CAS Honda’s Josh Coppins, has clinched second overall and his fourth podium of the season, with two strong races at the Czech MX GP in Loket.

Coppins executed a great hole-shot in the first moto with Stefan Everts trying to sneak up the inside of the tight first turn. Coppins kept his CAS Honda in the lead for half a lap before Everts found a way past the Kiwi. Keeping Everts within striking distance, Coppins followed the Belgian’s every move and around the halfway mark he posted the fastest lap time of the race and it looked as though a challenge would soon follow. Coppins made some small errors which gave his rival the breathing space needed to take the victory with Coppins coming home 4 seconds a drift.

The second moto saw both Everts and Coppins rubbing shoulders as they jostled for positions into the first turn. ‘Lizzard’ emerged 8th on lap one and went on to post the fastest lap of the race once again as he went in search of the leading trio of Strijbos, Barragan and Everts. With Evert’s moving into the lead Coppins in turn closed down and passed Barragan for third. Towards the end of the race it was clear that the New Zealander had spent a lot of energy in the chase and settled for a steady third which would guarantee him second overall.

“I had a great race with Stefan in the first moto but made a little mistake with four laps to go and lost some ground on him, but it was still a good race with a great start. We tried a different tyre in the second race which worked really good on the track but it span on the start. I was way back in the middle of the pack but was happy with my second race because I had many good lines and I wasn’t behind anyone for long – I would catch them and make the pass immediately. When I got into third I would have liked to have caught Kevin but I ran out of power,” explained
Coppins.

The famous ‘Citadel’ in Namen will host the 12th GP round next weekend in Belgium as the CAS Honda team heads back to their Belgian base to prepare for the event.

Click here to see the Loket gallery

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
2 Coppins, Joshua NZL Honda
3 Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
4 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
5 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
6 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
7 Noble, James GBR Honda
8 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
9 Leuret, Pascal FRA Honda
10 Avis, Wyatt RSA KTM
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Yamaha
12 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
13 Salvini, Alex ITA Suzuki
14 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
15 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Suzuki

MX 1 Race 2
1 Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
2 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
3 Coppins, Joshua NZL Honda
4 Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
5 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
7 Crockard, Gordon IRL Honda
8 Melotte, Cedric BEL Yamaha
9 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
10 Priem, Manuel BEL Yamaha
11 Avis, Wyatt RSA KTM
12 Noble, James GBR Honda
13 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
14 Salvini, Alex ITA Suzuki
15 Kovalainen, Marko FIN Honda

World championship standings:

1 Everts, Stefan BEL 542
2 Strijbos, K. BEL 393
3 Ramon, Steve BEL 368
4 Leok, Tanel EST 355
5 de Dycker, Ken BEL 353
6 Barragan, J. SPA 273
7 Leuret, Pascal FRA 202
8 Melotte, C. BEL 190
9 Priem, Manuel BEL 189
10 Garcia Vico, F. SPA 172
11 Bill, J. SUI 167
12 Noble, James GBR 161
13 Coppins, J. NZL 158
14 Jorgensen, B. DEN 131
15 Pyrhonen, A. FIN 128