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COPPINS SEVENTH AT CASTIGLIONE
14 June 2005 - Honda Racing
CAS Honda’s Josh Coppins took seventh place in front of 20,000 fans at Castiglione del Lago for the Italian Grand Prix and round eight of the 2005 MX1 Motocross World Championship.
Martin Honda rider Mickael Pichon was unable to complete race distance. One of the few deep ruts on the course caught out Pichon in the first race after he had worked his way into seventh place following a poor start. The Frenchman pushed Stefan Everts before retiring on the same lap. It quickly emerged that he had damaged his wrist and hurt his leg in the incident and wasn’t keen to take to the line for the second race. It was a bitter blow for the Martin team at their home GP, as Pichon had resumed his qualification supremacy on Saturday by taking his 17th pole position in two seasons (his consecutive run of 16 was broken last week by Ben Townley). Pichon was feeling happier with his physical condition after some light training during the week and with the less demanding nature of the Italian layout. The track was hard and worn but not so bumpy, allowing some close racing. The terrain was also watered in the morning to contain the dust in the summer breeze and this created a grippy dirt that facilitated high speeds. After Pichon’s exit in race one, Coppins was next to challenge the World MX1 Champion but was unsuccessful, despite three laps of heavy pressure running up to the chequered flag. Coppins was disappointed with his riding and although he managed to eventually pass Brian Jorgensen, who took second place in the first sprint, he rolled over the line fifth and some time adrift from the leaders. RWJ Honda’s James Noble had a quiet Grand Prix and lurked around the fringes of the top ten finally resting on the edge of the leader-board.
After a three-week run of consecutive Grand Prix taking in Japan, Great Britain and now Italy, the world championships pause for 13 days before resuming on the last weekend of June at St Jean d’Angely. Josh Coppins
“I could not get the starts and then rode badly on the first laps and by the time I got a rhythm it was too late. I struggled and made hard work of it all day. I couldn’t get comfortable and basically wasn’t in the race; overtaking was very hard. The bike was okay but it just wasn’t my day and I had to do the best I could.” Paolo Martin, Martin Honda Team Manager
“Mickael had a fall in the first race and he had pain in both his wrist and his leg and felt like he couldn’t do the second moto. It is a real shame because he was riding so well to come back from the bad start. It is a difficult situation for the championship but we will see what his condition is like after two or three days.”
MX1 - race one result 1 / TOWNLEY Ben / NZL / KTM / 39:57,092
2 / JORGENSEN Brian / DEN / YAMAHA / 39:59,510
3 / LEURET Pascal / FRA / HONDA / 40:04,148
4 / SMETS Joël / BEL / SUZUKI / 40:05,621
5 / EVERTS Stefan / BEL / YAMAHA / 40:06,821
6 / COPPINS Joshua / NZL / HONDA / 40:07,925
7 / BARRAGAN Jonathan / SPA / KTM / 40:15,254
8 / SEGUY Luigi / FRA / YAMAHA / 40:22,357
9 / RAMON Steve / BEL / KTM / 40:23,176
10 / FEDERICI Claudio / ITA / YAMAHA / 40:23,929
13 / NOBLE James / GBR / HONDA / 40:32,956
14 / THEYBERS Danny / BEL / SUZUKI / 40:36,960
15 / LEOK Tanel / EST / KAWASAKI / 40:52,247 MX1 – race two result
1 / TOWNLEY Ben / NZL / KTM / 40:12,350
2 / EVERTS Stefan / BEL / YAMAHA / 40:13,335
3 / SMETS Joël / BEL / SUZUKI / 40:14,810
4 / BARRAGAN Jonathan / SPA / KTM / 40:26,297
5 / COPPINS Joshua / NZL / HONDA / 40:34,613
6 / JORGENSEN Brian / DEN / YAMAHA / 40:38,857
7 / LEURET Pascal / FRA / HONDA / 40:43,367
8 / SEGUY Luigi / FRA / YAMAHA / 40:49,097
9 / LEOK Tanel / EST / KAWASAKI / 40:50,793
10 / NOBLE James / GBR / HONDA / 40:56,065 MX1 World Motocross Championship standings after eight rounds
1 Everts, Stefan 339,
2 Smets, Joel 276,
3 Coppins, Joshua 274,
4 Pichon, Mickael 261,
5 Townley, Ben 254,
6 Ramon, Steve 203,
7 Noble, James 160,
8 Jorgensen, B. 158,
9 de Dijcker, Ken 143,
10 Leuret, Pascal 130,
15 Cooper, Paul 109 MX2 – race one result 1 / CAIROLI Antonio / ITA / YAMAHA / 40:06,959
2 / CHIODI Alessio / ITA / YAMAHA / 40:08,550
3 / PHILIPPAERTS David / ITA / KTM / 40:26,902
4 / SWORD Stephen / GBR / KAWASAKI / 40:27,253
5 / MCFARLANE Andrew / AUS / YAMAHA / 40:41,929
6 / CAPS Patrick / BEL / HONDA / 40:48,487
7 / MELOTTE Cedric / BEL / YAMAHA / 40:51,911
8 / GUARNERI Davide / ITA / YAMAHA / 40:52,966
9 / MASCHIO Mickaël / FRA / YAMAHA / 40:53,581
10 / NUNN Carl / / GBR / KTM / 41:11,370 MX2 – race two result 1 / SWORD Stephen / GBR / KAWASAKI / 39:20,073
2 / MELOTTE Cedric / BEL / YAMAHA / 39:28,963
3 / CAIROLI Antonio / ITA / YAMAHA / 39:32,094
4 / PHILIPPAERTS David / ITA / KTM / 39:37,491
5 / CHIODI Alessio / ITA / YAMAHA / 39:39,764
6 / MCFARLANE Andrew / AUS / YAMAHA / 39:41,174
7 / GUARNERI Davide / ITA / YAMAHA / 39:54,903
8 / MASCHIO Mickaël / FRA / YAMAHA / 40:01,073
9 / POURCEL Christophe / FRA / KAWASAKI / 40:02,912
10 / CAPS Patrick / BEL / HONDA / 40:09,780 MX2 World Motocross Championship standings after eight rounds
1 Cairoli, A. 270,
2 McFarlane, A. 263,
3 Sword, Stephen 262,
4 Chiodi, Alessio 259,
5 Melotte, Cedric 221,
6 Philippaerts, D. 173,
7 Mackenzie, B. 162,
8 Maschio, M. 159,
9 Caps, Patrick 153,
10 Guarneri, D. 148.
www.honda-racing.co.uk
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