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COOPER WEBB
450 MX / 7TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Since returning from injury and making his outdoor debut at Southwick, Cooper Webb has been a strong top ten rider. He came out to do these nationals to ride himself back into shape and try to master how to run with the 450 riders. In his rst two seasons aboard the bigger machine, Webb has dealt with a slew of injuries that have stunted his growth with
the bike and the slightly different style of racing than the 250 class. Last season he showed ashes with some top ve overall nishes and some moto podiums, but many believe there is more potential there waiting to be unlocked. He has raced ve rounds so far this sum- mer and has not made too much improvement in his results, mainly because of bad starts so it is hard to tell where his speed and potential levels really are. He has two more rounds to do it starting here at Budds Creek. Webb looked good and fast in the morning qualifying practice sessions. The rider hailing from North Carolina threw down the seventh fastest lap time of the class and was ready to lock in and try to nail a good start which he has struggled with all season. That good start would not come in moto one for Webb as he would start
the race outside of the top ten. By the end of lap one, he managed to pull himself into tenth and behind Honda HRC’s Toshiki Tomita. Webb would pass him on lap two before settling in behind Benny Bloss who held down eighth. Webb stalked Bloss for a couple of laps before being able to make the pass happen on lap six. From there, Webb enjoyed a quiet race. Al- though he could see Phil Nicoletti ahead of him, he could not get within reasonable striking distance and would settle with the eighth-place nish in the moto. Webb got out to a similar start in moto two, this time coming around lap one in ninth place. On lap two, he started his trek forward by passing Dylan Merriam for eighth. He settled in behind Weston Peick for a few laps and pressured him before making the pass on him for seventh on lap four. Once there, Webb found himself behind Nicoletti yet again but like the rst moto, there was a bit of a gap there and over the course of the moto, he would not be able to make it up. He did have a quick chance at taking over sixth midway through the race after his teammate, Justin Barcia, went down but he was unable to capitalize. Webb nished the race in seventh. His 8-7 moto scores would be good enough for seventh overall on the day. Another consistent solid score but he wants to be closer to that top ve, which he has yet to do this season. He only has one more race to try and do it.
48 GRITMOTO • AUGUST 19, 2018