JUSTIN COOPER GRIT-225 250MX

JUSTIN COOPER | GRIT-225 | 250MX

The injury to Yamaha's Justin Cooper at High Point would be devastating on a multitude of levels; where many even questioned if Cooper was going to return for the round of racing at Red Bud. But as always, Justin defied the odds and was prepared for battle from the moment action began in practice; exhibiting speeds that were equated to second before moving into the first moto. Once here, Cooper's opening position of seventh (at the end of lap one) would give him a platform to work from, but with how stacked the field was, there wasn't anytime that could be wasted. The New York native was incredible amongst the corners of Red Bud, moving into fifth rather quickly where he tried to pass both Jo Shimoda and Seth Hammaker. However on the sixth lap, in the corner preceding LaRocco's leap, Cooper would become off-balanced and was forced off the bike in an awkward crash of sorts; leading to a loss of positions. Now seventh, it was then to rekindle the pace he originally constructed, which equated to Jo Shimoda being passed along with Maximus Vohland. It was then a battle of persistence and attrition with he and Seth Hammaker, where he fought around the Kawasaki rider on lap thirteen. With Hunter Lawrence, Haiden Deegan, and RJ Hampshire now ahead of him, Cooper would exhibit all of his skills in order to work around the Husqvarna athlete - but the fellow veteran of the division was riding spectacularly. Now with fourth place solidified, he would finish here to conclude the moto...the second round of racing was not long thereafter, where Cooper began in fifth, but moved to fourth while passing Jo Shimoda on lap four. He was then solidified in a standing behind Tom Vialle, where he tried with all of his might to surpass the French rider; but the number 128 had conducted a phenomenal flow and wasn't making many mistakes. Cooper could see the likes of Haiden Deegan ahead as well, and knew that every point that he could possible make-up, would fall in his favor with Hunter Lawrence being forced out due to injury. But through the sixteen-lap process, Cooper wasn't able to overtake the aforementioned KTM rider; leaving him fourth, ahead of Jo Shimoda. And even as the AMA official(s) sought to impose a penalty (of points) in regard to Justin Cooper's final standing (for jumping on a red-cross flag), the Yamaha rider still managed to corral a fourth in the moto, for third-place overall, respectively.

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