Page 42 - ISSUE88

COOPER WEBB
450 MX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>>2018 has been a tough one for Monster Energy Factory Yamaha’s Cooper Webb. The rider in his sophomore season in the 450 class has been held back from injuries and has struggled to really get to his full potential as a racer. He endured a solid supercross season with a few top ves and one podium, but it got cut short due to a tib- b injury sustained at Minneapolis. He returned to racing this summer at Southwick and has performed well. He has been consistent but has not shown much ash or intensity near the front of the pack. He has not nished in the top ve overall yet this year and with rumors that he is moving on from his current team at the conclusion of this season, he wanted to go out with a bang at our nal round at Ironman. Webb struggled to log a quick lap time in the rain and mud in the lone morning qualifying practice session. He would come away with the eleventh fastest lap time, but he was not worried because he is one of the better mud riders out there. He knew a good start would be all he needed to get things going. Unfortunately for Webb, a good start would be the exact opposite of what he would get in the opening moto. Webb found himself down on the wet, soupy ground in the rst turn. It took him a while to remount his machine and he would have his work cut out for him if he wanted to salvage anything from the moto. He came around lap one in thirtieth place but managed to get up to twenty- rst by lap three. He kept plugging away the rest of the moto steering clear of downed and stuck riders. When it was all said and done, Webb had climbed all the way to ninth place to nish the moto. It was a great ride but not a great result. He would enter moto two looking for that good result. Webb got off to a much better start to kick things off in moto two. He came out of lap one sitting comfortably in third place. He would lose a little bit of ground to the leaders in the opening laps, but he had stabilized himself nicely in third. It was his best run so far this season as he has rarely, if ever, been up this far up front here in 2018. However, midway through the moto, Marvin Musquin would try and spoil it. Musquin caught Webb and the two riders would duke it out. Webb refused to concede the position and it showed. He fought Musquin with some serious intensity for an entire lap. The two riders were side by side for much of that lap, but Musquin would nally edge Webb out and take the spot. But just moments later, Musquin would run into a lapped rider and Webb would get back by. Webb tried to build up another cushion but a few laps later, the battle resumed. Musquin caught back up and the pair of riders fought hard again but like the rst time, Musquin would get passed Webb. Webb settled into fourth and would hold it down the rest of the moto. It would be his best moto nish of the season and his 9-4 moto scores were good enough for fth overall, also his best on the season. So, although he didn’t get up on that podium, Webb did cap off his season with some season bests.
42 GRITMOTO • AUGUST 26, 2018