An eager 24.600 spectators turned out to watch the Japanese GP at the spectacular Sugo circuit. CAS Honda star, Josh Coppins, was disappointed with his two, fourth place finishes – the Kiwi was looking for more than consistency to impress the Japanese.

An almost certain hole-shot in race one was short-lived when the Dane, Brian Jorgensen, pushed Coppins aside to take the lead. After regaining his composure, Coppins moved back into fourth position but had lost touch with the leading trio.
Lizzard rode a steady, consistent race and crossed the line in fourth.

Looking to make more of an impression, Coppins lead the pack of charging riders going into the first turn but ran a bit too wide and had to give up a hand full of positions. He quickly caught on to the fast moving train consisting of Everts, Pichon, Townley and Smets. Coppins tried all he could to make his way past a swerving Smets and in the final minutes he went into the back of the Belgian and lost all his momentum. After fellow countryman, Townley was sidelined with technical problems, Coppins crossed the finish line for yet another fourth position.

“My starts were pretty good all weekend although there was quite a bit of bumping in the first turn. I didn’t feel so comfortable in the first heat and suffered from a bit of arm pump. We made some good changes to the suspension and the bike for the second race which helped me a lot. The racing was quite exciting in front of me with Townley, Pichon and Everts. I managed to close the gap but Smets was really difficult to get past. I hit his back wheel with four laps to go and that was basically my race over. I was a little bit disappointed that I couldn’t stay in the race until the end but I guess I have to work even harder if I want to be up there with them,” explained Coppins.

Results MX1

Race 1

1 Pichon Mickael, Fra, Honda, 40:13.957
2 Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 40:17.330
3 Townley Ben, Nzl, Ktm, 40:20.172
4 Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 40:52.240
5 Ramon Steve, Bel, Ktm, 40:56.760
6 Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 40:58.419
7 Jorgensen Brian, Den, Yamaha, 41:09.109
8 Theybers Danny, Bel, Suzuki, 41:10.142
9 Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 41:11.067
10 De Dijcker Ken, Bel, Honda, 41:16.425
11 Pyrhonen Antti, Fin, Tm, 41:23.929
12 Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 41:25.659
13 Leok Tanel, Est, Kawasaki, 41:26.261
14 Nemeth Kornel, Hun, Suzuki, 41:27.159
15 Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 41:28.889

Race 2

1 Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 39:12.092
2 Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 39:13.713
3 Pichon Mickael, Fra, Honda, 39:14.592
4 Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 39:36.188
5 Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 39:42.491
6 Leok Tanel, Est, Kawasaki, 39:54.141
7 De Dijcker Ken, Bel, Honda, 40:07.079
8 Ramon Steve, Bel, Ktm, 40:10.937
9 Atsuta Yoshitaka, Jpn, Suzuki, 40:18.274
10 Theybers Danny, Bel, Suzuki, 40:19.226
11 Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 40:20.195
12 Van Daele Marvin, Bel, Honda, 40:21.717
13 Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 40:29.552
14 Nemeth Kornel, Hun, Suzuki, 40:33.709
15 Hucklebridge Mark, Gbr, Honda, 40:34.571

MX1 World standings

1 Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 251 points
2 Pichon Mickael, Fra, Honda, 240 points
3 Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 204 points
4 Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 203 points
5 Townley Ben, Nzl, Ktm, 168 points
6 Ramon Steve, Bel, Ktm, 149 points
7 Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 132 points
8 Jorgensen Brian, Den, Yamaha, 121points
9 De Dijcker Ken, Bel, Honda, 112 points
10 Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 98 points
11 Leok Tanel, Est, Kawasaki, 94 points
12 Theybers Danny, Bel, Suzuki, 87 points
13 Van Daele Marvin, Bel, Honda, 83 points
14 Pyrhonen Antti, Fin, Tm, 83 points
15 Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 80 points