CAS Honda star, Josh Coppins, has won the Irish GP in Desert Martin today and in doing so has put an end to Stefan Everts perfect season. The 29-year-old Kiwi from Motueka, qualified in pole position in Saturday’s timed practice session and looked confident on his CRF450.

The first MX 1 moto got underway with Steve Ramon and Stefan Everts leading over Coppins however the Kiwi made his way to the front in the first lap and set a blistering pace. Everts managed to latch on to the CAS Honda and slipped by with five laps gone. Coppins fought hard to keep his Belgian rival within striking distance and with back markers making the task even more difficult Coppins hounded Everts right to the checkered flag with less than a second separating the two.

Sensing that he could match the speed of Everts, Coppins went to the start line with a greater confidence followed up by hole-shot which set him up in the perfect position to take the advantage. Everts had to close down a three second gap around the 15 minute mark and took advantage of a fallen rider on the whoop section to take the lead. Coppins was far from done and planned his counter attack three laps later. His determination and fighting spirit had Everts beaten as the Belgian could not retaliate and slowly lost touch. Coppins crossed the finish line 25 seconds ahead to take one of his best career victories.

“What an unbelievable weekend,” smiled an elated Coppins “With such a bad start to the season I had to set new goals and one of them was to win a GP before the end of the year and I achieved that today. I have to say a big thank you to my team, CAS Honda and all our sponsors especially my personal sponsors, Alpinestars, Airoh, Scott, United- Telecom, Onfire, Honda Park, and the rest of the guys that have supported me in getting back onto the top of the podium. After I passed Stefan in the second moto I started to pull a gap. First it was three seconds, then four, five and then nine-seconds. After nine seconds I knew there was no way he could come back so I just kept pushing and was so happy to win!”

Coppins now heads to the UK to take part in the Ken Hall trophy to be held on Monday, after which he will return to his base in Belgium only to pack his bags for the Dutch GP which will take part on the infamous Lierop sand circuit next weekend.

Click here to see Desert Martin image gallery.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
2 Coppins, Joshua NZL Honda
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
4 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
5 Crockard, Gordon IRL Honda
6 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
7 Priem, Manuel BEL Yamaha
8 Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
9 Pyrhonen, Antti FIN TM
10 Beggi, Cristian ITA Honda
11 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
12 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
13 Salaets, Kristof BEL Yamaha
14 Smith, Wayne RSA Honda
15 Jones, Mark GBR Honda

MX1 Race 2
1 Coppins, Joshua NZL Honda
2 Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
3 Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
5 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
6 Priem, Manuel BEL Yamaha
7 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
8 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
9 Noble, James GBR Honda
10 Pyrhonen, Antti FIN TM
11 Lindhe, Jonny SWE KTM
12 Freibergs, Lauris LAT Suzuki
13 Norlen, Marcus SWE Suzuki
14 Leuret, Pascal FRA Honda
15 Bradshaw, Neville RSA Suzuki

MX1 GP classification:
1 Coppins, J NZL Honda
2 Everts, S BEL Yamaha
3 De Dycker, K BEL Honda

MX1 World championship standings:

1 Everts, Stefan BEL 639
2 Strijbos, K. BEL 458
3 Ramon, Steve BEL 418
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL 409
5 Leok, Tanel EST 387
6 Barragan, J. SPA 306
7 Coppins, J. NZL 249
8 Leuret, Pascal FRA 242
9 Priem, Manuel BEL 239
10 Melotte, C. BEL 224
11 Noble, James GBR 198
12 Garcia Vico, F. SPA 196
13 Bill, J. SUI 167
14 Pyrhonen, A. FIN 161
15 Crockard, G. IRL 153