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COOPER WEBB
450 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / ARMSTRONG DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> 2018 marks Cooper Webbs second year in the premier 450 division. That being said Webb is currently considered a question mark for a lot of fans. That means most fans do not know where to place the multi time 250 champion. Many pegged Webb to light the world on fire in his rookie season last year and since that didn’t happen, many people are questioning his ability on a 450. The argument can go either way in a fans point of view but ill just throw this stat out there. Cooper Webb got a podium at just his 5th round on a 450 at Oakland and showed speed that matched the leaders at points. He got injured and didn’t show his true potential. Cooper has also said he didn’t gel with
the 2017 450 Yamaha and that he already seems more at home on the new and improved 2018. I feel like Webb can make that next step and become a contender, but only time will tell. In Webbs heat race tonight at Angel Stadium he got a top five start and it looked like his intensity and wit on the motorcycle was on point. At one point Webb started to take fire from title favorites Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin. The #2 of Webb showed no remorse to either riders and he battled them hard and actually put distance between them while holding down 3rd. Halfway through the heat Cooper made a miscalculation going into a right handed corner and tipped his Factory Yamaha over dropping him back to 6th. In the main event Webb rounded the first turn in 5th but got shuffled back to 8th after the opening laps. A handful of problems got handed to Webb in the opening stages of the race, after seven minutes of racing the #2 was all the way back in 15th. Cooper is a two time 250 SX champion and he didn’t get those titles by rolling over so Cooper did what he does best and that was to use his never quit attitude to work his way through the field. A tenth place finish isn’t where Webb wanted to finish at the first round of the 2018 season but considering all of the misfortune he walked away with 13 valuable points.
52 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 8, 2018