World Motocross veteran Josh Coppins has made a triumphant return home to New Zealand with a victory in the opening round of the New Zealand Supercross Championships in Tokoroa on Saturday night.

Coppins, who will split his time between New Zealand and CDR Rockstar Energy Yamaha in Australia for 2011, was able to excel in muddy conditions to get off to a solid start back aboard a YZ450F.

“It took me the early qualifying races to work out I needed to ride in a higher gear,” Coppins explained. “I was wheel-spinning at the start and in the tight corners but, once I worked out that third-gear starts would work, I was away.”

Coppins finished 2-1-1 in the three championship races, easily enough to edge out Justin McDonald (Honda), who finished with 3-3-2 results, and Cody Cooper (Suzuki), who came home with 4-2-4 results.

In the Lites class, Scott Columb showed remarkable courage to battle through the pain barrier and win the night.

“I crashed my bike about a week ago and it just about blew my eyes out,” said Columb. “I was in a heap of pain but I dug deep and managed to win the night here.”

Runner-up was fellow Suzuki star Brad Groombridge, who represented New Zealand at the Motocross of Nations in September. Third overall was Honda rider Peter Broxholme.

The second of four rounds in the series is scheduled for Taupo on 2 January.