Coppins Will Race Again on the World Stage

COPPINS WILL RACE AGAIN ON THE WORLD STAGE

CAPTION: Motueka's Josh Coppins (Altherm JCR Yamaha YZ450F), ready to take on the world again. Photo by Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

AUGUST 30, 2016: Motueka's Josh Coppins will shortly be racing again on the world stage.

The two-time former world motocross No.2 and multi-time New Zealand champion retired from racing professionally after he won the Australian MX1 title in 2012, turning his hand instead to the business of race team management.

He has achieved great things at that too, his Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing Team one of the pre-eminent outfits on the national motocross scene and further afield too, with Coppins at the side of Otago's Courtney Duncan as she took her Altherm JCR Yamaha YZ250F to win the Women's Motocross World Championships' final round at Assen, in The Netherlands, at the weekend.

But now he will return to the track as a racer, albeit only briefly, as he tackles at the 32nd annual World Veterans' Motocross Championships, set for California's steep Glen Helen circuit, on the outskirts of San Bernadino, on November 5-6.

The now-39-year-old was on top of the world in 2007 – until a tragic crash in the Czech Republic robbed him of the ultimate prize that season – and he had twice before that been world championship runner-up (in 2002 and 2005), and he was also twice third in the world (in 2004 and 2007), so there's not much about top level motocross that Coppins has not experienced in his 18-year career as an international racer.

He said he was looking forward to the return to international racing, even if it will be just a one-off.

"I rode a bit before this trip (to the Dutch GP), but now I have been off the bike for six weeks and I have to begin training again," he said.

"I have six or seven weeks to get ready and I'll do my best. I'd like to have had more time to get ready, but it's a reality of work coming first ... something I've not been used to in the past.

"I also need to make another trip to Europe in seven weeks to a motor show, to visit sponsors and prepare for 2017.

"My focus is on the team, not my getting a result at the world vets," said Coppins, although it would be unwise to bet against him being a contender at the Glen Helen circuit, in Southern California.

"I am looking forward to it. I will try to win, but I'm not really sure who I'm racing and the level I'll be facing. I will do my best, but I won't take any risks. My main reason for the trip is to visit sponsors."

The Altherm JCR Yamaha Racing team is supported by Altherm Window Systems, Yamaha, JCR, CRC, Ados, GYTR, Yamalube, Fox Racing, Hollands Collision Centre, Star Moving, Ward Demolition, Fulton Hogan, Pirelli, FMF, DID, NGK, Matrix, Renthal, Motomuck, Workshop Graphics, Motoseat, Hammerhead, SKF, Vertex Pistons, Rtech Plastics, Etnies, Biketranz and Fulton Hogan.

Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

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