August 27, 2006

Coppins wins GP in Desertmartin

DESERTMARTIN (NORTHERN IRELAND)- After 12 rounds the Motocross World Championship found a new winner in MX1. SCOTT teamrider Josh Coppins spoiled the potential 100 wins celebration for Stefan Everts and defeated the Belgian Champion on the ground of Desertmartin.



The 29 year old New Zealander grasped a second place in the first moto where he was first at the end of the first lap, snatching the top spot from holeshotter Steve Ramon. Stefan Everts got close to him and passed after a side by side battle; Everts tried to open up a gap but Josh stayed behind him looking for an open door to pass. Towards the end of the race the Honda rider lost the touch with the Yamaha rival and arrived second at the chequered flag.

It was a lot of pressure to deal with but Everts managed it and won the first heat after two hard fights, the first of which was with countryman Steve Ramon.

SCOTT teamrider Ken De Dycker was third but he lost some important time with a first lap crash. He had to restart from fourteenth and by the time he was behind CAS Honda team mate Coppins it was too late to catch him.

World Championship runner up and SCOTT teamrider Kevin Strijbos got fourth place ahead of local hero Gordon Crockard securing a fifth place finish.

In the second moto, it was time to win for Coppins. He was first into the first corner and lead the race until Everts passed him at the eighth lap; once again the Belgian tried to fly away from last year’s runner up Coppins and once again the Honda rider kept close to the rival. He knew he had the speed to catch his fourth win of his career in the Motocross World Championship.

Joshua finally passed in the eleventh lap and lead until the chequered flag. Everts kept the rival’s pace up for a while then arrived at the finish line with a 25 second 650 thousandth gap. He preferred to secure a safe second place and rescheduled the 100 win record for the next round in Lierop.

Barragan was third in the second moto, moving past De Dycker in the sixteenth lap. The Belgian was fourth but jumped on the third step of the overall podium. For Ken it is the second time this year; the first one was in Japan thanks to another third place finish. Second moto top five ended with Suzuki factory rider Kevin Strijbos while team mate Ramon did not finish the race because of a crash.

In the MX1 World Championship standings the top five is still the same with Everts, Strijbos, Ramon, De Dycker and Leok but now Ken De Dycker is only nine points behind Ramon and can challenge him for third place. Coppins took a big step forward, moving from tenth to seventh, right behind Barragan.

The fourteenth round of the Motocross World Championship will be in Holland. The Kärcher Grand Prix of the Netherlands is scheduled for next weekend and the race will be on the 3rd of September. source: www.motocrossmx1.com



Standings MX1, Grand Prix of Northern Ireland:

1. Coppins, Joshua NZL - SCOTT
2. Everts, Stefan BEL
3. de Dycker, Ken BEL - SCOTT
4. Strijbos, Kevin BEL - SCOTT
5. Barragan, Jonathan SPA - SCOTT

World Championship Classification MX1:

1. Everts, Stefan BEL 639pts
2. Strijbos, K. BEL 458pts - SCOTT
3. Ramon, Steve BEL 418pts
4. de Dycker, Ken BEL 409pts - SCOTT
5. Leok, Tanel EST 387pts
6. Barragan, J. SPA 306pts - SCOTT
7. Coppins, J. NZL 249pts - SCOTT
8. Leuret, Pascal FRA 242pts
9. Priem, Manuel BEL 239pts
10. Melotte, C. BEL 224pts - SCOTT