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COOPER WEBB
450 SX / SD
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / roewer DESIGN / WILSON
>> Cooper Webb is living his dream racing against the best of the best. Now ranked among these riders, the young Yamaha racer is looking to gain the experience needed to really compete at the front of the premier class. Last week was an ideal start to the season for the 450 class rookie getting tenth place. Webb gained a handful of points and enormous amounts of confidence knowing he can make a smooth transition to the incredibly stacked class. Moving into this week Webb put in the work hoping to improve his results. Getting a good jump in his heat race Webb charged hard but it wasn’t quite enough for Yamaha Factory Racing rider to move right into the main. With an eighth place in the heat race Webb started off even stronger in his semi. With such a short amount of time he put his head down and crossed the finish line in third. Now main event time Webb was ready to improve his results from last week. Getting out of the gate and avoiding conflict Webb put himself right into eleventh behind some heavy hitters and class veterans. Competing with Bogle and chasing down Reed during the first few laps Webb wasn’t able to hold on and gets passed by Bogle and Grant. Now back in thirteenth the Yamaha rider began to really push to get himself back to where he was. In the effort to make his way back towards the front the 450 class rookie makes a mistake that caused him to fall back several places. Now even further from his goal, Webb had to gather himself back up and push forward. Fighting the clock Webb was only able to gain a few positions back. The young rider finished the second round of the series back in fourteenth. An eye opener for Webb about how tough the premier class really is.
80 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 15, 2017