Kiwi Josh Coppins will this weekend lead a strong charge for Yamaha at round four of the 2011 Rockstar Australian Motocross Nationals as the riders zero in on the loamy red soil of Murray Bridge, in South Australia.

In addition to former GP star Coppins — the current points leader in the open class — Yamaha has two ex-pat South Australians in their seven-rider, three-team line-up and the boys are looking forward to their home state round.

The championship is also in for a change of pace as the opening three rounds have been on the hard pack, clay based circuits on the East Coast but now the tour heads west and the softer, loamy surfaces start to appear.

New Zealand’s Coppins is the current leader of the championship after two commanding performances at rounds two and three. Coppins, a two-time former world No.2, is looking forward to the change of track conditions and expects the softer dirt to be more to his liking.

“I haven’t been to Murray Bridge before but all the riders tell me it is a great track with a really good surface to ride on,” Coppins said. “I welcome the change to the softer dirt as it feels like the tracks we have back in New Zealand and a lot of the tracks I raced while in Europe.”

It has also been a big return to form of current and three-time Australian MX Nationals Champion, Jay Marmont. After a crushing ninth place finish at the opening round, Marmont has podiumed at rounds two and three and clawed his way back into third place in the standings and eyeing off bigger things.

“It’s been a month since our last national race but myself and the team has continued to work hard behind the scenes. We are still to hit the halfway point in the championship and there are so many races and so many points up for grabs that no one can afford to rest on their laurels,” Marmont offers.

In the Pro Lites (MX2) class, the three-pronged team of Kirk Gibbs, Ford Dale and Jake Moss are hoping the Murray Bridge round brings them a change of fortune in the championship.

KTM’s Matt Moss leads the Pro Lites standings by a whopping 85 points.

Gibbs, originally from South Australia, is currently running second in the Pro Lites championship, but wasn’t happy with his round three performance and spent the time between the rounds travelling the east coast in search of racing and quality opposition.

“We had four weekends between rounds three and four and I raced three of them, two in Queensland and one in New South Wales,” Gibbs explains. “We don’t get many national events in South Australia and this is my home state race so I am determined to have a good weekend as lots of friends and family will be there.”

Championship Standings- After Round Three

Rockstar Energy Drink Pro Open

1. Josh Coppins 228

2. Dean Ferris 219

3. Jay Marmont 199

4. Cheyne Boyd 190

5. Lawson Bopping 188

6. Billy Mackenzie 187

7. Ryan Marmont 163

8. Michael Phillips 163

9. Daniel Reardon 142

10. Louis Calvin 132

Motul Pro Lites

1. Matt Moss 277

2. Kirk Gibbs 192

3. Brendan Harrison 185

4. Cody Mackie 179

5. Daniel McCoy 174

6. Josh Cachia 169

7. Phil Nicoletti 163

8. Kade Mosig 159

9. Keiron Hall 153

10. Ford Dale 149

Pirelli Under 19s

1. Errol Willis 259

2. Luke Arbon 233

3. Dylan Peterson 203

4. Shaun Redhead 185

5. Jake Emanuelli 148

6. Kyle McKeddie 146

7. Dylan Long 112

8. Jacob McLeod 110

9. Kale Makeham 109

10. Jay Wilson 108

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com