Factory Honda racer, Josh Coppins, has thrown his leg over a Supermoto bike for the first time at the international Mettet Superbiker held today under superb weather conditions in Belgium.

The sport of Supermoto, which is held on a circuit which includes both dirt and tarmac, combines Motocross skills with road racing finesse. Coppins’s only time on the bike prior to the race was a little 30 min test session on the streets of an industry park in Lommel the day before the race. The Kiwi was unperturbed by the challenge and took to the new discipline like a duck to water.

In the STARBIKER event, combining both world renowned MX and Road Racing stars, Coppins finished fifth behind newly crowned Superbike World champion, Troy Corser. Stephane Chambon, Yves Deamria, and Jadoul Didier rounded out the top three. From there it was straight into the SUPERBIKERS final. Coppins finished 16th and 20th respectively in highly competitive field of Supermoto specialists and was second motocrosser home behind arch rival Stefan Everts.

“It’s been a great experience,” smiled Coppins. “Roger Harvey from Honda UK, managed to get me a bike and for my first time ever I am pretty pumped with my results. I got better and better as the day went on and considering I had very little time to test before the race I think I did OK. The top guys are quiet amazing!”

Click here to see all images from Mettet.