Kiwi motocross ace Josh Coppins came on strong at round 12 of the motocross world championships, the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, at the weekend.

The man from Motueka moved up another spot in the championship chase after his hard-fought 13th and 10th placings in the clinging mud at Loket.

This was good enough for the factory Aprilia rider to finish 10th overall on the day and to move him up one position to 12th in the championship standings.

“I did not ride well in the first moto and battled to find my rhythm but I was much happier with moto two where I got to battle with David Philippaerts for a long time.  I am looking forward to Brazil and then Lierop.  I am really motivated to put in a good result.”

Meanwhile, defending MX1 champion Tony Cairoli, of Italy, won the MX1 class in the Czech GP, while defending MX2 champion Marvin Musquin, of France, topped the MX2 class.

Both riders are leading their respective championships and have the chance to wrap up their titles in the next round in Brazil.

Cairoli topped the podium from Belgian Clement Desalle and Estonian Tanel Leok, the latter having snatched moto one victory from Cairoli who made up by winning the final heat. Belgium’s Steve Ramon and Germany’s Max Nagl completed the top five ahead of Italian David Philippaerts.

Musquin and German teenager Ken Roczen battled hard for the Czech GP victory but it was Musquin ending on top courtesy of his victory in the final heat. Roczen, who won moto one, could do no better than second in heat two and dropped down to second on the podium while France’s Gautier Paulin was third overall. Pole winner Steven Frossard, of France, crashed in race one and was seventh overall.

MX1 CLASS

Taking the Grand Prix of Czech Republic, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cairoli extended his winning streak to three consecutive wins – six in total this year.

The Italian was snatched the first moto win by a fast Tanel Leok but made up for that in the second heat, leading the whole moto and extending his record of laps at the lead to 222 – exactly the same as the championship leader’s start number. Cairoli is now heading towards his second MX1 World Title as he leads the MX1 series with an 84 point advantage with three rounds to go.

Taking second overall in the scenario of his maiden GP win last year, Desalle of Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1 could not make up points on Cairoli this weekend. Desalle struggled at the start of moto one and was then forced to recover to an eventual third place. The Belgian took a much better start in the final moto but could not close the gap with a fast Cairoli and ended runner up to the Italian.

LS Motors Honda’s Leok was on route to win his second Grand Prix of 2010 after he beat Cairoli in moto one to win in front of the KTM racer. A crash in the final moto hampered Leok’s classification but the Estonian found his way through the pack and recovered to an eventual fifth, making it to the overall podium by six points.

Rockstar Teka Suzuki World MX1’s Ramon was fourth overall, securing the position with a strong outing in the final moto. After ending a bitter sixth in race one, Ramon made up in the final moto by working his way up to an eventual third.

Completing the top five was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Nagl who clinched a fifth and a fourth place in the heats.

Philippaerts instead struggled and missed the top five. The Italian finished sixth overall after crashing in the final moto – which followed his fourth place of heat one.

Russian rider Evgeny Bobryshev was seventh ahead of Portugal’s Rui Gonçalves, Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos and Coppins completing the top 10. Guarneri instead scored no points and ended at the bottom of the standings, with a crash in the first moto hurting his back.

Britain’s Tom Church made it to the 11th place to mark CCM’s return to action. The Brit was just ahead of French Kawasaki duo Sebastien Pourcel and Nick Aubin.

MX1 Race 1 top 10:

1. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 39:08.429; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:03.457; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:07.250; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:27.771; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:29.930; 6. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:53.331; 7. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:11.257; 8. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:12.146; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:15.536; 10. Rui Gonçalves (POR, KTM), +1:21.500.

MX1 Race 2 top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 40:34.824; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:03.037; 3. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +1:06.778; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +1:09.320; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +1:10.907; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:11.841; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:17.435; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +1:21.038; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:41.461; 10. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), +1:48.010.

MX1 Overall top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 42 p.; 3. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 41 p.; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 35 p.; 5. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 34 p.; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 30 p.; 7. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 26 p.; 8. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 20 p.; 10. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), 19 p.

MX1 Championship top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 531 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 447 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 394 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 382 p.; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 376 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 309 p.; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 290 p.; 8. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 276 p.; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 270 p.; 10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), 213 p.

MX2 CLASS

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Musquin finally broke his streak of bad luck in Loket – where he broke his foot in 2008 and his engine in 2009- by winning the Bonver Grand Prix of Czech Republic after a tight battle with rival Roczen.

By the time he recovered to second in race one Roczen was too fast to be caught but in the second moto the duo battled harder for the win. Musquin was first, then Roczen moved past but the German crashed and handed the position back to Musquin, crossing the finish line and going straight on top of the podium. The 78 point advantage on Roczen remained unchanged as the duo finished level in points this weekend but the forthcoming Brazilian GP can be Musquin’s first occasion to clinch the Title – the French actually won his maiden Championship last year in Brazil.

Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2’Roczen was all set on winning another Grand Prix after breaking the ice in Lommel with his first season’s win. The German dominated the opening moto but a crash in the second moto while trying to open up a gap on Musquin made him change his mind and reset his goals to a safer second place. Ending second overall, Roczen collected as many points as Musquin and is now looking forward to winning the Brazilian round.

Celebrating his second podium of a difficult 2010 season, Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Gautier Paulin was the third man on the Czech podium. Recovering from a bad start in moto one, Paulin took an eventual sixth but earned the podium with a solid third place in the final moto. The French is now close to the top 10 of the Championship despite having missed the first four rounds.

Kawasaki CLS’ Jeremy van Horebeek missed the rostrum by just one point and finished fourth overall. The Belgian was fourth in the first moto after trying to earn the third spot by putting pressure on youngster Herlings. In moto two Van Horebeek was fifth.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Simpson took fifth overall but aimed at more, especially after a solid start to the first heat. Towards the end of the moto instead Simpson dropped down from second to fifth and again in the second moto he ended sixth after a start in the top three.

Tonus was sixth ahead of poleman Frossard, the latter being hampered by an early crash in the first moto. Roelants, American Zach Osborne and Harri Kullas completed the top 10 while Dutchman Jeffery Herlings was 11th. The Dutch teenager was involved in a crash in the final moto which dislocated his right shoulder. Home rider Martin Michek was right behind in 12th.

RESULTS:

MX2 Race 1 top 10:

1. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 39:33.781; 2. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:30.926; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:35.408; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:37.549; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:52.968; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:56.169; 7. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:57.223; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +1:00.372; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:01.813; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:11.753.

MX2 Race 2 top 10:

1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 38:58.574; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:00.516; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.397; 4. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:58.354; 5. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:14.565; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:24.314; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +1:28.202; 8. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +1:29.270; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +1:29.793; 10. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), +3:41.077.

MX2 Overall top 10:

1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 47 p.; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 35 p.; 4. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 27 p.; 7. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 23 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 21 p.

MX2 Championship top 10:

1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 527 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 449 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 404 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 391 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 329 p.; 6. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 313 p.; 7. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 302 p.; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 298 p.; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 293 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 254 p.

© Photo by Ray Archer