New Zealand‘s Josh Coppins enjoyed a solid performance at the weekend’s round four of the  Belgian Motocross Championships on the rough and sandy Keiheuvel circuit in Mol, Balen.

The Yamaha-mounted Kiwi pumped out three solid and consistent motos to place himself on the third step of the podium.

The day started on a positive note for the man they call ‘Lizzard’ as he posted the third fastest lap time in timed practice.

In the opening moto, Coppins exited turn one just inside the top 10. Quickly finding his rhythm in the deep sand ‘Lizzard’ blasted his way through to fourth place by the end of the short race.

In the second moto the Monster Energy Yamaha rider rounded up the opening lap in fourth place, and was racing hard with German Max Nagl and Spaniard Jonathan Barragan.

Quickly dropping Barragan, ‘Lizzard’ soon came under fire from two-time former world champion Steve Ramon who was fighting his way through. Lap after lap the two GP stars battled it out, however on the final lap Ramon got the upper hand, leaving Coppins in 5th place as they crossed the finish line.

In the third and final moto of the day, Coppins was ready for the battle and was determined to get a good result.

Rounding the first corner in seventh place behind Belgian Jeremy Van Horebeek, Coppins very quickly started moving his way up through the international field of racers.

Lap after lap ‘Lizzard’ battled, edging ever closer to the front. With just two laps remaining Coppins was into 2nd and hunting down current World Championship leader, Antonio Cairoli.

As the chequered flag waved it was Cairoli who took the win, however Coppins had closed the gap to just 2.9 seconds. Crossing the line in 2nd rewarded Coppins with a well deserved podium.

“That was a good day, had fun in that last race,” said Coppins afterwards.

“I feel stronger than ever in myself and look forward to Lierop now.”

Josh now prepares for the penultimate Grand Prix of the 2009 season which takes place in Lierop, Holland, at the end of this month.

Results:

Race 1:

1 DESALLE Clement

2 DE DYCKER Ken

3 BARRAGAN Jonathan

4 COPPINS Joshua

5 CAIROLI Antonio

6 ROOS Patrick

7 DE REUVER Marc

8 STRIJBOS Kevin

9 PRIEM Manuel

10 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy

11 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy

12 NAGL Maximilian

13 ROELANTS Joel

14 VAN DAELE Marvin

15 VAN NOOTEN Jurgen

Race 2:

1 DESALLE Clement

2 DE DYCKER Ken

3 NAGL Maximilian

4 RAMON Steve

5 COPPINS Joshua

6 BARRAGAN Jonathan

7 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy

8 LEOK Tanel

9 ROOS Patrick

10 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy

11 CAIROLI Antonio

12 ROELANTS Joel

13 VAN DAELE Marvin

14 SALAETS Kristof

15 DE REUVER Marc

Race 3:

1 CAIROLI Antonio

2 COPPINS Joshua

3 NAGL Maximilian

4 DESALLE Clement

5 DE DYCKER Ken

6 BARRAGAN Jonathan

7 ROELANTS Joel

8 ROOS Patrick

9 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy

10 VAN DAELE Marvin

11 STRIJBOS Kevin

12 RAMON Steve

13 SALAETS Kristof

14 LAEREMANS Bengt

15 MARTENS Yentel

Overall results:

1 DESALLE Clement 68

2 DE DYCKER Ken 60

3 COPPINS Joshua 56

4 CAIROLI Antonio 51

5 BARRAGAN Jonathan 50

6 NAGL Maximilian 49

7 ROOS Patrick 40

8 BOBRYSHEV Evgeniy 36

9 ROELANTS Joel 31

10 RAMON Steve 27

11 VAN DAELE Marvin 26

12 STRIJBOS Kevin 26

13 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 22

14 DE REUVER Marc 20

15 SALAETS Kristof 19

Championship standings:

1 DESALLE Clement 270

2 DE DYCKER Ken 264

3 COPPINS Joshua 216

4 VAN DAELE Marvin 145

5 CAPS Patrick 111

6 ROELANTS Joel 107

7 VERBRUGGEN Dennis 95

8 RAMON Steve 85

9 CAIROLI Antonio 72

10 STRIJBOS Kevin 71

11 BARRAGAN Jonathan 70

12 PRIEM Manuel 70

13 DE REUVER Marc 69

14 LEOK Tanel 66

15 PHILIPPAERTS David 64

Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com