Coppins wins at 2012 MX Nationals Round 2

The round at Coonabarabran's Goanna Tracks circuit on Sunday, April 15 was scheduled to be Townley's last before he headed to the USA to ride for Chad Reed's TwoTwo Motorsports operation. The injury to the Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing rider not only put his US campaign in doubt, but also meant the field at Goanna Tracks was more open for Sunday's trio of MX1 races.

In dry conditions, Sunday's first two motos went the way of Jake Moss (Campbell Mining TLD Maxima Honda), who showed smoothness and consistent pace to finish ahead of both the factory bikes and other privateers. Moss was on track for a clean sweep of victories before his luck ran out on the day's third moto. Having to settle for 16th in the long moto opened the door for round 1's runner up, CDR Yamaha's Josh Coppins, to take the race win and the round victory.

"It feels good to win because I felt like I struggled on Saturday and didn't really ride that well today," former world number two Coppins said. "I just had to be patient and the first five-lap races weren't long enough for me. I knew the last longer moto would suit me, so I focused on winning that one. It's been a great start to the season for me so far."

4-3-1 results for the round means Coppins is now the clear championship leader, but behind him, it's a real logjam for the minor placings, with only twelve points separating the next five places in the championship.
In addition to the strong result shown by Moss, Tye Simmonds on the Red Bull-supported Honda made it a successful weekend for the privateers. 5-4-2 results for the boy from Bourke saw him finish second overall for the round ahead of Moss.

Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jay Marmont endured another slow start to the season, but fourth overall for the four-time champion is an improvement on his season-opening result of seventh. Marmont finished a distant ninth in the first moto, improved to second in moto 2, and was in the box seat for victory in the final moto of the day, but finished up third and was bumped off the overall podium.

Fifth for the weekend was British champion Brad Anderson. With Townley's early departure, Anderson is now Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing's lone championship hope in the MX1 class. The Brit scraped together a top five result in what was a challenging debut at Goanna Tracks.

Cody Cooper (Motul Pirelli Suzuki) finished the round a consistent sixth overall, but CDR Yamaha's Lawson Bopping set the paddock talking with his super-quick lap times, despite a seventh overall finish for the round. Bopping posted the fastest lap in qualifying with a blistering 2:34 flyer that was 1.7 seconds faster than any other rider on the track. He then went on to post the fastest laps in the opening two races, where he finished third and sixth. Bopping's day turned sour in the final leg when he went down early in the moto and remounted in dead last. Proving why he was selected by CDR for this season, the 22-year-old charged back through the field to finish eighth in an inspiring ride. He now holds down seventh in the championship.

"I felt awesome on the bike all weekend," Bopping said afterward. "My starts were ok, but with a group of guys this good, I need to improve them a little so hopefully by the next round I can be closer to the front and challenging for race wins."

Following conclusion of the Coonabarabran round, it was confirmed Ben Townley had suffered a dislocated hip in Saturday's practice crash. Townley is currently in Armidale hospital, with an assessment on the extent of his injuries and likely recovery time unlikely to be confirmed until next week.

The 2012 Monster Energy MX Nationals will continue at Wonthaggi in Victoria on April 28-29, marking round three of 10 for the 2012 season.

2012 Monster Energy MX Nationals
Round Two - Coonabarabran, NSW

MX1 Overall Results:
1. Josh Coppins 63
2. Tye Simmonds 56
3. Jake Moss 55
4. Jay Marmont 54
5. Brad Anderson 50
6. Cody Cooper 49
7. Lawson Bopping 48
8. Daniel McCoy 40
9. Daniel Reardon 39
10. Todd Waters 35

MX1 Championship Standings (after 2 of 10 rounds):
1. Josh Coppins 125
2. Jake Moss 101
3. Jay Marmont 95
4. Brad Anderson 94
5. Tye Simmonds 94
6. Todd Waters 89
7. Lawson Bopping 89
8. Cody Cooper 87
9. Ben Townley 75
10. Daniel Reardon 72

Full results and further details on the 2012 Monster Energy MX Nationals available at www.mxnationals.com.au