The contender!
By TMX Archives on 17th Mar 06
Three years ago Josh Coppins - as he lay in traction after splintering his ankle - was told he would never race again. Three years ago Josh Coppins - as he lay in traction after splintering his ankle - was told he would never race again. It's an injury which will see him limping for the rest of his life but the 29-year-old Kiwi, British champion for the last two seasons, goes into 2006 as the UK's most serious candidate for the premier world crown since the heady days of Graham Noyce, Dave Thorpe and Kurt Nicoll.For much of his career Josh was considered by many to be cast - alongside the likes of Nicoll and Marnicq Bervoets - in the role of the eternal number two. So what has happened to make the veteran of 11 GP campaigns a winner at the very highest level?"It's the next step, something I've been working towards all of my career since I came to Europe, what I've been striving for. And I've started winning GPs against the best. I beat Stefan and Ben last year fair-and-square, not just because they were hurt or not riding well."The Isle of Wight two years ago was important but the first moto in Sweden last summer was the real breakthrough. Ben came to me and I was able to hold him off quite comfortably. I'd never ever won a first moto at a GP before - I have always been better in the second - so I was sure I could win the second also."It was a mental thing. I think I had to win in those circumstances, having someone of the calibre of Ben come onto my rear wheel and to beat them. I actually got it into my head that it was just like practising. And from that situation I knew that I just had to concentrate on my lines and I had the speed to hold him off."And then in South Africa I passed Stefan for the win. I made a mistake on the second lap but I was always confident that I could come back at him. What surprised me was that I was faster in the sand section because that had always been one of Stefan's great strengths. But I had a few better lines and I think I wanted it more than him. I started it from the turn before the finish line and set him up through a combination of four turns."In the end Everts rebounded to lift his ninth title but Josh has confidence in his 2006 challenge."It could have happened earlier. At the end of 2002 in Russia, Pichon already knew he had to nail me to win it and I think I would have carried that through if I hadn't got hurt. And my crash at Hawkstone last March cost me. I was only off the bike for 10 days but it was an important time of the year - just when everyone is accelerating for the first GP - and it took me until mid-summer to catch back up."I was still the only rider in MX1 last year apart from Stefan to finish and score in every single race and at CAS Honda we are now ready to take on anyone. The team is the best it's ever been with the bike and changes which we have made within the team to suit me and help me to go for the championship. Harry (Ainsworth - team director] is aware of that and has voiced it publicly and I feel I can claim to have been partly responsible for this."Harry tried to do it with Crockard but it never happened but with me we are maybe a year or two on, older and wiser and the team is much better prepared for the challenge than ever before. The budget is there with support from Honda UK and the whole team is making steps towards making sure I'm happy, that the bike's better. We're not just going racing for fun, we are out to beat the rest of the world and that makes the difference."We have worked towards having all of the right people in the right places and I have been working towards shaping the team in this way since I joined in 2003. I made them cut the team from four riders to two - there were simply not enough staff to go round for four riders. I made them focus more on me, I made the move to Belgium, the team has followed. The facilities for training there are the best in Europe and no-one other than the Italians have ever won without a base there.For full story don't miss the April issue of dbr - on sale now!Words and photos by Alex Hodgkinson