New Zealander, Joshua Coppins, has won his fifth Motocross GP of the 2007 season by dominating the MX1 class in Sevlievo, Bulgaria. The factory Yamaha Rinaldi racer now boasts a massive 97 point lead with his exceptional 2-1 performance bringing him one step closer to his MX1 title aspirations.

Moto 1 action saw Coppins spin off the gate and miss out on the all important hole-shot to Spaniard, Jonathan Barragan. The Kiwi still managed to sneak up the inside of the first turn and emerged third behind Italian, David Philippaerts. An aggressive but clean pass before the mechanics area saw Coppins take over second spot from Philippaerts with the Italian losing the front end as he tried to retaliate later in the lap. A hard charging Sebastien Pourcel was never able to make a real impression on Coppins and when the Frenchman made an error later in the race, Coppins was able to relax and cruise home to second behind a well deserved win by Jonathan Barragan.

A better start in Moto 2 would have Coppins and American, Mike Brown dicing for the hole-shot. Brown came out tops and left Coppins and new championship rival, Steve Ramon scrapping for second and third. Coppins quickly made his way past the Belgian and had to fend off a heated challenge before he made his move on Brown two laps later. Coppins checked out and then controlled his lead to bring home the win, ten seconds ahead of Ramon, inevitably extending his MX1 championship lead to just 3 points short of a century.

“I took me too long to get through to second in the first moto and that gave Barragan space to run. I closed him down a little but then had a bit of a moment on one of the sections so I decided to take it easy and settle for second. My start was better in the second moto and once I got past Ramon and Brown I found a good rhythm and rode a strong race. I want to keep this rolling and look forward to the next GP in Sweden.” commented Coppins.

Coppins will take a weekend off before heading to Uddevalla in Sweden in two weeks time for round 9 of the FIM Motocross world championship.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
2 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
3 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
4 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
5 Philippaerts, David ITA KTM
6 Bill, Julien SUI Honda
7 Brown, Mike USA Honda
8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
9 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
10 Vanni, Julien FRA Honda
11 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
12 de Reuver, Marc NED Yamaha
13 Noble, James GBR Honda
14 van Daele, Marvin BEL Honda
15 Coulon, Cyrille FRA Honda

MX1 Race 2
1 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
2 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
3 Philippaerts, David ITA KTM
4 Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
5 Barragan, Jonathan ESP KTM
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
7 Vanni, Julien FRA Honda
8 Brown, Mike USA Honda
9 de Reuver, Marc NED Yamaha
10 Allier, Thomas FRA Kawasaki
11 Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
12 Nemeth, Kornel HUN Suzuki
13 Columb, Scott NZL Suzuki
14 Crockard, Gordon IRL Honda
15 Noble, James GBR Honda

MX1 Championship standings:
1 Coppins, J. NZL 368
2 Ramon, Steve BEL 271
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 222
4 Pourcel, S. FRA 222
5 Barragan, J. ESP 214
6 Strijbos, K. BEL 211
7 Brown, Mike USA 196
8 Leok, Tanel EST 179
9 de Dycker, Ken BEL 178
10 Mackenzie, B. GBR 154
11 Noble, James GBR 153
12 de Reuver, M. NED 136
13 Priem, Manuel BEL 125
14 Nemeth, Kornel HUN 120
15 Nagl, M. GER 107