At round 8 of the 2012 Monster Energy MX Nationals, Australian Motocross Championship, CDR Yamaha’s Josh Coppins announced that he will retire from fulltime competition at the end of this season.

On the hard-packed, but tricky Appin track, the New Zealand veteran started with solid 4-2 results in the opening two short back-to-back motos, before showing his typical strength and skill in the final, long moto to take the victory, and the round win.

In the lunch break at the Appin, NSW, round, an emotional Coppins made the formal announcement of what had been rumoured in the days leading up to the weekend.

"It was nice to get the retirement announcement out of the way as it has been weighing on my mind and every interview I did, it was a question that I was asked. So to win the day and have the announcement was a big relief and a nice day for the CDR team and sponsors," Coppins said.

The multiple World MXGP championship runner-up and NZ MX des Nations representative has been solid since joining CDR Yamaha in 2011. While he has only won three rounds of the eight contested so far this season, Coppins has held the championship leader’s red plate since round 2.

With two rounds of the 2012 MX Nationals remaining, Coppins holds a 12 point lead over Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s Todd Waters (480 to 468), and is as determined as ever to finish of the championship on a high and claim his first Australian national title.

If Coppins wins the title this year, he will deliver the fifth successive premier class championship to CDR Yamaha. Coppins’s team mate, Lawson Bopping, currently sits in third place in the championship.

Images: Shayne Rice, Yamaha