Yamaha Motocross Team rider Joshua Coppins cut through driving rain in Great Britain yesterday to claim third position overall in the MX1 class at the Hawkstone Park International. Team-mate Marc de Reuver also grabbed a top five position withfourth. Only two motos from three were completed after a heavy shower washed out the surprisingly well-attended meeting.
The ‘reliable’ English rain coated the Shropshire venue throughout the day and transformed the dark, deep and rough Hawkstone sand into a thick and very demanding terrain. After riding on dry, hard surfaces in Italy and through wet mud in France last week this was another set of conditions for the two new riders in the Rinaldi line-up to cope with on their 2007 YZ450FMs.
Coppins fronted the first moto from Kevin Strijbos and Ken de Dycker but in the end was powerless to defend his lead from the sand-schooled Belgians. Strijbos took the win and would also scoop the overall from his countryman while the New Zealander was third. De Reuver, who had registered pole position in morning qualification, was as high as third behind Coppins and De Dycker in the formative stages of the race. The Dutchman was feeling comfortable but lost control momentarily on a jump around the ten minute mark causing a crash. He remounted and confirmed fifth.
The second moto saw the MX1 field even more spread out with the sand proving tough to consistently conquer without mistakes. On this occasion the Yamahas flew in formation with De Reuver sealing third spot by over ten seconds from a more conservative outing from Coppins.
The Superfinal, which traditionally sees the top 20 MX2 finishers go against the best 20 placed MX1 riders, was cancelled after being red flagged two laps into the 25 minute and 2 lap distance. A rain flood then closed the meeting with spectators already sparse around the soaked inclines. The moto was halted after a heavy crash by Bike it Yamaha UK Dixon Racing’s Carl Nunn. The MX2 British Champion had earned seventh overall in the smaller category but had to be taken to hospital after needing medical attention on the circuit. Initial fears concerned the 27 year old’s back but so far the indication is that Nunn is OK.
“Qualifying went better than in the last few races, which I was happy about,” remarked Coppins. “I was pretty happy with my starts, apart from the second race, but this is something I wanted to improve and it worked out well. I had some arm-pump in the first moto and did not ride that well. In the second I went down once and found it difficult out there. I was right behind Strijbos in the last heat until Nunn unfortunately went down; I hope he is OK. We were starting to look better in that last race; I was smoother and carrying mote corner speed.”
”It seems like at the moment when we go to different tracks it takes me a little while to adjust well in a variety of conditions,” he evaluated. “Today there was a lot of mud and in Valence it was also wet but the track was hard, and then in Italy the weather has been ideal. It takes me a little bit of race day to find the strong parts of the bike but that is good because we are finding different kinds of races and getting a broader idea. I feel that I still need to improve in conditions like today and in France last week but all-in-all I can’t complain with another podium result; that’s four Internationals in a row with two wins. I am now looking forward to having a little break and then working on my physical training. I am also pleased because this is the first time that I am leaving the Hawkstone International healthy. Last year I hurt my back, the year before it was my shoulder and then before that I couldn’t even race here so I am happy to come away in good shape!”
“Pole position in the morning felt very good, I was riding quite smooth and feeling confident for the race,“ said De Reuver. “In the first heat I was behind De Dycker and Coppins and I made a mistake on the first lap but I caught up so easily that I was sure that it was going to be my race. I was too nonchalant because I lost the bike just once and it made me crash. I fell on my head and it took me a lap or two to realise where I was but then I could make some good times again.”
”I had the holeshot in the second heat but over-ran the corner and Strijbos and De Dycker got past me,“ he continued. ”I stayed in third the whole race and did my laps ahead of Josh and with the same speed as De Dycker but Strijbos was faster today. I was third at the start in the Superfinal and I pushed my way past a lot of riders to reach sixth inside half a lap! Then Nunn crashed; I hope he is OK. I was pleased with today and hope I can keep things going like this a little bit.”
De Carli Yamaha rider Antonio Cairoli meanwhile took second place overall at Castiglione del Lago for the second round of the MX2 Internazionali d'Italia series and leads the competition overall by 12 points from Manuel Monni.
The Yamaha Motocross Team now have a break before heading to Gemert for the first race in the 2007 Dutch Championship. After this final pre-season test the team head for Valkenswaard in the Netherlands for the inaugural meeting of 15 Grand Prix in the FIM World Championship on April 1st.
Moto One MX1: 1. Kevin Strijbos 2. Ken de Dycker 3. Joshua Coppins 4. Max Nagl 5. Marc de Reuver 6. Gordon Crockard 7. Steve Ramon 8. Bas Verhoeven 9. Marvin van Daele 10. Jussi Vehvelainen 11. Marco Kovalainen 12. Mike Brown 13. Sven Breugelmans 14. Patrick Roos 15. Brad Anderson
Moto two MX1: 1. Kevin Strijbos 2. Ken de Dycker 3. Marc de Reuver 4. Josh Coppins 5. Max Nagl 6. Tanel Leok 7. Steve Ramon 8. Billy MacKenzie 9. James Noble 10. Marvin Van Daele 11. Gorden Crockard 12. Mike Brown 13. Lauris Freibergs 14. Patrick Roos 15. Jussi Vehvilainen
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