Coppins takes the jewel of Flanders!

United Telecom Trophy, round 2 - Kester

New Zealander Josh Coppins (Yamaha-Monster Energy) had to miss the first United
Telecom Trophy race due to an injury. In Kester however he struck back, hard.
Over 7.000 spectators witnessed how he won two heats and ended up third in the
first race. Steve Ramon (Teka-Suzuki) was second in the overall standings.
Nevertheless the reigning Belgian champion took a big step in the point standings
and leads the championship now with 141 points ahead of Ken De Dycker (121
points) and Priem (99 points).

Sven Breugelmans leapt to the inaugural ‘Nikon Holeshot award’, but soon it was World
Champion Steve Ramon who lead the field. Ken De Dycker followed suit and hunted
down his teammate. Keeno was right behind Ramon but couldn’t pass his teamleader.
From lap 5 on, Ramon made the break en won easily in front of De Dycker, Coppins and
Dereuver. Manuel Priem ended up fifth in front of Breugelmans. While Caps finished
seventh after a strong come-back.

Ramon took the best start but Coppins was right behind him. Behind the leading duo the
Honda-Martin pair of Dereuver and Bill was a strong showing. However a fast De Dycker
would out smart them both. At that point the Suzuki rider looked like he was making up
ground on Coppins but would crash out in the third lap. Coppins would pressure Ramon
and in lap 6 the New-Zealander would make his move on the leader. Despite a strong last
lap effort from Ramon it was Coppins who took the honors. Dereuver ended up third in
front of Bill whilst De Dycker had to settle for 7th.

Ramon took the lead in front of Ken De Dycker and Josh coppins. That would set the tone
for a very intense race. Ramon lead the two first laps. Later on it was De Dycker who took
over the command whilst Coppins moved into second. One lap later it was Coppins who
took over from De Dycker after a nice scrap. Immediately Coppins would step up the
momentum. De Dycker had to let go, while Ramon had to give it his all to keep up with the
Kiwi rider. Coppins took the chequered flag with a five second advance on Ramon.
Dereuver was third in front of De Dycker and Priem.

HEAT 1
1. Ramon, 2. De Dycker, 3. Coppins, 4. Dereuver, 5. Priem, 6. Breugelmans, 7. Caps, 8. Bill,
9. Verhoeven, 10. Pyrhonen

HEAT 2
1. Coppins, 2. Ramon, 3. Dereuver, 4. Bill, 5. Priem, 6. Caps, 7. De Dycker, 8. Breugelmans, 9.
Columb, 10. Theybers

HEAT 3
1. Coppins, 2. Ramon, 3. Dereuver, 4. De Dycker, 5. Priem, 6. Bill, 7 Columb, 8. Breugelmans,
9. Theybers, 10. Van Nooten

Overall “KESTER”
1. Josh Coppins (NZL-Yamaha) 70 ptn, 2. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki) 69 ptn, 3. Marc Dereuver
(NED-Yamaha) 58 ptn, 4. Ken De Dycker (BEL-Suzuki) 54, 5. Manuel Priem (BEL-Kawasaki) 48 ptn,
6. Julien Bill (ZWI-Honda) 46 ptn, 7. Sven Breugelmans (BEL-KTM) 41 ptn, 8. Patrick Caps (BELKawasaki)
39 ptn, 9. Danny Theybers (BEL-Suzuki) 33 ptn, 10. Scotty Columb (BEL-Suzuki) 32 ptn

POINT STANDINGS UNITED TELECOM TROPHY
1. Steve Ramon 141 ptn, 2. Ken De Dycker 121 ptn, 3.Manuel Priem 99 ptn, 4. Sven Breugelmans
86 ptn, 5. Josh Coppins 70 ptn, 6. Danny Theybers 67 ptn, 7. Kevin Strijbos 58 ptn, 8. Marc Dereuver
58 ptn, 9. Scotty Columb 53 ptn, 10. Tanel Leok 50 ptn

Quotes

Josh Coppins, winner (Monster Energy-Yamaha)
“My injuries are well and truly a thing of the past. I really enjoy my racing at this moment.
It would be fair to say, that I’m on form. I took it easy in heat one because Kester is a
rather technical and difficult track. I really went for it in the second and third heat. It’s
really nice to win although I was a bit bummed to miss the first race of the series. From
now on I want to win as much as possible. I’m convinced I can show my competitors a
different Josh Coppins in the coming weeks and months!

Steve Ramon, second (Teka-Suzuki)
“I easily controlled the first heat and that allowed me to win. But it wasn’t easy. The level
of racing was really high today. My riding went quite well but Coppins proved to have to
little extra. But, I had an excellent day in terms of the championship standings.”

Marc Dereuver, third (Honda-Martin)
“It’s cool to be on the podium but I was not happy about my speed today. It was not that
bad but I just couldn’t run with Coppins and Ramon. Too bad, but Kester is a lovely track
and allways a good race. I hope I can do one or three other races in the United Telecom
Trophy. You can expect me to be right there in the sand of Balen. “

Ken De Dycker, fourth (Teka-Suzuki)
“I just couldn’t do what I wanted today. Too bad because I expected a good performance
over here. I could have damaged a nerve after my crash in France. Anyway after a couple
of laps I lose the strength in my arm and get a strange feeling. That makes it difficult to
control the bike. I’ll see my doctor as soon as possible. It’s a shame I lost some points on
Ramon.”

Manuel Priem, fifth (Kawasaki Racing Team)
“I only had a good start in the opening heat, and I could match the pace of the
frontrunners early on. Just after five laps or so I started suffering arm pump. In the second
and third heat I messed up my starts, still I rode hungry and aggressive anf managed to
come back. In the second race I was boxed in at the start and had to fight back from 20th.
In the third I was only 15th after the first lap, I finished fifth in those two races without
having to push too deep, although it was quite tough because of the heat..”

The third race of the United Telecom Trophy takes place on july 27th in Nismes.
More info about the event on: http://www.united-telecomtrophy.com

By: United-Telecom.be , Photos: Pixelpony