Motorsport: Back home for a tough time

Josh Coppins. Photo / Supplied

Motueka, home track of former international motocross star Kiwi Josh Coppins, is the venue this weekend for the third round of the national supercross series.

Coppins is back home in New Zealand contesting a full championship for the first time in nearly 10 years, and although his class is shining through, he's not taking anything for granted.

He arrives at his home track, where he's never been beaten, confident he has the wood on the others and looking to extend his 13-point lead at the top of the table.

But he knows that the slightest mistake could open the door for the chasing pack.

Chief among them is another Kiwi international, Cody Cooper, who is second in the series.

"I don't miss racing in Europe as it was time to come home and I've got a busy calendar where I'm doing five more races than was in my contract," said Coppins.

"The races aren't as intense as overseas but the competition is good here and the guys are fast, as I knew they would be."

It's one of those age-old adages, that no matter how good someone is on his home soil, most of the time he'll struggle to get up to speed quickly when racing in another country.

This holds true for the returning Coppins, who despite being a Kiwi, has not competed on home soil for quite a while. For many years his backyards have been the many tracks in Europe where he competed at the highest level.

"The riders here go so fast on the home tracks and in events they know," he says. "They're comfortable at home. They know the opposition. I knew it would be tough and I hope I can win some championships as that's the goal."

He's already won the North Island title and is keen to win the next two rounds - Motueka this weekend and the final round in Timaru on January 15 - to claim the South Island title and the national supercross title.

But it's not going to be easy. Local riders will be doing their utmost to put a cat among Coppins' championship pigeons.

Justin McDonald, Michael Phillips and Hayden Clark are among those with an eye on the prize, but it's Cooper who has the best chance of unseating Coppins.

"I could have picked up more points at the Taupo round but I ended up crashing in the first moto while leading it," said Cooper.

"There are six more races and at three points a race it's possible I can pick up nine points so there's a chance if I'm good on my starts like last time out.

"I feel good after the last two races where I came out on top [of Coppins] so I feel confident. I like the Motueka track, the dirt's good and I've had good starts before and it's a good track to race other people on."

Craig Smith leads the 250cc senior lites after three wins at the last round in Taupo, ahead of Nick Saunders and Peter Broxholme.

In the 250cc junior lites, Dion Picard has a healthy 16-point over Micah McGoldrick, and Josiah Natzke is ahead of Scott Sowry in the 85cc junior class.

Points

Josh Coppins - 111

Cody Cooper - 98

Justin McDonald - 94

Michael Phillips - 71

Hayden Clark - 55

Jesse Donnelly - 55

Davi Fisher - 52

Jesse Wiki - 47

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