Second place for Coppins at Weston Beach race

Josh Coppins has lined up against a field of over 1150 off road
riders for his Weston Beach Race debut this past weekend. In his
second to last event before returning home to NZ, the Kiwi battled
it out with fellow Motocross rival, Steve Ramon, chasing the
Belgian over the rutted and sandy Weston Beach dunes in what is
considered the largest off road event in the UK.

“I didn’t know what to expect at this race.” admitted Coppins. “I
have heard a lot about the Weston Beach race and now that I
have one under my belt I’m going to be back for more. I rode a
complete standard YZ450F 2008 model and was amazed how well
the bike pulled and held up in the deep sand. We ran stock
suspension and a standard fuel tank so I just had to stop more
often to re-fuel which is obviously where I lost some time.”

Perfect weather conditions made the circuit somewhat easier on
the competitors nonetheless the race was cut 30 mins short for
safety reasons which saw Coppins follow home Steve Ramon in
second place.

“I took it easy on the first lap and was around 20th position after
the start. Mike Brown and Steve Ramon were long gone but then
‘Brownie’ cooked his clutch and after the first hour I was 2
minutes off of Steve. I got a rhythm going and closed down the
gap to 50 seconds by the time the organisers red flagged the race
so I was pumped with my riding and fitness.”

Coppins returns to NZ on Tuesday only to catch a connecting
flight to Australia where he will take part in the International
Oceania Motocross Championships in Barrabool on the 27-28
October. (www.oceaniamx.com) joshcoppins.com

Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset coast, England, 10-20-2007
2007 Weston Beach Race - Main Solo Class - 1049 riders
1. Steve Ramon (Suzuki 450) 2 Hours 08 min. 45 sec.
2. Josh Coppins (Yamaha 450) +3 min. 00.92
3. Brad Anderson (Yamaha 450) +4 min. 24.06
4. Timotei Potisek (Honda 450) +6 min. 46.91
5. Ashley Greedy (Honda 250) +8 min. 29.90
6. Jamie Lewis (Honda 450) +17 min. 16.52
7. Finbarr Kneafsey (Honda 450) +19 min. 38.89
8. Rob Meek (Honda 450) +19 min. 40.71
9. Nick Life (Yamaha 450) +19 min. 54.13
10. Rick Du-Feu (Kawasaki 250) +1 Lap
11. Paul Bolton (Honda 250) +1 Lap
12. Darren Scott (Suzuki 250) +1 Lap
13. James Painton (Honda 450) +1 Lap

pics from bbc.co.uk - Weston Beach Race 2007 pictures