combinations next week which I’m looking forward to.”

Image: MXFREAK

Moto 1 MX1

1. Ken De Dijcker
2. Josh Coppins
3. James Noble
4. Gordon Crockard
5. Mark Jones
6. Stephen Sword
7. Tanel Leok
8. Jussi Vehvilainen
9. Julian Bill
10. Martin Barr

Moto 2 MX1

1. Josh Coppins
2. Ken De Dijcker
3. Stephen Sword
4. James Noble
5. Jordon Rose
6. Gordon Crockard
7. Mark Jones
8. Mark Hucklebridge
9. Julien Bill
10. JUssi Vehvilianen

MX1 championship standings

1. Josh Coppins 57pts
2. Ken de Dijcker 57pts
3. James Noble 48pts
4. Stephen Sword 44pts
5. Gordon Crockard 42pts
6. Mark Jones 38pts
7. Julien Bill 26pts
8. Jussi Vehvilainen 26pts
9. Jordon Rose 21pts
10. Tanel Leok 21pts