CAS Honda rider Josh Coppins finished fifth at a sunny Ernee circuit and the Grand Prix of France for the last round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship but his team-mate Ken de Dycker secured fourth position overall in the final points table. The Ernee track was soft and heavily rutted after heavy rainfall two days before the Grand Prix. Saturday's practice and qualification timetable was shortened in an effort to preserve the course sprawled over one side of a valley setting with the fans crowded on the opposing bank for wide 100% views of the layout. The mud was drier and as a consequence rougher on Sunday as brighter weather conditions finally arrived.
A Honda war erupted in the lower half of the top ten in the first moto. De Dycker, Coppins, Garcia Vico, James Noble and Pascal Leuret contested fifth position with De Dycker eventually crossing the finish line with the first CRF 450R and Coppins just behind.
It was the worst Grand Prix of the year for the New Zealander who touched with Mickael Pichon exiting the first corner of the first moto and then would crash two more times before the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps distance to take sixth; his lowest result in eight Grand Prix.
De Dycker suffered with a poor start in the second moto and pulled back from 21st to 9th for a final GP standing of 7th. Coppins would miss the podium for the first time since making his comeback at Great Britain; a run of seven events. An improved performance in the second race saw him chasing Everts in the first ten minutes but two small errors gave the World Champion too much of an advantage and Coppins slipped back into a lonely 2nd. The 22 points however meant a result of 5th in Ernee.
James Noble was 9th and led a pack of five Honda riders with Gordon Crockard, Pascal Leuret, Mark Jones and Brian Jorgensen following in the classification.
Martin Honda's Jorgensen slipped off twice in his final moto and pulled into the pits but took a decent 8th position in the first outing and his last Grand Prix before retirement. Javier Garcia Vico scored a 16th place in Moto1 with a fading rear brake and tweaked his already damaged ankle in the second race that ultimately curtailed his involvement. Cristian Beggi was not able to score any points due to a troublesome shoulder injury.
The 330 points Coppins has accumulated since late June have helped towards a final placing of 7th in the World Championship standings. He was also the only rider this year to defeat Stefan Everts with his impressive battling victory at Desertmartin in Northern Ireland.
De Dycker has ended the campaign in fourth position overall for his best career Championship ranking. Despite a few low moments and some physical problems on the way the Belgian has had a good season, gaining his debut podium result with third place at Sugo in Japan and then again climbing the rostrum again with third - at Desertmartin.
Pascal Leuret (Multitek Honda) in 9th place and James Noble (RWJ Honda) with 10th are the other Honda mounted riders in the top ten.
Garcia Vico missed a total of three Grand Prix due to injury and travel problems but still finished 2006 with 12th position and with a best moto result of 5th taken at Montevarchi in Italy. Brian Jorgensen was also cursed with poor luck concerning his physical condition and went 5 GPs without taking any points. He obtained his first MX1 pole position at Sevlievo in Bulgaria and his highest finish with a 4th at the same circuit. He completed his last World Championship with 17th spot.
The MX2 Grand Prix was won by Antonio Cairoli from Christophe Poucel and David Philippaerts. Pourcel took the title for Kawasaki by 18 points.
SRS Honda's Patrick Caps obtained fifth position in the first moto for his highest finish of the season but a crash and DNF in the second race meant that he dropped to 12th overall for the day. Finland's Matti Seistola was Honda's best MX2 rider in the 2006 series with 17th spot.
Coppins, Jorgensen, Vico and Beggi will represent their countries at the 60th Motocross of Nations set to take place next week (September 24th) at the Matterley Basin circuit in the United Kingdom.
Josh Coppins, CAS Honda:“Barragan had shot out too wide at the start and cut right in and almost hit me. I guess Pichon did not see him and there wasn't room for us to get through. I then ran into someone around the other side of the track and the third accident was my fault. Coming back to sixth wasn't too bad but then in the second moto I made two mistakes and lost the back of Stefan and he had the win. I had obviously given a bit too much in that first race. This was not the best way to finish the year but I want to thank the CAS team for supporting me over the last few seasons. All the guys on the team have been great and have supported me 100%. I will forever be grateful for such a wonderful relationship and family atmosphere.”
Ken de Dycker, CAS Honda:“The GP was hard today and my starts were not great. I fought as hard as I could and had some hard battles in the motos to take the positions I had. I tried my best and it has been a good season for me, with the British Championship win also, and I am happy with fourth. I have something to build on for next year.”
