Motueka’s Josh Coppins wrapped up his world championship season on a strong note in Brazil at the weekend.

At a rain-shortened event — with deep mud forcing organisers to cut the Saturday qualifying programme from the schedule — Coppins still showed he has what it takes to rank among the world elite.

He finished fifth and third in the two MX1 races at the Canelinha circuit, winding up his 2009 season with a world ranking of No.6.

Fellow Yamaha rider Antonio Cairoli, who had already wrapped up the world title at the previous event, the Dutch GP, managed only sixth and 12th in his two outings.

The day was won by Belgian rising star Clement Desalle (Honda), who scored 1-2 results in the sloppy conditions.  Runner-up at the Brazilian GP was former world champion Steve Ramon (Suzuki), with Germany’s Max Nagl (KTM) taking the third podium step.

“It was not too bad today,” said Coppins.

“I had decent starts in both of the races and in the first I worked up from 8th to 5th after it took me a little while to get going. In the second race I was terrible in the first five minutes but then rode my way forwards and passed Ken (De Dycker) and Nagl.

“I knew I had to overtake Clement to make the podium and for my last race with Yamaha I really wanted that, so I was pushing and pushing and gave everything I had but I could not do it. I am disappointed not to get on the box but I think I rode pretty well today.

“I loved the track and I think they done a great job because it looked un-rideable on Saturday. I think this is the end of my 14th GP season so that is nearly 200 GPs and I am still up there with the guys so I am quite happy.”

The venue, packed on both days and with a final attendance figure of 60,000, had undergone a major facelift for its inauguration as world championship host and the narrow and jump-laden course, over 80km north-west of the resort of Florianopolis, was an impressive sight. The many grandstands were full for Sunday after a shaky start to the weekend in which constant rainfall on Saturday caused the practice and qualification schedule to be scrapped in the interest of preserving the terrain. Thankfully dark skies were replaced for race-day.

Coppins was the best-performed of the factory Yamaha men. The 32-year-old’s hard charge and duel with eventual winner Desalle for second place in the second moto was entertaining and the Bulgarian grand prix winner pushed the young Belgian, 12 years his junior, all the way to the finish line; just missing a clear opportunity to overtake.

In 6th place overall for the day was his team-mate David Philippaerts, the 2008 MX1 world champion.

The Italian was quick and strong across the layout and despite two mediocre starts pushed his way into the top three in both motos. After an encouraging 3rd in Moto1 he was chasing Desalle for another third position in the second race when a mistake on an uphill wave section saw him crash and lose time in restarting. Even though the 25-year-old recovered to 7th spot he was disappointed to be overhauled by Desalle in the final standings and ends 2009 with 4th instead of 3rd in the championship.

Yamaha Red Bull De Carli’s Tony Cairoli, the new world champion and the most successful motocrosser from Italy, was 9th overall. The Sicilian underwent minor surgery to tidy up broken pieces of his left meniscus last week and also travelled to Brazil after appearing as a guest of the Fiat Yamaha team at Misano for the thirteenth round of the MotoGP series, in which he was celebrated and revered by fans indicating the growing status of the sport in this particular zone of Europe.

Cairoli was hindered in Brazil by the weakness of his knee (that still had stitches) and also by a rider falling in front of him at the start of the second moto. The champion was 6th and 12th, the first race allowing a better performance, and now has three weeks to get fully fit for his Motocross of Nations appearance.

Meanwhile, in the MX2 class in Brazil at the weekend, the battle was still on for the title but, with back-to-back wins, Frenchman Marvin Musquin (KTM) easily settled the issue in his favour.

MX2 class runner-up for 2009 is Portugal’s Rui Goncalves (KTM), with another Frenchman, Gautier Paulin (Kawasaki), taking the No.3 ranking.

The GP riders now prepare to represent their respective countries at the upcoming Motocross of Nations in Italy in just over a fortnight.

Coppins will be joined in the Team New Zealand squad by two UK-based riders, Rotorua’s Michael Phillips (Honda) and Queenstown’s Scotty Columb (Suzuki).

Race results:

MX1 Race 1

1 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda

2 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

3 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

5 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

6 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

7 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

8 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha

9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

10 Balbi Jr., Antonio Jorge BRA Honda

11 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha

12 Church, Tom GBR CCM

13 Dougan, Jason GBR CCM

14 de Reuver, Marc NED Honda

15 Bill, Julien  SUI Aprilia

MX1 Race 2

1 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki

2 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda

3 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha

4 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki

5 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM

6 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha

7 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha

8 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki

9 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki

10 Bill, Julien  SUI Aprilia

11 Balbi Jr., Antonio Jorge BRA Honda

12 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha

13 Church, Tom GBR CCM

14 Garcia, Wellington BRA Honda

15 Da Silva Faria, Rafael BRA KTM

MX1 GP Overall:

1 Desalle, Clement BEL Honda 47

2 Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki 39

3 Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM 38

4 Coppins, Joshua NZL Yamaha 36

5 de Dycker, Ken BEL Suzuki 36

6 Philippaerts, David ITA Yamaha 34

7 Campano, Carlos ESP Yamaha 25

8 Swanepoel, Gareth RSA Kawasaki 24

9 Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha 24

10 Balbi Jr., Antonio Jorge BRA Honda 21

11 Bill, Julien SUI Aprilia 17

12 Church, Tom GBR CCM 17

13 Vuillemin, David FRA Kawasaki 13

14 Leok, Tanel EST Yamaha 13

15 Garcia, Wellington BRA Honda 11

MX1 Final world championship standings:

1 Cairoli, A. ITA 561

2 Nagl, M. GER 525

3 Desalle, C. BEL 508

4 Philippaerts, D. ITA 497

5 de Dycker, Ken BEL 495

6 Coppins, J. NZL 485

7 Leok, Tanel EST 395

8 Swanepoel, G. RSA 262

9 Barragan, J. ESP 229

10 Ramon, Steve BEL 217

11 Priem, Manuel BEL 195

12 Leok, Aigar EST 188

13 Vuillemin, D. FRA 163

14 Aranda, G. FRA 143

15 Church, Tom GBR 134

Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com