Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Cooper Webb once again showed grit and determination, overcoming adversity in the mud to finish third at Foxborough Supercross. His ninth podium finish of the season further expanded his Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Championship lead, giving him a 15-point advantage. Teammate Justin Cooper also showed strength in the tricky conditions, adding another holeshot to his season tally, but unfortunately, a couple of off-track excursions resulted in an 11th-place finish in the main event.
Once again, rain called for an abbreviated schedule, but this time the rain stayed and wreaked havoc on the track as well. In addition to the mud and the unrelenting rain, it was a cold day for Round 12 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross. Despite the challenging conditions and only one session before the night show, Webb qualified fourth. He then got a good start to his heat race in second and crossed the line in the runner-up position, but was credited with the win after the competition was penalized for jumping on a Red Cross section. Webb got another good start to the main event in fifth but had a couple of tip-overs and had to make his way back to sixth. On the final lap, he made one last charge and claimed the final podium spot, making championship gains.
It was a tough start to Round 12 for his teammate Cooper, who qualified 17th. Despite having less-than-ideal gate picks for both the heat race and main event, the New Yorker got great starts. In the heat race, he claimed the lead early and was shuffled back to the runner-up spot and then to 13th on the opening lap. Undeterred, he fought his way up to eighth and would cross the line ninth. Despite the 18th gate pick, Cooper got a flying start and grabbed the holeshot. He led the opening laps, and then unfortunately a mistake had him back to seventh. Cooper later went off track again, which he was ultimately docked two positions for, resulting in 11th on the night. Although he was looking for more, Cooper’s efforts moved him up to fourth in the points standings.
The Northeast swing continues next weekend with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heading to Philadelphia for Round 13 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the SuperMotocross World Championship at Lincoln Financial Field on April 12.
Rich Simmons – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“These wet and muddy conditions are really tough to prepare for so all the credit to the riders and team for their efforts today. You never know what can happen in these conditions, so Webb getting a podium and Justin leading the opening laps after a holeshot was a great day.”
Cooper Webb – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #2
“Man, it was a crazy, crazy day. That was a stressful day. A lot of mud and a lot of conditions to deal with. In the main event, I was able to come through. I had a great start, but I ended up crashing twice. I put my head down there at the end and made some hard charges, so I’m super stoked with that and stoked to get on the podium and extend my points lead.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“It was crazy conditions today. I was able to holeshot the main and then led for a lap or two. Then I made a mistake in the rhythm before the finish and had to make a U-turn to the rhythm prior, so that added about 20 seconds to my lap time and put me back to seventh. I had another off-track excursion that they said I gained time doing, which docked me to 11th. On to the next one!”