|  | Josh Coppins will make his last appearance for the Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team on the international stage this weekend at Franciacorta in Italy for the 63rd Motocross of Nations after a successful three year period with the factory squad in which he was a Grand Prix winner in each MX1-GP world championship term.
The likeable and determined New Zealander made an immediate impact with the YZ5450FM on his debut in 2007 by winning the Grand Prix of Benelux in the sand of Valkenswaard. He went on to head charts for most laps led, most race and GP wins and also most podiums appearances that year but his dream of a first world title and of defending Yamaha's crown was cruelly dashed five rounds before the end of the championship after a fall and subsequent shoulder injury in the Czech Republic. Coppins went on to win in Germany and Bulgaria during the 2008 and 2009 campaigns.
In total he collected 7 of his 11 career triumphs with Yamaha and put the works bike on the podium 15 times in 41 GPs.
This weekend he will again represent his country at the prestigious and traditional motocross season-closer.
"I've had a great time with the team," he said. "There have been some good results but the main feeling I have is one of being privileged to join the team because they are really professional but we also had a good time. I found I could talk to Michele about anything but when it came to racing we were deadly serious. I felt like that I not only rode for the team but was very much part of the team, and I still have that sensation – that I will always be welcome – and that's really nice. I also felt a connection with Yamaha Motor Europe, thanks to Laurens, and being able to go to Iwata and see the factory in Japan was like a small dream come true. Overall I felt very at home with Yamaha."
"Despite what happened in 2007 I look back on that as the highpoint because I was the best that season," he continued. "I was really strong and I was only off the podium once coming up to Czech. I had some big boots to fill that year and proved that I was up to the job."
"If I have to pick out one memory of the three years then it is just being in and around the workshop. I loved being there, hanging around the guys and spending time with the three Rinaldi brothers. I'd train in the morning and then ride at lunchtime and I'd find that the mechanics would spend their lunch period on the track with me; it was a fun time and I will miss it. It will be emotional when I go back for the last time after the Motocross of Nations." |
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