Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins continued his triumphant ways by winning the first moto for round three of the MX1 World Championship. He however finished runner up in the second moto and thus handing the win of Grand Prix of Portugal held at Agueda to Kevin Strijbos who finished behind Coppins in the first moto. A crowd of 18,000 gathered around the slopes of the popular layout to see Antonio Cairoli amass a healthy 44 point lead in the MX2 class standings with his third straight win and second double moto haul of the year.
 
Brilliant and hot sunshine created a splendid but physically demanding terrain at the venue, around 100km south of Porto. The track was quick and with various lines but became rougher and even more testing towards the end of the day.
Despite a painful groin after his exertions in Spain last week Coppins qualified fourth fastest in a very close timed practice session on Saturday that saw the top eight riders divided by less than one second. Marc de Reuver was four positions behind and the last of the quickest group. 30 year old Coppins however had a small spill that left him with a sore left foot.
 
Series leader Coppins moved into second spot behind Kevin Strijbos in the first moto and stalked the Belgian for half of the race until picking his moment to move through. Strijbos remained with two-to-three seconds but Coppins was able to control the margin to take his third chequered flag in succession. The second heat saw a re-match as the pair clashed again. The New Zealander pushed his way past Strijbos again, but his rival was able to answer and broke away as Coppins started to feel the effects of his Saturday mishap.
De Reuver struggled with a mediocre launch from the start gate in Moto one and then was working his way through the pack until reaching a limit to his stamina and losing the edge to his lap-times. He dropped back to fourteenth. The second outing saw a more positive performance from the Dutchman as he was attacking David Philippaerts for a possible fifth position when he caught his left foot in the ground and twisted his ankle, causing him to retire.
Although not able to complete his hat-trick of Grand Prix wins, Coppins has nevertheless protected his lead in the World Championship standings which still stands at nineteen points ahead of Strijbos. De Reuver is currently thirteenth.
 
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team:
"After Spain I had a small groin injury. I did not think it was anything special but after the first session I had a lot of pain. We worked on it and got it better but I could not ride how I wanted yesterday and because of this I had a crash and hurt my foot. I struggled on the track. No excuses though, Kevin was very strong in the second heat and deserved to win. We have started the season very well, better than I expected, with the new team, new bike and everything is going smoothly. I haven't lost points to anyone in any of the moto's so far and I know we need to keep on working like this. I know that I cannot win every GP but if I can minimise any points damage then this is also good.
 
Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team:
"In the first heat I had a good start but the first few corners didn't go so well and a few guys passed me. I came back quite strong to eighth but then I just seemed to hit a wall and went backwards. I got away good in the second heat but it was tight in the first corner and I had to change my line. I was twelfth and made some good passes on the first laps and a few guys were making mistakes. I got behind Philippaerts and was feeling very strong. I was faster than him and attacked. I did not make it and then tried again but I put my foot down and twisted my ankle. That was it. It is very painful but luckily it is not broken."

Carlo Rinaldo, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team:
"We cannot win every time! Kevin was very good today and Josh was not 100%, no excuses, but his crash yesterday left him in some pain. Anyway he rode well and was just a little tired in the second moto because he had to comeback from a backward position a mediocre start. He has been smart to accept the second. Regarding Marc he is going through a bit of a difficult period because he is not fully fit. He faded a lot in the first moto but was riding better in the second until his twisted his left ankle. He was fighting hard until that point though and that is all we can ask of him."