race recap
COOPER WEBB | GRIT-221 | 450MX
June 2, 2023 · Cooper Webb
COOPER WEBB | GRIT-221 | 450MX
Somehow, someway, returning from a devastating injury suffered in Nashville, the tenacious mindset of Cooper Webb would prevail as the green flag waved in Pala, California. Though knowingly a bit behind after the break over the past month or so, Webb would declare that he was going racing and attacked the track for qualification at Fox Raceway as if he were contending for victory. And that mentality would flow into the opening segments of the first moto as well, where he battled amongst the pack in the left and right-handed switchback to contest for third (at the green flag) just ahead of Chase Sexton. However the number twenty-three was able to work his way around, and pushed Webb to fourth where be battled Aaron Plessinger for a brief while. Though the Ohio native too would pass by the former SX champion, Webb remained steadfast in his pursuit of faster lap-times and acclimating to the pace being set by Jett Lawrence. This would lead to the sixth lap, where Aaron Plessinger's wash-out atop one of the far side hills granted Cooper Webb another spot higher on the leaderboard...though the battle between he and his KTM teammate was far from over. They again, would swap positions before Plessinger's last crash (with roughly five laps left) would have Webb around him with finality; taking fourth place on the final leaderboard, and proving that he could sustain a pace that was paralleled with the leaders of the field! For the moto thereafter, Webb's initial placement to the fourteen-lap contest was solidified in fourth; defending the position from Plessinger while doing his best to latch onto the rear wheel of Ferrandis. However it was before lap four was over, when Webb's line choice would be a tad bit slower than that of Aaron's, who made his may by and placed his machine directly ahead of the number two. He was then in a flow that was by himself for the most part, where he remained efficient and avoided problematic line choices (especially up and down the hillside) where grooves and bumps had become extremely jagged and hard-packed. He knew his gap over Grant Harlan and Adam Cianciarulo was sustainable, therefore as minutes would pass, he made sure to keep the big picture at the forefront of his aspirations....as he ultimately took fifth in the moto, for fourth overall on the day.