Words by: Dan Lamb – Interview by: Chase Yocom – Photos by: Hoppenworld
Over the first four rounds of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 250MX Championship, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy won three of the four overalls. Now, Star Racing / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb has stepped up and won the last three straight, but the story of the Championship points boils down to where the two finished when they didn’t win. In the four races Webb didn’t finish on the top step, he finished consistently inside the top five with 3-3-5-3 score. When Savatgy didn’t take the top spot, he was outside the top five more often than not with scores of 9-2-7-9. The difference in points has Webb now leading the #37 by 37 points with just five rounds to go.
In Cooper’s first two wins, Savatgy was on pace, but a huge crash during moto two at RedBud might have been a bigger setback than it looked like for the Kawasaki rider because he was a non-factor in the sandbox last weekend. Not that anyone was on Webb’s pace in the sand, but Savatgy was barely a top ten guy. With Webb going 2-1 and Savatgy going 10-11, the #17 took control of the Championship. And with the series going to another one of Webb’s favorite tracks next weekend—the Spring Creek National—this Championship could quickly get out of reach for Savatgy if he doesn’t stop the bleeding now. At the 2015 Spring Creek National, Webb finished first and Savatgy finished third, so it could be a sand whoop brawl next weekend for supremacy.
After Webb’s third-straight overall win, he sat down to answer some questions for the press, and Chase Yocom was inside the tent for MotoXAddicts to record the Q&A.
Cooper, you went 2-1 today for the overall win and extended your lead to 37 points. Congratulations on three in a row. Tell us about your day. Did you feel confident going in? You said on the podium that you did, but you started in eighth place or so in moto one. That can be a little detrimental to the confidence.
I felt good all day. I qualified right there, and usually if I’m in the top five, that’s good. In the first moto, I had my work cut out for me with the bad start, but I put my head down and got into second. Then I really put on a charge—I was stoked on that—and I was able to catch Jeremy [Martin]. Even, though, I didn’t pass him it was cool because I had never done that before, so that was cool. In the second moto, I got a holeshot and that was nice. Clear track, and in the sand, it’s always nice to have clear vision. Austin [Forkner] was riding really good. He was right there. I had a really good flow. I had some good lines, and I love the sand. It’s definitely a man’s track out there.
You know, one of the things I noticed is a lot of the guys that would be passing up towards the front consistently did it in certain corners. Like Jeremy had to have one corner he could always pull a pass. Did you find you had a corner, or was it pretty much you could pass wherever you could?
You definitely had to pick your spots. It was a little hard to pass, especially first moto—it wasn’t quite as rough. Everybody’s pretty much doing the same line. The second moto was a little bit easier because we had to move around and miss the bumps. Even in 2013, this track’s a little hard to pass. With the berms, everything kind of funnels into one. You just had to be smart and pick your lines and had to be careful, especially when you’re in a pack. Some guys are cutting down, cutting in, and this and that. You kind of just got to be smart and pick your places. The main thing is if you get too close you just get blasted with sand and rip a tear-off. So the first moto, I actually had to be careful with how many I was really ripping because I got low towards the end, but I mean, you definitely had to pick your places. Overall I felt like the second moto the track kind of opened up a bit.
What a turnaround over the last couple weeks, Championship-wise.
Oh, absolutely. I’m not sure what the points gap is now, but I know it’s probably pretty good. Yeah, it’s awesome, like we’ve been talking about, to be able to come in the way it happened and everything like that. I feel really good right now. I feel like I’m just really getting going, so that’s nice. We’re at the halfway mark, and two tracks that I really like are coming up. The ball’s rolling, and when you’re going good, it’s hard to let anything bug you.
The other thing is it seems like you really, really enjoyed that on the podium—the crowd and everything else.
Yeah, I know a lot of people from New England just from racing up here. Yeah, with my really good friend, I used to just load up in my van and do some money races, and a lot of them were up here. It’s cool to see these guys. They don’t give a damn; that’s for sure. It’s cool to see them, and they’re one of a kind, to say the least.
