CDR Yamaha’s Josh Coppins has confirmed his plan to retire at the end of the 2012 season, the current MX1 points leader making his announcement at round eight of the Monster Energy MX Nationals at Appin on Sunday.

After an illustrious career which involved success in Europe on the World Motocross scene, the New Zealand native has decided to hang up his boots after 17 years at a professional level.

Coppins plans to continue his relationship with CDR and Yamaha in the future, with details yet to emerge, but you can expect him to play a large role in linking the Australian and New Zealand Yamaha teams closer together.

“Obviously I’ve been around for a long time now,” said Coppins in the CDR Yamaha semi during a class press conference during the lunch break. “I’ve worked it flying over here and I’ve done 600 professional races and almost 200 GPs.

“It’s been a long time, I’ve done 17 years as a pro now. So I’ve done a lot of laps and had a lot of time on the bike and together with my family I’ve decided it is time to stop and look to do other things.

“I’ve had a great time here in Australia and my only regret is that I wish I had come back even earlier from Europe to race here. I’ve enjoyed my time here, I’ve enjoyed working with CDR Yamaha, it’s been great.

“I just really want to say thanks to them for giving me the opportunity and also it looks like we are going to be continuing and doing stuff in the future, together with Craig [Dack] in New Zealand and maybe even in Europe.”

Coppins is thankful to remain part of the Yamaha family and looks forward to passing on his knowledge to the next generation of riders.

“It’s really nice to still be part of the Yamaha family and still be able to come to the races and see all of you guys,” he added. “Hopefully some of the things I’ve learnt can brush off onto some of the other riders.

“I just want to say thanks to not anyone in particular, just to anybody that has helped me throughout my career. It has been a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but of course like I always say, those lows make the highs really high.”

CDR Yamaha team owner Craig Dack praised Coppins’ career efforts and believes the Kiwi veteran has the attributes that every rider should strive for.

“He’s a champion bloke,” said Dack. “And I’ll echo those words that Josh said, the only problem that I see with him retiring at this stage is that it hasn’t been enough time together.

“We’ve spent the last two years together as a rider and team manager, it’s probably been the best professional working relationship I’ve ever has with a rider.

“He’s just such a smart guy, his wealth of knowledge that he’s got, his demeanor is very calm and calculated and you just wish every rider had the attributes that this guy has got.”

Coppins topped off his big announcement at Appin with a round win in the MX1 class, maintaining his series lead over Todd Waters. Stay tuned to MotoOnline.com.au for more updates on Coppins’ future role with CDR and Yamaha.