Brian Jorgensen, Martin Honda:“It was hard today because I have not been able to get much bike time and as much as you put in the hours on the bicycle there is no substitute for actually getting out on the track. The first race was OK and I was pleased with my position but I struggled in the second. I had a few small crashes and just did not have any strength left in my arms. I did not want to stop, but after I hit the ground again at low speed I took the sensible option because I didn't want to be remembered as a weak rider at my last Grand Prix. I want to thank the team and everyone who has supported me. Overall I enjoyed my last Grand Prix and will now look towards the final race next week.”
Javier Garcia Vico, Martin Honda:“The weekend did not end well but I have not been able to train for two weeks. I was 11th in the first moto but had to slow after my rear brake broke. I started the next race strongly in 7th place but on the third lap I caught my foot in one of the corners and the pain in my ankle was too much to take. I will be seeing a specialist again tomorrow and I might have to make an operation. I have had some good results this season but also some other problems. I want to thank Honda for all their support.”
Roger Harvey, Honda Europe Off-road Co-ordinator:“It was a day of drama especially for Josh in that first moto. Those incidents on the first lap and a crash later on really hampered his overall result. The second race was much better for him but I think he pushed too hard and was making some mistakes. De Dycker was once again reasonable and it looked like his condition was a little better this week which was good to see. I will also like to mention the SRS guys and Patrick Caps taking his best result of the year in MX2.”
2006 FIM MX1 World Motocross Championship Round 15:MX1 - Race 1 Result:1 Everts, Stefan / Yamaha
2 Barragan, Jonathan / KTM
3 Strijbos, Kevin / Suzuki
4 Leok, Tanel / Kawasaki
5 de Dycker, Ken / Honda
6 Coppins, Joshua / Honda
7 Ramon, Steve / Suzuki
8 Jorgensen, Brian / Honda
9 Noble, James / Honda
10 Leuret, Pascal / Honda
11 Nemeth, Kornel / Suzuki
12 Crockard, Gordon / Honda
13 Jones, Mark / Honda
14 Desalle, Clement / Suzuki
15 Vanni, Julien / KTM
MX1 - Race 2 Result:1 Everts, Stefan / Yamaha
2 Coppins, Joshua / Honda
3 Leok, Tanel / Kawasaki
4 Strijbos, Kevin / Suzuki
5 Barragan, Jonathan / KTM
6 Ramon, Steve / Suzuki
7 Nemeth, Kornel / Suzuki
8 de Dycker, Ken / Honda
9 Noble, James / Honda
10 Crockard, Gordon / Honda
11 Verhoeven, Bas / Kawasaki
12 Leuret, Pascal / Honda
13 van Daele, Marvin / Honda
14 Priem, Manuel / Yamaha
15 Jones, Mark / Honda
2006 FIM MX2 World Motocross Championship Round 15:MX2 - Race 1 Result:1 Cairoli, Antonio / Yamaha
2 Pourcel, Christophe / Kawasaki
3 Philippaerts, David / KTM
4 Nunn, Carl / KTM
5 Caps, Patrick / Honda
6 Aubin, Nicolas / KTM
7 Rattray, Tyla / KTM
8 de Reuver, Marc / KTM
9 Mackenzie, Billy / Yamaha
10 Goncalves, Rui / KTM
11 Chiodi, Alessio / Yamaha
12 Searle, Tommy / Kawasaki
13 Gundersen, Kenneth / Yamaha
14 Pourcel, Sebastien / Kawasaki
15 Church, Tom / Kawasaki
MX2 - Race 2 Result:1 Cairoli, Antonio / Yamaha
2 de Reuver, Marc / KTM
3 Philippaerts, David / KTM
4 Pourcel, Christophe / Kawasaki
5 Nunn, Carl / KTM
6 Rattray, Tyla / KTM
7 Goncalves, Rui / KTM
8 Monni, Manuel / KTM
9 Renet, Pierre A. / Honda
10 Aubin, Nicolas / KTM
11 Searle, Tommy / Kawasaki
12 Mackenzie, Billy / Yamaha
13 Chiodi, Alessio / Yamaha
14 Leok, Aigar / Yamaha
15 Boissiere, Anthony / Yamaha
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