Coppins sensational at Sun City GP.

New Zealand MX star, Josh Coppins has run away with his second consecutive GP win of the season in front of sell out South African crowd at the magnificent Sun City resort in South Africa.

The much anticipated MX 1 race got underway with Ben Townley leading countryman Josh Coppins followed by Stefan Everts. Coppins lost no time in moving into the lead but lost the clear track advantage moments later when Townley regained the lead. Everts also snuck past the CAS Honda however Coppins smartly kept the Belgian close and watched his every move. Disaster struck for Townley when he went down hard, just before the finish table top, which left Coppins to do battle with Everts. After sizing up the Belgian, Coppins made a move just after the halfway point to take the lead. The partisan crowd cheered on the Kiwi however, Everts came back a lap later to regain the lead. Once again, the CAS Honda machine was onto Everts’ back wheel and pressurizing for a mistake. With four laps to go, Coppins made an ultimate pass to recapture the lead, much to the delight of the screaming crowd. ‘Lizzard’ pulled out all the stops and crossed the finish line as the deserved winner.

The deciding and final race of the day would turn out to be one for the books. Coppins was well positioned in the start however arch rival Everts got the better start and moved into the lead with Coppins hot on his heels. For 15 consecutive laps, Coppins hounded the Belgian but had to let him go when the track became unpredictable due to a setting African sun. With one lap to go the South African spectators went bezerk as Everts hit the dirt, handing Coppins the victory on a silver platter!

“ I was pretty lucky!” smiled Coppins “Of course it’s always good to win but I never expected to win like that – it’s not so nice to win. It’s better to win because you’re the best. I was the best in the first race but got a lot of cramp in the second race. My speed was ok but I was struggling with cramp. I want to show Stefan that I want to race for the championship. Even though he has a big lead we’ve seen him make mistakes, more this year than ever before and we saw this in the last lap. This is the time to push on and make as many points as possible. This has been the best race of my career.”


Results MX1

Race 1

1 Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 39:35.801
2 Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 39:37.024
3 Ramon Steve, Bel, Ktm, 40:07.506
4 Townley Ben, Nzl, Ktm, 40:20.840
5 Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 40:45.745
6 Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 40:50.366
7 Barragan Jonathan, Spa, Ktm, 40:58.823
8 Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 41:00.979
9 Pyrhonen Antti , Fin, Tm, 41:02.716
10 Theybers Danny, Bel, Suzuki, 41:03.419
11 Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 41:03.841
12 Jorgensen Brian, Den, Yamaha, 41:06.423
13 Atsuta Yoshitaka, Jpn, Suzuki, 41:07.352
14 Leok Tanel, Est, Kawasaki, 41:09.487
15 Van Daele Marvin, Bel, Honda, 41:26.031

Race 2

1 Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 39:59.683
2 Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 40:19.592
3 Ramon Steve, Bel, Ktm, 40:37.429
4 Barragan Jonathan, Spa, Ktm, 40:45.498
5 Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 40:48.127
6 Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 40:50.002
7 Leok Tanel, Est, Kawasaki, 41:03.243
8 Jorgensen Brian, Den, Yamaha, 41:06.808
9 Atsuta Yoshitaka, Jpn, Suzuki, 41:08.434
10 De Dijcker Ken, Bel, Honda, 41:21.612
11 Theybers Danny, Bel, Suzuki, 41:28.630
12 Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 41:35.007
13 Hucklebridge Mark , Gbr, Honda, 41:38.071
14 Cooper Paul, Gbr, Honda, 41:38.687
15 Van Daele Marvin, Bel, Honda, 40:22.172


MX1 Championship standings

1 Everts Stefan, Bel, Yamaha, 455 points
2 Coppins Joshua, Nzl, Honda, 416 points
3 Townley Ben, Nzl, Ktm, 368 points
4 Smets Joel, Bel, Suzuki, 349 points
5 Ramon Steve, Bel, Ktm, 304 points
6 Pichon Mickael, Fra, Honda, 299 points
7 Leuret Pascal, Fra, Honda, 211 points
8 Noble James, Gbr, Honda, 210 points
9 Barragan Jonathan, Spa, Ktm, 197 points
10 Jorgensen Brian, Den, Yamaha, 188 points
11 De Dijcker Ken, Bel, Honda, 184 points
12 Theybers Danny, Bel, Suzuki, 182 points
13 Leok Tanel, Est, Kawasaki, 175 points
14 Atsuta Yoshitaka, Jpn, Suzuki, 155 points
15 Pyrhonen Antti, Fin, Tm, 152 points