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COOPER WEBB
450 MX / 8TH
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Riding AMA professional motocross, you’re quick to nd the absurd amount of varying track conditions and layouts you’ll come across, week after week. You have to be ready
for everything from treacherous ravines, lled with water, to boulder size rocks coupled
with beach sand. You’ll have it all, and in order to excel, you must be able to adapt to any and every circumstance. Southwick was no different, with the sandiest track on the circuit providing pure madness and chaos for roughening patterns, yet Cooper Webb appeared to be ready. Choosing this round to make his return the series, you know his level of fear was miniscule. It was portrayed in his efforts throughout rst motos, with a thirteenth place start to begin the initial race. Never feeling threatened; he would work his way into the top ten, battling with riders like Lorenzo Locurcio and Heath Harrison. Neck and neck with Weston Peick, as the laps reached into the double digits, his heart rate began to climb, as the laps continued to escalate on. He had to remind himself to breathe, as riders like Peick were on his rear fender, and Chris Canning just ahead. Making the move on the number 376 with the white ag waving, you saw that he yearned for higher positioning, yet was still a little rusty
in comparison to his old ways. He would prevail, taking eighth. Moto number two had him tenth to begin, just behind Bloss and Locurcio yet again. The Yamaha would really begin to rip, a powerful steed through this hefty amount of sand. He would begin to hover just around the tenth place spot, with all types of fast competition looming near. He and Nicoletti would begin to duel, jousting for the tenth position. He would latch on to the Suzuki, the two acting as a train as they worked through both lap traf c and opposing competition. For the remain- der of the following sixteen laps, he tried all he could to get around the number fty-four; yet it wasn’t happening. However, his competitive demeanor realized that it was only his rst race back, and this ninth place nish for the moto wasn’t so bad. Eighth overall would be
his nal placing, and the Yamaha pilot would look ahead to the coming rounds for a boost of esteem. He knew his success of years ago could be tapped into, and all he needed was adequate preparation, to spark a run of wins.F
28 GRITMOTO • JULY 1, 2018