Page 20 - ISSUE_77

JUSTIN COOPER
250 MX / 5TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Coming into the rst round of the season, many guys are beyond ecstatic to get behind the gate. The foot tapping, nail biting, and pronounced dgeting are at an all time high, as they simply can’t control their excitement to get racing underway. However, this can lead to a sudden collapse of focus, and subsequent deterring results, if a crash occurs. Therefore the champi- onship can be lost at round one, and not won. Justin Cooper understands this, and came out poised for the opening quali cation session. Smooth and ef cient, were two words heavily em- phasized in the morning memo, and he seemed to be executing the plan to perfection. Standing on the balls of his feet through out these straightaways, his knees and hips were acting as an extra set of springs, the plantar exor’s of his body absorbing all types of shock. Skating around the post nish line left-hander, he wouldn’t wince with the near sight of clipping the tuff-blocks,
as he hugged the inside. Going back to the semi following the round, he felt accomplished, knowing he was as prepared as they come for the races to come. The eld would then take off, and everyone was out to prove who’d been putting in the work since the nale of last year; he emerged rst on the opening lap, but in deep amounts of heat with serious competition around. The rookie showed no signs of backing down, as he actually began to stretch a bit of a gap in his all blue attire. The adrenaline dump would begin to occur however, as he now would battle with the likes of Osborne and then Jeremy Martin; he couldn’t relish in the fact of where he stood; he had to keep moving in an ascending fashion. But they came in waves, and the once position of rst would begin to fade away. The rollers up the dragon’s back would begin to get cupped out, and you saw him both toying with skimming and rhythmic combinations; it would work to sustain, as he sat fth with a few laps to go. With blue ags waving all around, he was having to dodge
a few lapped riders who acted as landmines; however he would bring it home safely; nishing a spectacular fth. Round number two would commence with a spraying of roost ying off the start; he would come crawling out of the rubble- lled rst lap in seventh. Avoiding tear-gas, pellets, and ying debris cast by Jordon Smith who was in front of him, he had the riot shield of a roost guard on to protect him. He would surge through the mechanics area straightaway, slashing into the last right-hander hard after sweeping left. Hovering around the eighth place spot, the persis- tence was there, if he could nish it as the nal laps would come about. The sun would continue to cast, and both he and bike would continue to heat up; looking forward to seeing that ever so rewarding black and white ag, he would place ninth after being passed by RJ Hampshire and fth overall on the day.
20 GRITMOTO • MAY 21, 2018