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COOPER WEBB
450 SX / A2
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> All eyes were on Cooper Webb at Anaheim 1. The Factory Yamaha rider made his awaited debut in the 450 class after a wildly successful 250 career. He was coming off back to back titles and many anticipated immediate success in the premier class. But that transition proved to be harder than we thought. Webb struggled at A1 and struggled even harder in San Diego with a tenth and a fourteenth respectively. Many were quick to write him off already but failed
to remember that Musquin kicked off his 450 career in very similar fashion last year and is now on the podium at nearly every round. Webb is only getting started. Webb must have been tired of hearing the critics because he looked fired up in practice. He held the fastest time for a good portion of the day but ultimately came out with the third fastest time heading into the night show. In his heat race, we finally saw him get a decent start. After lap one he was in fourth place and then quickly went around Brayton to move into third. The heat then came from Tomac and the two exchanged in a small battle that resulted
in the Kawasaki rider taking over third dropping Webb to fourth. He would hold that final transfer spot down and deny a charging Weston Peick from stealing
it away. He was heading straight the main. Webb nailed down an even better start in the main event crossing the stripe in second place. He looked fast in the early stages trying to keep early race leader Ryan Dungey in check but that first lap adrenaline began to wear off. That allowed Seely, Roczen and Musquin all to get around by lap six pushing Webb back to fifth place. At the midway point, a battle ensued for fifth between Webb, Grant and Peick. The trio had a healthy battle swapping spots back and forth as Grant initially passed Webb but Webb would make the pass back a few laps later to move into fourth, picking up an additional spot from the Roczen crash. Webb would hold onto that fourth place spot all the way to the finish making it a career best and much, much needed race to restore some confidence.
14 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 22, 2017