Kiwi riders Josh Coppins and Ben Townley made early exits from race one of Sunday’s United States MX1 motocross Grand Prix at Glen Helen, California, but they both came roaring back in the second leg.

Townley retired after eight laps of the first MX1 race but the US-based Bay of Plenty rider marked his one-off return to the GP scene by setting the fastest time of two minutes, 19.799 seconds on lap two, while he was at that stage running with the leaders.

The 2004 MX2 world champion last appeared in the motocross world championships in 2005 when he finished third overall in the MX1 class – behind Belgian Stefan Everts and fellow Kiwi Coppins — before he headed to the United States.

His past two seasons have been blighted by injury but Sunday’s performance showed he was well and truly back to his best again.

This first moto was won by Italian defending world champion Antonio Cairoli, ahead of American Mike Alessi and German Max Nagl.

Motueka’s Coppins, riding for the Aprilia factory, bowed out on the seventh lap of MX1 race one at Glen Helen.

Coppins suffered a bent radiator when a mistake in the opening laps took him down. With high temperatures the lack of engine cooling left Coppins with no option but to retire from the race.

Looking to salvage vital points for the weekend, Coppins was quick out the gates in moto two and rounded out the opening lap just outside the top 10. Racing hard throughout, Coppins put on an impressive charge ending the race in 9th position.

“Not finishing the first moto was a real shame because I felt good on the bike,” said Coppins.

“That showed in the second race and I was pumped to get a good result in that. The team had to change the whole engine between the heats, so we were pushed on time, but they did a good job in the end. The development of this bike is a huge task but we continue to improve every week so that is promising,” said Coppins.

Coppins is now 11th in the championship standings, up from 16th overall at the start of the weekend.

It was a very different story for Townley in his second MX1 outing as he romped to a convincing win, the 25-year-old punching the air with his fist as he savoured his final laps.

Even with just the one race completed out of 12 in the championship thus far, Townley finds himself 24th in the series standings.

“It is such a great feeling to be back winning. I still feel I am not at the level I am capable of, and really I am still the under-dog for this year’s AMA Championship. We needed this race to work on some new bike settings and also my fitness in race conditions. I think winning the second moto today showed that we are moving in the right direction which makes me happy and boosts my confidence ahead of next week,” said Townley.

Townley now heads to round two of the AMA Nationals, which is to be held in Texas next Saturday.

Cairoli finished third in moto two, behind Townley and Belgian rider Clement Desalle and this was enough for him to win the USGP overall.

Cairoli therefore strengthens his grip on the championship – he is now 41 points clear of Nagl, with Desalle third overall, a further 22 points behind.

Meanwhile, another Kiwi was also making headway at the weekend’s USGP. Hamilton’s Darryll King twice finished runner-up in the veteran’s world championship class, the third round of the veterans’ world championships sharing the day’s programme with the MX1 and MX2 world championships.

American former factory star Doug Dubach won both legs and won the veterans’ GP overall.

For King this was his first appearance in the world series this year, having instead raced in Australia earlier in the season.

King’s outstanding performance at Glen Helen has rocketed the Waikato man from nowhere to 11th in the championship standings.

USGP MX1 overall results:

1. Tony Cairoli, ITA, KTM (1-3)

2. Mike Alessi, USA, KTM (2-4)

3. Clement Desalle, BEL, Suzuki (5-2)

4. Xavier Boog, FRA, Kawasaki (6-5)

5. Steve Ramon, BEL, Suzuki (7-6)

6. Ken de Dycker, BEL, Yamaha (4-10)

7. Davide Guarneri, ITA, Honda (8-7)

8. Ben Townley, NZL, Honda (33-1)

9. Kyle Chisholm, USA, Yamaha (10-12)

10. Max Nagl, GER, KTM (3-34)

11. Kevin Strijbos, BEL, Suzuki (13-13)

12. Rui Goncalves, POR, KTM (16-11)

13. Anthony Boissiere, FRA, TM (34-8)

14. Nicolas Aubin, FRA, Kawasaki (15-14)

15. David Philippaerts, ITA, Yamaha (11-18)

MX1 class standings after round six:

Tony Cairoli         259

Max Nagl             218

Clement Desalle   196

David Philippaerts 184

Ken de Dycker     174

Steve Ramon      173

Xavier Boog        167

Tanel Leok          135

Evgeny Bobryshev    115

Davide Guarneri 111

Josh Coppins       90

Kevin Strijbos      86

Seb Pourcel         75

A. Boissiere         75

G Swanepoel       74

MX2 class standings after round six:

Marvin Musquin   268

Ken Roczen         228

Steven Frossard 205

Jeffrey Herlings   197

Shaun Simpson   170

Zach Osborne      163

J v Horebeek       157

Arnaud Tonus      154

Joel Roelants       134

Jake Nicholls        129

Harri Kullas         120

Dennis Verbruggen 101

Al Lupino             81

Chris Charlier      81

Matiss Karro        68

© Photos by Joe Bonnello, words by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com