Kiwi motocross star, Josh Coppins, has put in a strong result at round 13 of the 15 round FIM Motocross World championship series held at the picturesque circuit of Loket in the Czech Republic.

‘Lizard’ wasted no time in settling into a good rhythm and pace on the very fast, hillside circuit as he clocked fast lap times almost immediately in the Saturday morning practice sessions. In the Qualifying race Coppins got caught up in turn one, dropping his bike and needing to re-mount. Back in 30th position, Coppins raced hard to claw his way back through the pack in the short race, crossing the finish line in 13th, salvaging a reasonable gate pick for Sunday.

A good start in race 1 saw Coppins position himself into a podium position when he capitalized on an error by Belgian giant Ken De Dycker. With David Philippaerts and South African Gareth Swanepoel hot on his heels, Coppins had to protect his lines as his Italian team-mate tried everything he could to put a wheel in front of the Kiwi. Philippaerts eventually made a move stick and Coppins chased him to the chequered flag for 4th spot.

Race 2 would leave Coppins with quite a bit of work to do as he missed his start and was placed down the field. Finding some great lines and passing places, Coppins quickly moved past the likes of De Dycker, Ramon and Swanepoel. As the other riders started to tire, Coppins got faster and set his fastest time of the race with five minutes to go. He shut down Nagl in a last lap attempt to relegate the German but Nagl held on with Coppins finishing 5th.

"A tough day at the office. I rode pretty well and it got off to a good start. I had a decent battle with David there for a while, he passed me, made a mistake and I could get him back and finished fourth by the line. I was away really well in the second moto but Nagl hit me hard on the first corner. I got roosted and my tear-offs were rubbish from that point. I did the best I could to fight back but the goggle lens popped out and I was getting dirt and dust in my vision all the time. Overall I felt I performed OK here but just missed a break to get a better overall result." commented the Kiwi.

Coppins is set to race round 4 of the Belgian championship in Balen-Mol next weekend before heading to Lierop on the 29-30 August for the penultimate round of the world championship series.

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

MX1 Race 2
1 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda
2 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha
4 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
5 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha
6 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
7 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki
8 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki
9 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki
10 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia
11 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha
12 Church, Tom GBR CCM
13 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia
14 Neugebauer, Filip CZE Kawasaki
15 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha

GP Overall
1 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 47
2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 43
3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 40
4 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 37
5 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 34
6 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 30
7 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 26
8 Aranda, Gregory FRA Kawasaki 24
9 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 20
10 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha 19
11 Priem, Manuel BEL Aprilia 19
12 Church, Tom GBR CCM 16
13 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki 15
14 Neugebauer, Filip CZE Kawasaki 13
15 Leonce, Loic FRA Aprilia 12

MX1 World championship standings:
1 Cairoli, A. ITA 503
2 Nagl, M. GER 458
3 Philippaerts, D. ITA 428
4 Desalle, C. BEL 426
5 de Dycker, Ken BEL 409
6 Coppins, J. NZL 409
7 Leok, Tanel EST 347
8 Swanepoel, G. RSA 218
9 Barragan, J. ESP 215
10 Priem, Manuel BEL 178
11 Leok, Aigar EST 167
12 Ramon, Steve BEL 153
13 Vuillemin, D. FRA 150
14 Aranda, G. FRA 143
15 Church, Tom GBR 105