With six rounds to go of the 2007 MX1 World Motocross Championship series Kiwi Josh “Lizard” Coppins held a healthy 107 point lead and felt confident it was his year to take the title. He was the only rider to beat 2006 champion Stefan Everts on his way to a 10^th crown the previous year, and filling Everts shoes in the Rinaldi Yamaha Team he was odds-on favourite to do the job.

Caption: Josh gave it his all at the British GP in his final attempt to retain the 2008 crown.

I talked to Josh about his season, his preparation, riding for the best team in the paddock – and more – one week before circumstances out of his control changed his fate, and shattered the dream he’d been chasing for 10 years.

Then as the final rounds unfolded followed his progress as he fought against time in the hope of keeping his championship alive all the way to the very last round.

Visiting Josh in his European hometown of Mol, Belgium, a few days after the Sweden round of the MX1 GP championship it was business as usual for the experienced GP campaigner, who, in his 10^th season racing the grand prix circuit felt more in control of his destiny than ever before.

Coming off his only non-podium finish of the season so far, a fifth place overall, he felt calm and relaxed knowing exactly what he needed to do to get himself back on the podium in two weeks time when the series moved to Italy, the home grand prix for his Rinaldi Yamaha team.

Josh – “You know it’s too easy to come home all pissed off and say right, I need to work hard to improve that result, which is a mistake I would have made years before, but now being a bit older I know – first to improve, I need to be 100 per cent fit. Mentally I know what the problem was. I had the flu, so I’m taking the time off now to get fit then I’ll put the work in. I know in myself that if I am 100 per cent fit/healthy I can still win without putting that work in between races. So I’ll take my time to get ready, do some light training until I feel 100 per cent, and then start riding and working again closely with the team.”

On paper Josh’s season to this point looked fantastic. Out of the nine GP’s raced he won five, had some double wins, pole positions and fastest laps, and looking back he never thought his season would have started out so strong, although expectations from outsiders piled on the pressure marking him as the man to beat.

Josh – “I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the first race of the season riding a new bike for a new team. My pre-season hadn’t gone exceptionally well, and then coming into the first race on a sand track where the Yamaha had been struggling I thought a top five position would be a good start to build on for the season ahead. Then when I won the first race convincingly, and finished second in race two to take the overall, it turned out to be the biggest confidence booster ever as I then went to Spain for round two and totally dominated winning both races easily, which made me feel very comfortable only two rounds into the series.”

Living in Belgium where his main rivals reside and Everts is God has taught Josh how important it is to stay positive and block out negative talk/media during pre-season and championship rounds.

Josh – “Pre-season I had a lot of pressure put on me with people saying I was the guy to win, and living here all my main rivals are Belgians, who were saying things like ‘Josh doesn’t look as good on the Yami as he did on the Honda ra ra ra, and you just have to block those kind of things out and believe in yourself. Also, if I have a bad weekend I won’t look at the internet or read the papers. I’ll stay pretty quiet with my emails and just pretty much shut down and focus on what I need to do, as I know what I need to do to win races, and to win the championship, and you don’t need those negative thoughts dragging you down. My mechanic often says to me when my days are not going so well to just go and ride like you know how to ride, and that’s very true because sometimes you can get too wound up in the pressure, media, hype, other riders, etc, so just bring it back to what you know. At the start of the year it was all talk about who was going to win – Everts is gone, it’s a new championship, then after three rounds I had a healthy lead and it was like, shit, what are we going to talk about now? So the focus changed to talking about the other riders not performing as expected, and to who’s going to ride for whom next season and so on, so you just got to do the best you can, be positive, and stay strong.”

Stepping into the boots of 10-times world champion Stefan Everts was no easy feat for Josh, especially when five of those world titles were for the Rinaldi Yamaha team. Ever since coming to Europe Josh has wanted to ride for Rinaldi because he knew it was the team he could win with, but he’s had to wait for Everts to move on as he didn’t see any sense in being team mates with his main rival.

Josh – “Rinaldi Yamaha team has always been the team for me, but I’ve had to wait the last few years for Stefan to retire. I’ve felt for some time I needed to be in that team for my best shot at the title, and everything has falling into place exactly like I thought it would up until now. Everything I’ve worked towards and learned has helped me for this season. It’s the best team by far. They have a good combination of a family atmosphere but very professional at the same time, and that’s hard to find. Nothing goes unchecked with Rinaldi, everything is triple checked; from the bike, parts, my training, and I just know while I’m sitting back here in Belgium there’s around 10 guys working flat-out for me making sure that everything is perfect, which takes away that aspect of any budget problems, or any problem with the bike whether it will be mechanically or set up wise, and if I have any doubt it only takes one phone call and there will be a meeting straight away to discuss it and there will be an answer to sort it out and we move forward. I think a good budget is probably the main thing as they have enough staff so no one is overworked, but everyone does their job to its fullest.”

