Coppins dominates with Spanish double.
4/17/2007
MX GP Round 2 - Bellpuig, Spain - THOR racer, Josh Coppins, has handed his Factory Yamaha Rinaldi team their first double victory of the season and second consecutive overall at a muddy Spanish GP. The New Zealander was untouchable in both MX1 motos stamping his authority on the MX1 points lead.
Team-mate Marc de Reuver was less fortunate and suffered from first turn muddy mayhem, having to fight his way through the pack on the one-lined Bellpuig circuit. The effervescent Dutchman was disappointed with his performance but his speed showed that with a good start a podium finish is definitely within reach.
South African Gareth Swanepoel was also plagued by bad starts which saw the Molson Kawasaki rider's grip on 3rd spot in the MX2 championship slip through his fingers. 'Swanie' played catch up in both moto's and his hopes of redeeming his first moto points loss were dashed when he collided with a fallen rider over the notorious Bellpuig step-up. Unscathed, 'Swanie' still picked up his machine and managed to salvage a few points.
Josh Coppins: "I'm really happy with the result today. After Valkenswaard we worked on a whole bunch of little things and these have definitely helped. The Yamaha has been really awesome on the hard circuits so I came into this race with a lot of confidence and a good feeling. The weather made the track conditions difficult and one-lined and I knew it was important to get a good start. I need to stay focused and take this momentum through to Portugal next weekend"
Marc De Reuver: "Things did not work out very well for me today. My starts were not great. I touched Nagl on the start-straight of the first moto and that put me right at the back. I tried to get some rhythm going and passing was difficult but it was hard and I felt tired on the bike. I just want to look ahead to next week now."
Gareth Swanepoel: "Spain just doesn't seem to be good to me. The track was quite tough but is was my starts that let me down. Times were good but coming from behind in these conditions is nearly impossible. This GP has been a setback but I'm not going to change my preparations because of it. I need to carry on working hard and obviously I'll be focusing on my weaknesses before Portugal."
MX2 Race 1
- Pourcel, Christophe
- Cairoli, Antonio
- Eggens, Erik
- Rattray, Tyla
- Leuret, Pascal
- Searle, Tommy
- Monni, Manuel
- Schiffer, Marcus
- van Horebeek, Jeremy
- Seistola, Matti
MX2 Race 2
- Cairoli, Antonio
- Pourcel, Christophe
- Rattray, Tyla
- Searle, Tommy
- Aubin, Nicolas
- Leuret, Pascal
- Bonini, Matteo
- Monni, Manuel
- Boog, Xavier
- Seistola, Matti
MX2 championship standings:
- Cairoli, A. ITA 97
- Rattray, Tyla RSA 82
- Pourcel, C. FRA 81
- Eggens, Erik NED 54
- Leuret, Pascal FRA 53
- Gundersen, K. NOR 50
- Schiffer, M. GER 48
- Searle, Tommy GBR 44
- Aubin, Nicolas FRA 44
- Swanepoel, G 41 - THOR
MX1 Race 1
- Coppins, Joshua - THOR
- Strijbos, Kevin
- Ramon, Steve
- Barragan, Jonathan
- Nagl, Maximilian
- de Dycker, Ken
- Nemeth, Kornel
- Philippaerts, David
- Leok, Tanel
- Noble, James
MX1 Race 2
- Coppins, Joshua - THOR
- Nagl, Maximilian
- Strijbos, Kevin
- Pourcel, Sebastien
- Mackenzie, Billy
- Barragan, Jonathan
- Leok, Tanel
- Philippaerts, David
- de Dycker, Ken
- de Reuver, Marc - (THOR)
MX1 championship standings:
- Coppins, J. NZL 97 - THOR
- Strijbos, K. BEL 78
- Barragan, J. ESP 74
- Nagl, M. GER 63
- Ramon, Steve BEL 63
- de Dycker, Ken BEL 61
- de Reuver, M. NED 53 - THOR
- Leok, Tanel EST 43
- Noble, James GBR 40
- Brown, Mike USA 36