Considering that less than a month ago, Josh Coppins was in hospital nursing a dislocated shoulder, the CAS Honda rider has certainly worked wonders on a physically demanding circuit in Zolder, Belgium at the opening round of the MX1 world championship.

A sixth place finish in the first heat did not do justice to Coppins’ true potential as it was plain to see that the Kiwi was not himself and was riding very conservatively. He did however battle with team-mates Jöel Smets and Kevin Strijbos eventually losing out to Smets at the chequered flag but getting the better of Strijbos.

Survival would be the key word to Coppins’ final race of the day. The rough Zolder circuit punished just about every rider and Lizzard would most certainly not be spared. He fought has hard as he could to defend his eleventh position and salvage as many points as possible under the demanding circumstances.

“ I have mixed feelings about this weekend” said Coppins. “I’m happy that I’m seventh in the championship considering all that has happened over the last month. I mean from a dislocated shoulder to racing a GP in three weeks is nothing to complain about. I did the best I could but obviously I know I can be much faster and there are still 16 GP’s to go.”

Results MX1 Race 1

1, Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 40:06.703
2, Pichon Mickael, Fra, Honda, 40:09.100
3, Townley Ben , Nzl, KTM, 40:11.536
4, De Dycker Ken, Bel, Honda, 40:20.903
5, Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 40:23.065
6, Coppins Joshua, Nzl, 40:45.533
7, Strijbos Kevin, Bel, Suzuki, 40:45.956
8, Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 41:04.022
9, Leok Tanel, Est, Kawasaki, 41:09.931
10, Nemeth Kornel, Hun, Suzuki, 41:12.467
11, Theybers Danny, Bel, Suzuki, 41:13.901
12, Crockard Gordon, Gbr, Yamaha, 41:14.171
13, Atsuta Yoshitaka, Jpn, Suziki, 41:14.901
14, Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 41:20.025
15, Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 41:30.823

Results MX1 Race 2

1, Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 40:08.222
2, Pichon Mickael, Fra, Honda, 40:26.187
3, Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 40:51.901
4, Barragan Jonathan, Spa, KTM, 40:58.805
5, Townley Ben, Nzl, KTM, 41:11.986
6, Strijbos Kevin, Bel, Suzuki, 41:13.946
7, Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 41:15.998
8, Jorgensen Brian, Den, Yamaha, 41:25.716
9, De Dijcker Ken, Bel, Honda, 41:40.258
10, Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 41:45.828
11, Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 41:49.801
12, Ramon Steve, Bel, KTM, 41:50.811
13, Federici Claudio, Ita, Yamaha, 41:56.313
14, Vehvilainen Jussi, Fin, Honda, 40:08.634
15, Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 40:11.918

World Championship classification

1, Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 45 points
2, Pichon Mickael, Fra, Honda, 44 points
3, Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 41 points
4, Townley Ben, Nzl, KTM, 36 points
5, De Dijcker Ken, Bel, Honda, 30 points
6, Strijbos Kevin, Bel, Suzuki, 29 points
7, Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 25 points
8, Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 24 points
9, Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 21 points
10, Barragan jonathan, Spa, 20 points