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