A sellout partisan crowd has seen the 2006 FIM MX World championship series come to a close at the spectacular Ernee circuit in France. CAS Honda’s, Josh Coppins, posted a 6-2 result but paid the price of first moto mistakes to miss out on a podium overall.

Coppins showed great speed in qualifying and was just ousted out of pole position by Mickael Pichon on a somewhat wet and muddy circuit. Weather conditions improved for Sunday’s race as the first MX1 moto would bring the two ex-rivals together in the worst possible way. Pichon misjudged the second turn jump and hit Coppins in the back of his motorcycle. The New Zealander was forced to break in order to avoid Jonathan Barragan, who had come across the pack. The CAS Honda was lucky not to sustain any damage and Coppins even luckier to come away unscathed while Pichon was not so lucky and was counted out with a suspected broken nose. Coppins immediately regained his composure and set after Barragan only to hit the back wheel of the Spaniard and go down. A further two crashes would only see Coppins salvage sixth position by the end of the 35minute + 2 lap race.

Coppins was looking for redemption in the second moto and grabbed the hole-shot but was quickly pushed to second spot by Stefan Everts. Coppins challenged the Belgian for a few laps as the two pulled a sizable gap over the rest of the pack. Everts eventually took control of the race with Coppins coming home in a strong second.

“I should have kept calm after the first crash in the first moto - I still could have finished on the podium. The problem was I thought I had enough speed to win today but I didn’t have the patience. An important lesson to be learnt. In the second moto I made a few mistakes when I was chasing Stefan, but I spent too much energy in the first moto trying to come back that I didn’t have the fitness to keep the pace till the end. I have to give it up to the CAS team for supporting me over the last few years. Harry, Vanessa, my mechanic Fabio, Niell and all the guys on the team have been great and have supported me 100%. They have picked me up when things have been difficult and they have been there to celebrate GP victories with me and I will forever be grateful for such a wonderful relationship and family sphere with the CAS Honda team,” stated Coppins.

Coppins will spear-head Team New Zealand in a weeks time together with fellow Kiwi’s Ben Townley and Cody Cooper at the 60th MX of Nations in Matterly Basin in the UK.

Click here to see the Ernee image gallery.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
2 Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
3 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
4 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
5 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Honda
7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
8 Jorgensen, Brian DEN Honda
9 Noble, James GBR Honda
10 Leuret, Pascal FRA Honda
11 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
12 Crockard, Gordon IRL Honda
13 Jones, Mark GBR Honda
14 Desalle, Clement BEL Suzuki
15 Vanni, Julien FRA KTM
16 Garcia Vico, Francisco SPA Honda
17 Priem, Manuel BEL Yamaha

MX1 Race 2
1 Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
2 Coppins, Joshua NZL Honda
3 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
4 Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
5 Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
6 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
7 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
9 Noble, James GBR Honda
10 Crockard, Gordon IRL Honda
11 Verhoeven, Bas NED Kawasaki
12 Leuret, Pascal FRA Honda
13 van Daele, Marvin BEL Honda
14 Priem, Manuel BEL Yamaha
15 Jones, Mark GBR Honda

MX1 World championship standings:
1 Everts, Stefan BEL 739
2 Strijbos, K. BEL 529
3 Ramon, Steve BEL 483
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL 463
5 Leok, Tanel EST 443
6 Barragan, J. SPA 376
7 Coppins, J. NZL 330
8 Priem, Manuel BEL 278
9 Leuret, Pascal FRA 267
10 Noble, James GBR 226
11 Melotte, C. BEL 224
12 Garcia Vico, F. SPA 201
13 Crockard, G. IRL 173
14 Pyrhonen, A. FIN 168
15 Bill, J. SUI 167