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After racing in Australia at his virtual home grand prix last week, expat Kiwi motocross star Josh Coppins heads to the home of his Suzuki team in Belgium this weekend.
Often called the world centre of motocross, the lowland nation hosts the fourth round of this year\'s 15-event world championship at Genk, west of Brussels.
\"The track is right near the team\'s base at Lommel so we\'re up here quite often testing and doing our development,\" said 24-year-old Coppins.
\"It\'s a good track for us, and I\'m really keen to put some points in the bank after having bike trouble in Australia.\"
The Motueka-born star is currently fourth in the sport\'s elite 250 class, just one point off third spot and five off second. Coppins was fourth overall last year.
His teammate on the top-rated Suzuki factory squad, Frenchman Mickael Pichon, has opened a huge lead in the 2001 title chase by winning all events so far.
\"Mickael is just brilliant this year, he\'s making the rest of us look a bit slow,\" commented Coppins.
\"But then the reigning two-time world champ Fred Bolley is out of the top ten right now . there\'s a long way to go yet.\"
Although neither of its riders is from Belgium, the Suzuki Corona team can expect strong support from its parochial fans.
Team owner Sylvain Geboers is still remembered for his exploits more than 30 years ago - he won the 250 grand prix at Genk in 1968 - while his brother Erik is hailed as one of the greatest motocross riders of all time.
Meanwhile Kiwi-born youngster Ben Townley looks to continue his fine run in his first world championship year.
The 16-year-old from Taupo has qualified for all three 125 events this year and is grabbing European attention as a star of the future.
His German-based Phase Suzuki team has suffered off-track difficulties over the past fortnight and is looking to get its campaign back on target this weekend.
The world championship has been absent from Genk since 1992 when the 125 class raced there. This year\'s amalgamation of all three classes adds spice for the tens of thousands of fans expected.
The event is held in the early hours of Monday NZ time.
Points after three rounds:
1 Mickael Pichon (France) Suzuki 75 points
2 Gordon Crockard (Ireland) Honda 42
3 Claudio Federici (Italy) Yamaha 38
4 Josh Coppins (NZ) Suzuki 37
5 Pit Beirer (Germany) Yamaha 33
6 Paul Cooper (UK) Yamaha 32
7 Jussi-Pekka Vehvilainen (Finland) Honda 25
8 Danny Theybers (Belgium) KTM 24
9 Yves Demaria (France) Yamaha 22
10 Chad Reed (Australia) Kawasaki 18
11 Frédéric Bolley (France) Honda 16
12 Marko Kovalainen (Finland) Yamaha 15
coverage will come over the weekend