Today was one of the weekends that the 250’s ran second after the 450’s. How rough did the track get out there today after the 450’s rode?
It was rough, but I really prefer being second. I think it kind of slows us down. Typically the 250’s are always wide open and just going for it, so the rougher the track, it kind of slows everybody down. I think it’s a little better, but it was gnarly. This track always gets gnarly but especially that second moto. You had to pick your lines and there was holes everywhere. There was really no escaping it. I really enjoy it when the tracks get like that. I think that really separates the good riders and makes your technique really shine.
I know it didn’t show to everybody because of your overall results, but was there any extra pressure running the red plate for the first time?
It was nice! We’re not behind; we’re in front. For me, that’s a refresher. In Supercross, I was able to run the red plate. To me, it’s always nice because you do have—whether it’s one point or not—you still have the advantage. I feel comfortable. Plus it looks really good.
Whenever Kenny was up here, he was talking about a tire change. He switched over to the paddle the second moto. You actually ripped the holeshot second moto. Where’d that come from? Did you make any changes tire selection-wise that may have helped out?
No. We made a change in practice. We tried a different tire, and it didn’t work out. Throughout the day we didn’t make but a clicker change here and there. I felt really good. I had a really good setting coming in. We rode some pretty gnarly sand tracks this week, so I felt good. That track just is tough because the track is really fast, but you know it’s going to be nothing like the race. You don’t want to set your bike up for practice; you really want it to work good in the race. That’s where I felt we had the advantage today.
In that first moto, I think it was like five laps to go, you were like eight seconds back. Did you know where you were and did you think you had a chance to catch him [leader, Jeremy Martin]?
I knew where I was, and I knew it was going to be tough. I felt like I could catch him, but to catch somebody is one thing, to pass him is another. I just kind of said in the back of my head, “Just go for it,” even though there were lappers or if he makes a mistake; you never know. So I just put my head down and was going for it. I got a lot of heat for settling before, so I didn’t want to get bitched at.
What is it about these late charges? This is becoming common now.
I don’t know. It’s definitely nice to be able to do it that way than to start good and go backwards. So that’s nice. I felt like that second moto I got a good start and was able to get in a groove right away. That was nice. It’s tough, especially here with everybody so tight in the first couple of laps, to get in your groove. You kind of have to follow. When it comes to the end, that’s what I really like, and I thrive kind of in that situation. I’ve been in that situation plenty of times, so I think I’m pretty comfortable with it.
I assume you used a lot of energy in the first moto. How important was it to get out front and have an open track for pretty much the whole moto?
It was nice. It was huge. I haven’t been able to really do that so far. It made it somewhat enjoyable. Not having to eat roost was good, but I had pressure for the couple laps and I had to get going. I knew Jeremy—I could kind of see him, the gap—and I knew he was going to be strong. I knew he could catch fire, and he has to get points. You know, It was unfortunate to see him go down, but it definitely made my life a little easier.
Did Austin kind of catch you off-guard? It seemed like you were stretching a little lead and then he came in kind of out of nowhere and you stretched it back out?
Yeah, he did for sure. It was tough ’cause you don’t want to go too hard. At least for me it’s tough because if you go out and you do three or four sprints and then you’re tired, that’s all you really have. Then it’s going to be a long race for you. I felt like my pace was good. Maybe it could have been half a second quicker. I feel like I could knock that every lap. Definitely caught me off guard, and once I kind of saw he was there, that’s when I felt like I wicked it up and I was able to get a comfortable gap just to increase it every lap.
Does preparation change this week and even maybe next week as far as for the sand track?
Yeah, we rode sand all week. I think that’s pretty generic for everybody. We also have press day there at Millville. It’s kind of the same thing. What we’re doing seems to be good. Having fun, working hard and we’re actually enjoying it.
