Bad weather ruined New Zealand rider Josh Coppins' chances of claiming a higher overall finish at the Italian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2009 world MX1 motocross championship in Italy this morning.
Torrential rain on Saturday night and yesterday caused several issues at the Faenza circuit near Bologna
in northern Italy.
Organisers managed to get the first heats of the MX1 and MX2 championships running but were forced to call off the second heats for safety reasons.
Coppins steered his Yamaha to a solid sixth in the first heat, ahead of teammate and defending champion David Philippaerts who struggled home ninth.
The race was won by Estonia's Tanel Leok on a Yamaha, followed by Belgians Ken de Dycker on a Suzuki and Clement Desalle on a Honda.
- NZPA
