COPPINS TAKES OVER LEAD

New Zealand’s Josh Coppins is a fast mover — from seventh overall after the opening round to first position after three rounds of the Australian Motocross Championships today.

The CDR Rockstar Yamaha rider from Motueka dominated the day at round three of the series at New South Wales’ Raymond Terrace circuit today, completing his recovery from a blighted rain-drenched opening round of the series at Broadford, near Melbourne, back in March.

Coppins finished 2-1-1-2 today, boosting him past round one winner Billy Mackenzie (Kawasaki) and round two winner Dean Ferris (Kawasaki) to take over the top spot in the series rankings.

Fellow Kiwi Michael Phillips (Honda), of Rotorua, finished seventh overall today and he remains eighth in the series standings.

Another Kiwi, Mount Maunganui’s Cody Cooper (Suzuki), was sidelined with injury after a crash at round two and he was unable to take part in today’s racing, seeing him slump to 13th in the championship standings.

Meanwhile, in the Lites (MX2 or 250cc) class, Christchurch’s Justin McDonald (Honda) hit the front in his final race of the day, winning it from series leader Matt Moss (KTM), but, after finishing 6-9-15 in his earlier outings, he had to settle for eighth overall for the day.

McDonald is now 11th in the Lites championship standings, up one place from 12th overall after round two.