Stefan Everts has been the man to beat in the MX1 class for the previous five seasons. 2006 looked to be Josh’s season to really challenge Everts for the title, but pre-season injury put a halt to that. By the time Josh came back to full race speed mid-way through the season he was the only serious challenger to Everts and the only rider to stop him from making a clean sweep of the series. Could Josh have beaten Everts to take the crown in his last GP season if he had started the year fit and healthy?

Josh – “To be honest looking back on it I don’t think I could have beaten Stefan because last year he really was sensational, but there was only one guy to beat him in motocross last year and that was me, twice, and it wasn’t James Stewart or any other rider but me, so I’m quite proud of that at least. I missed three months of the season but I still managed to do that. The other thing I’m proud of is I didn’t beat Stefan on a bad day, I beat him when we lapped up to third place in MX1 so we were pretty fast, and that’s pretty cool, but I am a little disappointed that I didn’t get to race him the whole year, especially for the spectators as it might have made the racing more exciting for them. Stefan pretty much ran away with it and nearly had the perfect season except for my two wins putting a stop to that in Ireland.”

With Stefan Everts no longer the dominate force in the MX1 class, due to his retirement, Josh naturally followed in his footsteps by taking more grand prix victories in the first nine races of 2007 than he had in total from his 10 seasons spent racing the world motocross championship series. Without the presence of Everts in the class Josh has noticed a change in the way he rides on the track, and also a change with the new generation of riders that are coming through.

Josh – “I don’t feel like I’ve ridden as well at times this year. It’s been more about not having that character to chase, and more about pacing myself, more about consistency, and trying to be good over the 16 rounds. When I’ve won it’s been good, and there’s been times I’ve gone 1-2 and I feel I could have gone 1-1 if I stuck my neck out a bit more, which I would have done if Stefan had been first and myself third pushing for second. There just hasn’t been the need to. I think overall without Stefan it’s affected the level of our championship. But we’re also coming into a new era of riders in the championship where the mentality is different. The work ethic isn’t what it used to be. The last young rider we had with a huge work ethic, a lot of heart and determination was Ben Townley, but he went to America. I think I’m one of the last guys of that mould. The new generation over here seems to be a little more spoilt and tend to rely more on their talent than determination. Also with riders like Everts, Tortelli, Pichon, Townley etc you could race wheel to wheel for an entire moto and feel safe that they weren’t going to take you out, but with the new generation they will kill for that win and will have no problem in taking you out, but on the same hand only if they feel confident on that day. If they happen to feel shit the following weekend they’ll ride around in eighth or ninth not even a threat. This has been playing to my advantage at the moment, but there will come a time when my age goes over that point and they are old enough to realise they need to put more effort in.”

Out Of The Ordinary

Josh bounced back to form quickly after the Sweden round by sticking to what he knows best. He took his time to recover and once feeling 100 per cent healthy he started his normal training routine the week leading up to the Italian round. Come race day he found himself back on the podium with an overall second place, and back into the position of dominating the championship standings with only five rounds to go.

Life couldn’t have been better for Josh at this point. All the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were finally flowing together after 10 years of hard work racing in Europe chasing a world title. He hadn’t put a foot wrong the whole season. He’d worked harder than any other rider in the paddock, which showed in the fact he only lost eight points out of his points lead over 10 rounds to another rider. He was so in command it would take something out of the ordinary to stop him becoming the 2007 world champion.

One week later something out of the ordinary did happen to Josh at the Locket, Czech Republic GP. During the first moto while holding a comfortable third position his bike locked up and slid to a halt right near the mechanic’s area of the circuit. At first he thought a broken gear box was the problem, and then after one-and-a-half minutes of searching a rock was found jammed in his rear brake pedal, which was covered in mud and therefore very hard to notice.

With the amount of time lost Josh’s chances of riding back into the points was nil, so he instead focused on moto two and sat out his first race of the season.

Call it bad luck, fate, or just one of those days – whatever, one thing is for sure a black cloud seemed to descend on Josh at the Locket round.

