Twenty-eight-year-old Coppins has ridden to third overall at the third round of the British MX championship in Lyng.

“ Lizzard” grabbed the hole-shot in race one and looked set to do battle with fellow Honda rider Paul Cooper. Cooper managed to get by Coppins and rode to victory with Coppins closely following just two seconds off the pace.

Roles were reversed in the second race when Coppins aboard his CAS Honda flew past the South African expat and seemed to be well on his way to victory. It was not to be the Kiwi’s day when another Honda rider, James Noble was having a superb ride and passed his fellow “red riders” with two laps to go. Coppins again had to settle for second.

“ I just ran out of energy, “ explained the Kiwi. “I felt better than in Zolder which is a good sign that I am getting back to normal. We had my blood checked last week and there was a serious iron and magnesium deficiency which I am now replenishing as fast as possible. The track was really rough and quite sandy but really good to ride on. I should be close to full strength for the next GP in Spain next week.”

Coppins has climbed a position to fourth in the championship standings after missing the first round due to injury.

Race 1

1. Paul Cooper
2. Josh Coppins
3. James Nobles
4. Jussi Vehvilainen
5. Gordon Crockard
6. Yoshi Atsuta
7. Chris Burnham
8. Neville Bradshaw
9. Alex Rach
10. Jody Smyth

Race 2

1. James Noble
2. Josh Coppins
3. Paul Cooper
4. Jussi Vehvilainen
5. Jordan Roser
6. Yoshi Atsuta
7. Gordon Crockard
8. Neville Bradshaw
9. Glen Phillipes
10. Mark Hucklebridge

Overall

1. James Noble 55pts
2. Paul Cooper 55pts
3. Josh Coppins 54pts
4. Jussi Vehvilainen 46pts
5. Yoshi Atsuta 38pts

Championship standings

1. Paul Cooper 161
2. James Nobles 151
3. Jussi Vehvilainen 150
4. Yoshi Atsuta 120
5. Josh Coppins 114
6. Neville Bradshaw 108
7. Gordon Crockard 78
8. Glen Phillips 67
9. Mark Hucklebridge 58
10. Mark Jones 56