After winning back-to-back 250SX Western Regional Championships, lofty expectations followed Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb into the 450SX class, but he has reminded everyone that it takes time to get acclimated to the bigger bike and, more importantly, to get acclimated to battling a field full of past, present and future champions. There are a long line of riders like Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto and many more that went to school for their the first year or two, and Webb is definitely taking notes and studying for a long career in the 450 class.
Cooper started his rookie career off with a 10th at A1 and worked his way up to a podium in Oakland before having to take a little unscheduled injury vacation after Arlington. After taking five races off to recover from a shoulder injury, the #2 returned to action in Detroit. Cooper showed rust and finished 13th in Detroit and 14th in St Louis, but in Seattle on Saturday night the podium threat was back.
On probably the most rutted, rocky and sketchy circuit of 2017, Cooper surprised everyone with the fastest lap in qualifying and a dominant heat race win. In the main, Coop started in fourth, passed up to second, got passed by Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac before putting the aggressive repass on Tomac to get back to second. In the end a scary crash in a rhythm section late in the race while battling with Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson—who Coop passed earlier in the main—pushed him back to an eighth place finish on the night. Mentally, though, Cooper’s day and night in Seattle was a huge step back towards the goal of winning a main event in his rookie season.
Cooper, you finished eighth tonight in Seattle, but you got to be happy with your ride overall. You were racing for a podium when things went sideways, but overall a good night for you.
Yeah, I’m bummed I let it slip with that little of laps left, but overall it was a big step in the right direction. I qualified first, won a heat race, had killer starts all night and was in the battle. I was right there battling with Eli [Tomac] and Jason [Anderson], made the pass back on Eli and was running second. It was nice to be up there, but it was shitty the way things happened with the crash. I ended up eighth, but it’s racing, I guess. That’s why we do it.
The bottom line, though, is you crashed while going for it, and it’s hard to be mad at that. Was this one of those tracks tonight where you just had to sack up, put everything on the line and go for it if you wanted to race for the win?
Yeah, it was tough ’cause I felt smooth all day. I felt aggressive, but I felt smooth. I got into second and I felt like I could make a run at Marvin [Musquin]. I was sort of trying a lot harder and almost went slower. I made way more mistakes and I think that’s what allowed those guys to catch me. I tightened up and stuff like that. It was a gnarly track. You definitely have to go for it, but the biggest thing was picking lines. I feel like I switched a few lines and it cost me at least a second or so a lap. You had to be smart, but you had to push the edge. In the position we were in—we were 2-3-4—we were all pushing right there on the edge. You definitely had to go for it, but actually overall I thought the track was pretty cool. Obviously it was gnarly at the end, but I think it was something different and a lot better than the goat trails we’ve been racing. (laughs)
Is this kind of track with super deep ruts everywhere something you normally like, or was it just the right day for it and you were feeling it?
I think it’s just that there’s so many lines and so many options that I think it actually slows us down to where we’re not going as fast miles per hours wise. We’re pushing our limits, but for me it’s almost safer. I don’t want to say safer, but you know your abilities and you know, “hey, this is a little sketchy, I’m not going to do that.” You have to be smart. I think that’s what I’ve always enjoyed about race tracks. You could see it; there were so many different lines and options in the rhythms. They finally built some big berms where you could make some big block passes, cut down. So I think it was a good track. Obviously, I don’t think they need to be this gnarly every weekend, but it would definitely be nice to have some of those obstacles in there.
Any thoughts of phone calls from the Monster Energy bosses when you drove it in deep on Eli and passed him back aggressively? (laughs)
Nah.
You took Eli completely out of his rhythm when you did that. He was going at least a second a lap faster before you did that. You passed him back, through him out of rhythm and then you actually pulled back away. Did you notice that?
Yeah, everything we do is race strategy. I knew if I could pass him back it would throw him off. I think it obviously did. For me, it was one of those things where I just wanted the position. We were racing and to me it was pretty fun. To be able to battle with him—chase him like that—not be dirty and just race him hard, was pretty cool. I was just going for position. (laughs) I didn’t really care who it was.
There are three races left now, so what are the goals from here on? I’m sure you would love to get a win before it’s all wrapped up in Vegas.
Definitely a win, but I think for me I definitely want to be on the podium. Today I felt like I would have been or should have been. I think a race win is definitely possible, but I just got to put myself in the right position. I think with the holeshot tonight, it could have been, but woulda, coulda, shoulda. That’s always the goal. I feel like I’m back! Tonight was the first night I knew going into the main event, hey, I can win the race. I haven’t felt that since Dallas really. It’s cool to have that feeling and that confidence back. You know, just have that fire back.
How’s your bike and yourself for outdoors feeling at the moment. I’m sure you guys have done quite a bit of testing already.
It’s funny ’cause that’s all I rode all week is outdoors. I feel really good. Really, really good. I felt better than I did last year so it’s nice.
Photos by: Ryne Swanberg
