The hill is now an impossibly steep one for Josh Coppins to climb.

The Kiwi Yamaha ace (pictured above) finished fourth and fifth in his two MX1 outings at the GP of the Czech Republic overnight, moving up to fifth equal in the championship standings, but it’s almost certainly still too far now for the man from Motueka to catch the leaders with just two GPs remaining.

“It was a tough day at the office. I rode pretty well and it got off to a good start. I had a decent battle with David (Philippaerts) there for a while, he passed me, made a mistake and I could get him back and finished fourth by the line. I was away really well in the second moto but Max Nagl hit me hard on the first corner.

“I got roosted and my tear-offs were rubbish from that point. I did the best I could to fight back but the goggle lens popped out and I was getting dirt and dust in my vision all the time. Overall I felt I performed OK here but just missed a break to get a better overall result,” commented the Kiwi.

Italy’s Antonio Cairoli (Yamaha) continues to lead the MX1 championship, a whopping 94 points ahead of Coppins.

But it was also a tough day for the leaders of both championship classes, Cairoli and France’s Marvin Musquin. The first struggled with a severe cold and ended fourth overall in the MX1 class while Musquin’s KTM bike had a problem in heat two, with the Frenchman pulling out of that MX2 race with no points.

Taking victory at the weekend’s GP, Belgian Clement Desalle savoured his first ever GP success while France’s Gautier Paulin took victory in the MX2 class.

German Max Nagl and Coppins’ Italian team-mate David Philippaerts, the defending world champion, completed the MX1 podium while Portugal’s Rui Goncalves and France’s Xavier Boog rounded off the MX2 rostrum.

At just 20 years of age, Desalle made it to his first Grand Prix victory on Sunday. Desalle, who started from pole, was a distant second in moto one but he made the most of his chances in the final heat. Desalle started well and took the lead from holeshot man Philippaerts, then rode to a flawless victory to wrap up the overall.

Finishing second on the podium was Nagl, of the Red Bull KTM factory Racing. The German, who is still second in the championship, won the first moto with a big advantage over Desalle though he struggled in the final heat to finish fourth.

Completing the podium was Philippaerts, as Loket unveiled to be again an important race for the Italian’s Championship – last year Philippaerts got back the red plate in Loket with an overall win. This year though Philippaerts came back to the podium after his last appearance in France but Desalle’s victory saw the Belgian chip away at the gap from the defending champion. Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts is still third in the Championship but Desalle is just two points away now.

Championship leader Cairoli finished fourth and missed the podium for the first time in six races but the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli man was suffering with a severe cold. Cairoli had a tough first moto, where he ran off the track at the start and then recovered to sixth. A much better start in moto two saw the two-time world champion finish in second after a dogfight with Philippaerts.

Other Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross rider Coppins completed the top five ahead of Swanepoel and De Dycker.

RESULTS:

MX1 Race 1 top ten: 1. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 39:02.888; ; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), +0:10.188; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:21.531; 4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:22.734; 5. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:23.854; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), +0:25.147; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), +0:32.151; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:47.271; 9. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:51.509; 10. Manuel Priem (BEL, Aprilia), +0:55.829;

MX1 Race 2 top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 39:40.072; ; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), +0:16.564; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:24.609; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:29.833; 5. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:33.593; 6. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:40.831; 7. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:52.202; 8. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +1:03.342; 9. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:11.859; 10. Loic Leonce (FRA, Aprilia), +1:19.504;

MX1 Overall top ten: 1. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 47 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 43 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 40 p.; 4. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 37 p.; 5. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 34 p.; 6. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), 30 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 26 p.; 8. Gregory Aranda (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 20 p.; 10. Carlos Campano (ESP, Yamaha), 19 p.;

MX1 Championship top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 503 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 458; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 428; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 426; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 409; 6. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 409; 7. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 347; 8. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki), 218; 9. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 215; 10. Manuel Priem (BEL, Aprilia), 178.

MX2

By winning in the Czech Republic on Sunday, Paulin came back to victory after a long absence, as the French rider won his first and only GP at muddy Faenza. Bud Racing Kawasaki PSM’s Paulin, who had a tough qualifying on Saturday, was forced to start from 16th, made a strong recovery in moto one to take an eventual fourth. In heat two Paulin managed to take the holeshot and ran away with the lead, wrapping up the overall.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Goncalves brought the bike home in second courtesy of two third place finishes. The Portuguese, who struggles with stomach problems since Lommel, had a great start in heat one but was passed first by teenager Ken Roczen –winning the heat eventually- then by Musquin, who performed a superb last lap move. In heat two he was again a solid third.

Coming back after a recent appendix operation, Frenchman Boog went straight to the podium finishing in third overall. The Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 rider was fifth in heat one but ended second to Paulin in a fantastic moto two.

Suzuki team-mate Roczen looked like the one to beat once the first moto started, as the youngster went on to take his second career moto victory on the Czech hard pack course. A bad start in the final moto changed things for Roczen, who struggled to finish ninth. Being fourth overall in the Grand Prix, Roczen made into the top five of the championship, overtaking Steven Frossard.

KTM Factory Junior MX2 team-mates Valentin Teillet and Joel Roelants ended fifth and sixth overall ahead of Swiss rider Arnaud Tonus with last year’s European EMX2 Champion Teillet taking his best career result since his GP debut this year.

Championship leader Musquin was ninth overall despite a second place finish in heat one. Musquin’s bike broke in moto two when he was giving Paulin chase for first as he was forced to pull out, losing important points in the Championship.

Aubin was another rider with bike issues this Sunday, as a technical problem spelled an early end to a very good first heat. Despite taking fifth in moto two Nicholas Aubin dropped down to 13th overall.

MX2 Race 1 top ten: 1. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 39:15.961; ; 2. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:05.598; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:06.420; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.945; 5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), +0:21.079; 6. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), +0:23.027; 7. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +0:28.750; 8. Stephen Sword (GBR, KTM), +0:32.980; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:34.937; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KTM), +0:39.048;

MX2 Race 2 top ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:16.555; ; 2. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), +0:03.669; 3. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:04.985; 4. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), +0:12.512; 5. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:23.197; 6. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:28.303; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:37.799; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KTM), +0:39.236; 9. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:39.556; 10. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:44.187;

MX2 Overall top ten: 1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 43 points; 2. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 37 p.; 5. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, KTM), 24 p.; 8. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 23 p.; 9. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 21 p.;

MX2 Championship top ten: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 443 points; 2. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 423; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 415; 4. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 373; 5. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 306; 6. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 294; 7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 248; 8. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 245; 9. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 245; 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 235.

Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com