New Zealand‘s Josh Coppins raced his way onto the podium at round two of the Belgian Motocross Championships at Kester, near Brussels, at the weekend.

Changing weather conditions tested the skills of a handful of the MX1 Grand Prix stars, with Monster Energy Yamaha star Coppins riding consistently in all three heats to take third overall for the day.

In heat one the man from Motueka got a great start as he chased Belgian series leader Ken De Dycker around the opening lap, with Belgian Honda rider Clement Desalle hot on his heels. On strong form at the moment, Desalle got passed both Coppins and De Dycker, putting Coppins into third, where he remained until the end of the race.

In heat two it was a string of GP stars up front in the opening laps as all the riders fought hard for position.

Coppins managed to get past MX1 world championship leader Antonio Cairoli (Yamaha) and Estonian Aigar Leok as he pulled himself through into third position. With De Dycker and Desalle out front, the Kiwi hero rode another smooth race to cross the line in third place.

Heat three was a bad start for the New Zealander as he closed the opening lap in 10th position. Wasting no time at all, Coppins quickly blasted his way through to 4th position, where he ultimately finished the race, giving him third overall for the day.

Next weekend Coppins heads to Teutschenthal in Germany to take part in round nine of the MX1 World Championship.

Results

Heat 1

1        DESALLE Clement

2        DE DYCKER Ken

3        COPPINS Joshua

4        LEOK Tanel

5        LEOK Aigar

6        VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy

7        ROELANTS Joel

8        VAN DAELE Marvin

9        CAPS Patrick

10      DIERCKX Dennis

Heat 2

1        DE DYCKER Ken

2        DESALLE Clement

3        COPPINS Joshua

4        CAPS Patrick

5        LEOK Aigar

6        PRIEM Manuel

7        LEOK Tanel

8        CAIROLI Antonio

9        VAN DAELE Marvin

10      ROELANTS Joel

Heat 3

1        DE DYCKER Ken

2        DESALLE Clement

3        VAN DAELE Marvin

4        COPPINS Joshua

5        LEOK Tanel

6        CAPS Patrick

7        VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy

8        LEOK Aigar

9        SALAETS Kristof

10      VERBRUGGEN Dennis

Overall on the day

1        DE DYCKER Ken                72

2        DESALLE Clement              69

3        COPPINS Joshua               58

4        LEOK Tanel                       48

5        VAN DAELE Marvin            45

6        CAPS Patrick                     45

7        LEOK Aigar                      45

8        VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy      38

9        ROELANTS Joel                 32

10      LAEREMANS Bengt             29

Championship standings after round 2

1 De Dycker                     140

2 Desalle                          127

3 Coppins                         106

4 Van Daele                      78

5 Caps                             77

6 Roelants                        76

7 Philippaerts                    64

8 De Reuver                     49

9 T. Leok                         48

10 Verbruggen                  46

Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com