Taking things easy in moto two coming to grips with the tracks slippery surface, he launched off a down-hill section like every previous lap, but found under brakes in the bottom turn he wasn’t slowing up as usual and lost control of his bike sending him high siding into the fence.

Josh quickly got back on to his bike and tried to continue, but a clicking feeling in his shoulder warned him something wasn’t quite right. He retired from his second race of the season and later scans showed he suffered a clean break to his shoulder blade from the impact.

Cause of the accident was due to a split rear brake line, something so rare it’s hard to imagine it happening to a factory bike, but it did, and it proved no matter how perfect Josh’s preparation was, or how in control he was in the moment, outside circumstances out of his control sabotaged his flawless season he’d been having until that round.

With every round that followed Josh frustratingly watched his points lead evaporate as he gave himself every opportunity to heal in time to try and keep his championship dream alive. Magnetic, oxygen chamber, acupuncture and massage treatment to improve blood flow, plus using an Ortho Pulse machine up to 14 hours a day to help speed up the recovery time. To say it was an intense period in Josh’s season would be an understatement, especially with the expectations and pressure hanging over his head to deliver a world championship.

In the weeks to follow the Namur and Ireland rounds flashed by while Josh continued on his fast road to recovery. With only two rounds remaining and a 12 point lead over Steve Ramon in the championship all his hopes came down to a strong performance at the second last round at Donington Park, England, as fighting against sand specialist, Ramon, in the deep sand at the final round in Netherlands would be a big ask for the fittest of riders.

With the all-clear to ride at Donington Park Josh arrived in the paddock to a swarm of people all with a question similar to, “How’s the injury mate, you good to ride?” A question he no doubt got tired of answering by the days end, but you wouldn’t know it as the nice guy of the paddock kept his positive vibe flowing and greeted every person with a grin as he walked the track. Shake the Kiwi’s hand though and it was easy to tell he was putting on a very brave face, not wanting to give any indication his injury was worse than it appeared.

Practice and qualifying went reasonably well for Josh with him qualifying just outside the top ten, but it was the first race every Lizard fan was waiting for, and there were many in the strong UK crowd. Even the vibe of many photographers and GP regulars was that Josh really deserved to win the championship over Ramon, who really hadn’t done anything special the whole season.

When the gate dropped Josh rocketed out and turned the first corner in second position backed by the roar of thousands, while his main opponent Ramon was way back in the field. There was a feeling of hope in the air that maybe there would be a happy ending to his championship dream. Lap after lap Josh fought hard to stay with the leading pack, but like wolves hunting down their prey he was gradually picked off by riders that normally wouldn’t come close enough to see the number six on the back of his jersey.

It was heart braking to watch, and it was clear he just wasn’t strong enough to ride at full race-pace.

The end of Josh Coppins fight for the championship came in race two. He’d given his all in race one to finish 14^th, and he needed a miracle in the second to stay close to Ramon who’d closed the gap to two points.

When the dust settled after the roar of 30 thumping four strokes rounded the first turn there was no sign of number six in the top twenty, and a few laps later it became obvious that Josh had no chance of chasing down Ramon who ran with the leaders. His shoulder just wasn’t up to the job.

He decided to call it a day, and watching Josh pull out of the race was a very emotional moment for friends and fans alike. Tough as nails, he gave it his best shot, but at the end of the day the man is only human.

Josh didn’t ride the last round as scans after Donington showed he’d re-broken his shoulder blade from the impact of the demanding course, but like the true champion he is, he’s already 100 per cent focused on finishing the job once and for all in 2008, and as his good mate Ben Townley said to him once, “It’s another kink in the road and you just have to get back on track”.

Josh Coppins on…

His talent – I wouldn’t say I had a whole lot of natural talent. I basically was given a bike on the farm and never really coached in the right direction, I just went for it and learnt the hard way. As far as talent goes I wouldn’t say I have a truckload of it. I’d say I’ve had more determination than anything else, and I had enough brains to know early on I didn’t have natural talent and needed to work on my technique, which helped, being able to work on it from an early age. I’d say I’d be somewhere between Joel and Stefan as I’m a little guy, not big like Joel, but I have a big heart and a lot of determination like Joel, but I definitely don’t have anywhere near the talent of Stefan.

