Josh Coppins has come away from Round 11 of the MX1 World Motocross Championship in Sweden this past weekend having lost ground on the leaders, as he now sits in 5th position in the overall standings. The Yamaha Monster Energy rider has been feeling stronger and stronger over the past few weeks and seemed set to continue his progress on the mixed terrain circuit of Uddevalla however a sprained ankle in moto1 and technical problems in moto 2 resulted in a different outcome for the Kiwi.

Saturday’s qualifying race started positively for Coppins as he only just missed out on the hole-shot to Nagl. Chasing hard ‘Lizzard’ was looking good as he kept the pressure on the KTM rider out in front until the mid way point, when Nagl then started to edge away. A charging de Dycker also managed to squeeze out the ‘Kiwi’ in the closing stages, relegating Coppins to 3rd place.


Sunday morning dawned a little cooler than the Saturday, however that did not put off the 22.000 thousand spectators that turned out, lining the hillside to cheer on their idols. The gate dropped for the opening MX1 race, and as the dust settled on the first turn it was Nagl out front being closely tracked by de Dycker, Desalle, Coppins (4th) and Philippaerts. The reigning world champ was all over the back of Coppins for the opening four laps before managing to get by. Coppins hit a hole after he landed from the uphill ski jump and sprained his ankle as his foot lost grip on the foot peg. He would have to battle with pain and with Antonio Cairoli who had been fighting his way through the pack following a poor start. Cairoli slipped by, relegating Coppins to 6th place, where he ultimately crossed the finish line.

Hoping that pain killers would relieve some of the discomfort Coppins was aiming for a good start in the 2nd moto, however a technical problem while selecting gears hampered Coppins from the start and throughout the moto. The determined ‘Kiwi’ still pushed harder than try and fight his way through the MX1 field. By the end of the fast paced 35 minute and 2 lap race Coppins had managed to get his number 6 Yamaha machine up into 7th position, giving a 7th overall for the day.

“ I haven’t had much luck here over the last few years” commented Coppins “The ankle is pretty swollen now but should be ok after a few days of rest and icing. When I hit the hole my foot came off the foot peg and I kind of ran over it with the back wheel. Although it bothered me in the second moto I thought I could have done better but I had some trouble with selecting gears and kept on hitting false neutral which was quite scary over some of the big jumps.”

The next event for Coppins will be Round 3 of the Belgian Championship taking place in Nismes on the 19th July.

Race results:

MX1 Race 1
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
2 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
3 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
4 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
5 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
6 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
7 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
8 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki
9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
10 Mackenzie, Bryan GBR Honda
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
12 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
13 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia
14 Terreblanche, Shannon RSA Kawasaki
15 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia

MX1 Race 2
1 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
6 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
8 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki
9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
10 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia
11 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM
12 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia
13 Church, Tom GBR CCM
14 Mackenzie, Bryan GBR Honda
15 Söderström, Tom SWE Kawasaki

Mx1 GP Overall:
1 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 47
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 43
3 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 40
4 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 36
5 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 36
6 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 29
7 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 29
8 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 24
9 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia 19
10 Mackenzie, Bryan GBR Honda 18
11 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM 15
12 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia 15
13 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia 15
14 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki 13
15 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki 13

MX1 World Championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 428
2 Nagl, M. GER 375
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 363
4 Desalle, C. BEL 345
5 Coppins, J. NZL 343
6 de Dycker, Ken BEL 338
7 Leok, Tanel EST 299
8 Barragan, J. ESP 215
9 Swanepoel, G. RSA 175
10 Leok, Aigar EST 167
11 Vuillemin, D. FRA 150
12 Priem, Manuel BEL 132
13 Aranda, G. FRA 117
14 Mackenzie, B. GBR 103
15 Ramon, Steve BEL 100