Average Day Away From The Track – Get up, check emails, have breakfast, get on the phone and speak to my trainer, often speak to my team, make a call to NZ to speak with my family, who I usually call everyday. Then I’ll head out for some training, could be gym, running, cycling, riding, then have lunch, and then head out for some more training, which could be anyone of those four things I just mentioned. Then I’ll come home and jump back on the computer to check my emails, then cook some dinner for the boys and the day is pretty much done. To relax we might go out for an ice-cream, a game of pool, or catch a movie. We actually like to stay home a lot because we’re always traveling and don’t like to get in the car a lot to drive anywhere so it’s cool to just hang out at home, watch a movie or whatever.

Bike set-up: For me it really starts the week before because I always like to ride and train on surfaces similar to the tracks I’m going to race on next meeting so I can get an idea on how the bike is feeling before I get to the race. When I’m actually at the race I walk the track to learn it and also get an idea for my bike set-up, whether its hard-packed or soft, big or small jumps, etc. I also like to discuss with the team and my mechanic and get their input as they are very experienced.

I like to do the first practice very open minded – how does the bike feel, and if it’s not right I try and think, well OK, what’s not right, what’s it doing here and not doing there. A lot of riders go out and try to go fast straight away, and that’s all they concentrate on, and their mechanic will say at the end of practice, so how’s the bike, and they’ll often say, “oh yeah it’s sweet, no problem”. But for me I’ll concentrate on the bike, then my riding, and then try and put the speed down.

Actual bike setup is quite personal really. I prefer to run my rear brake quite high so I can just touch it and it works. I like to run my levers quite high so I have good access to them from all angles of the bike as the terrain changes. I like to run a fairly hard seat because I really like to feel what the bikes doing. If the seat feels soft I don’t think I can feel what its doing quite as well. As for power I like to run what I consider a very smooth power range, very strong off the bottom, but a very smooth power curve. The thing I’m most fussy with is my clutch. I really like to have a smooth clutch and the freeplay has to be perfect at all times. I’m also fussy with my suspension, the biggest area being the balance because of the engine braking. Reason being the four strokes are slightly heavier than the two strokes so when you come to a corner and shut off, if the balance isn’t correct the engine braking will really exaggerate any problem you might have. So whether my forks or shock are working properly depends on the balance. One might be a bit soft or a bit hard, but if you change the balance it can really bring it right. This changes too with different tracks, with sand I like to have the back sitting a bit lower, where as hard-packed or tight tracks I prefer to have it a bit higher in the rear, steeper in the front for turning. That’s about it really, it’s hard to try and explain set-up without being at that track. For muddy races we run foam under the mud guards so mud doesn’t stick to them, and we have special sprays to keep the guards clean, special seats for more grip, plus I run no waffle on my grips so they’re smooth and quite soft, and smaller, which helps reduce any arm pump that I can get from fatter grips. I also prefer to run a soft moose tube in the rear for two reasons, one so I don’t get a puncture, two because it enables me to run a softer pressure for more drive than I could with a tube.

A word with Stefan Nuesser, Josh Coppins’ trainer

Germany’s Stefan Nuesser has been training motocross riders in Europe for 10 years, and started training Josh at the beginning of 2005. We asked Stefan to give us a rundown of how he trains one of the best riders in the world today.

.Stefan: My first priority when starting with Josh was changing the way he trains – from short distances with high intensity, to longer distance training with low intensity at the gym, on a bicycle and running. I also changed his weight training program to doing more free-weights, overall body work and coordinated exercises, which was quite a big change for him compared to his previous program. There is basically two ways of energy metabolism, the aerobic and anaerobic system. If you train low intensity for long distances you increase your aerobic system, and that’s the area I’ve focused on with Josh.

Our training preparation for the season ahead starts in November. I fly down to New Zealand for three weeks and we focus on building endurance through cycling and gym work, which Josh carries on with until January. During the months of December and January we mix the program up with riding some long motos, and then Josh returns to Europe around mid January to start testing with the Rinaldi team. The focus at this point is getting as much bike time as possible because the first pre-races of the season start in February. Through February and March the focus is on maintaining the fitness level we reached during the first two months and transferring the physical fitness into riding fitness, which is one of the most important stages.

Once the season starts maintaining the fitness level and building on riding fitness is our focus. Another important area for me is making sure Josh has recovered enough between races, which I find is best measured by his personal view of how he is feeling. He has such good intuition in relation to where his body is at and I don’t push him if he feeling tired. Overall the work we put in during the off-season building a solid base really is the key to maintaining the level of fitness and performance for the full season. Having that solid base also helps with quicker recovery, when or if injuries occur.