Round Seven – Arlington, Texas
Cooper Webb takes fourth win of season
Images by Hoppenworld
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, hosted the seventh round of the AMA Supercross Championship last weekend. KTM’s Cooper Webb came through the pack to sensationally steal the 450SX main event win from Ken Roczen by just half a wheel at the flag!
450SX Report
Eli Tomac pulled the holeshot ahead of Roczen and Marvin Musquin while Webb managed several key passes to come around the first lap in seventh place, two spots ahead of Zach Osborne who was making his 450SX class debut.
Tomac was pushing hard to try to get away from the pack but Roczen stalked the Kawasaki rider before moving his way to the lead on lap four, then immediately started to break into the 49-second lap times just as Webb moved into the top five.
Tomac dropped his Kawasaki on lap seven but remounted in seventh place allowing Musquin to move into second ahead of Joey Savatgy, Blake Baggett and Webb.
The race looked to be Roczen’s, the German enjoying a handy six-second lead over Musquin.
Webb soon moved up to second after getting the better of Musquin, then on the back of quad-jumping instead of triple-single jumping at the end of one of the rhythm lanes, he was suddenly on the back wheel of Roczen with a lap to go.
Webb then pulled alongside Roczen in the whoops, which gave him the opportunity to dive up the inside of Roczen and then out-drag the Honda rider to the finish line by a wheel length.
That is Webb’s second victory in succession, and his fourth from the seven rounds staged thus far this season. The Arlington victory earns Webb the red plate with a two-point lead over Roczen. The Honda star is still yet to win a main so far this season.
Webb now has the red plate with a two point lead over Roczen who in turn has a four point advantage over Musquin.
Cooper Webb – P1
“Tonight was incredible! I just never gave up out there. It was incredible for it to come to the last lap – the last turn even – and to be able to win with such a close finish was absolutely insane. That’s probably the best race ever for me.”
Ken Roczen – P2
“The whoops was one of the spots where I struggled all through the an event which really effected my flow so this is something we learn from, I am using it as fuel for the next race but it was fun, leading the whole race and losing it is not so much fun but we are healthy and still in the championship.”
Marvin Musquin – P3
“We are definitely looking for our first win but being on the podium for the last five is super important but to salvage third after such a poor heat race is important for the race and the championship. It’s good, but I was in a good position for better, so I am a little bit disappointed with that but I’m also happy that we were able to turn it around after the heat race.”
Justin Barcia – P7
“Crazy day of racing for me for sure. I felt good, the bike was working well. I had a pretty good practice, was right in the times, but in the heat race, didn’t get off to a good start. I was working my way through the pack and got taken out. In the main event, I was on the far outside and got a really good jump off the gate. I was right in it, but I was just so far outside I got pushed out and went into the hay bales and started last. I went from last to seventh. I was riding well, but again wasn’t able to make things happen that I needed to happen. I need to get a better start and put myself in front of the pack where I belong. We’re moving on from this weekend and will get ready for Detroit.”
Dean Wilson – P8
“My night was not amazing but not too bad either, I think the best part of my race was that I came through the pack really well and I passed a lot of good riders. By the time I got to the position I was in, there was really no one in front of me that I could catch so I ended up with an eighth. It’s not what I want but the beginning was promising with the speed I had. I just need to get a better start and get up there and we’ll be good. I’ll take it but we want to get on the podium for sure.”
Aaron Plessinger – P9
“We made big steps in the right direction at Dallas. The bike worked pretty good all day, I just need to get my starts dialed in. We’re going to go off to Florida and ride with Justin for a little bit and hopefully can build some intensity. All in all, I’m pretty happy with tonight and taking steps in the right direction. We’ll move forward from here, and on to Detroit.”
After going through the LCQ and then running off the track at the start, Justin Barcia put in a great ride to fight his way back to seventh while Chad Reed finished the night in 11th after passing Tomac.
| Arlington 450SX Main Results |
- Cooper Webb – 25 Laps
- Ken Roczen +00.028
- Marvin Musquin +10.784
- Blake Baggett +15.401
- Joey Savatgy +18.360
- Cole Seely +23.241
- Justin Barcia +26.545
- Dean Wilson +29.567
- Aaron Plessinger +30.739
- Justin Brayton +41.282
- Chad Reed +45.767
- Eli Tomac +49.446
- Justin Hill – 24Laps
- Kyle Chisholm +00.453
- Ben Lamay +16.975
| 450SX Points Standings after Round 7 of 17 |
- Cooper Webb – 150
- Ken Roczen – 148
- Marvin Musquin – 144
- Eli Tomac – 134
- Dean Wilson – 110
- Justin Barcia – 104
- Blake Baggett – 101
- Cole Seely – 94
- Chad Reed – 93
- Aaron Plessinger – 93
250SX East Report
Austin Forkner scored the holeshot ahead of Kyle Peters, Chase Sexton and Jordon Smith but it wasn’t long before Peters was passed by Sexton and Smith, while Alex Martin was struggling to recover from his poor start and was back in 14th place.
Sexton managed to hold pace with Forkner for several laps as Justin Cooper jumped into fourth place ahead of Martin Davalos.
At the half way mark of the 15-minute race Forkner had a small gap over Sexton, who in turn had Smith and Cooper closing in on him while Davalos dropped a couple of seconds.
On lap 13 Sexton made a mistake that allowed Smith and Cooper into second and third. Only for Smith to then slide out of a turn which put him back to fifth, and promoted Cooper up into second place ahead of Sexton and Davalos. Smith got the better of Davalos in the closing stages of the race to claim fourth.
After the 19 laps it was Forkner that took the flag first, winning his second straight main event. Cooper, Sexton, Smith and Davalos rounded out the top five – Martin made it to back up to eighth place by race end.
Austin Forkner – 19 Laps
Justin Cooper +04.261
Chase Sexton +09.964
Austin Forkner – P1
“At one point Chase and Jordan were reeling me in so I figured I could just push harder and potentially throw it all away or back it down a bit, ride in my comfort zone and if I get caught and passed so be it, luckily that didn’t happen, I caught my breath and pulled off the win. The tough thing for me is to try and ride own my lines, I found my focus about five minutes in, but I have plenty of stuff I can work on this week heading into Round 3. I felt like I struggled a little bit and still won so I’m ecstatic. It’s nice to know what we can go into the week and work on. I can’t wait to get back next week even better.”
Justin Cooper – P2
“I feel we rebuilt a little this week and we made one place up the podium from last week so we’ll take it, it is a long series and the tracks are going to challenge us but we will go back, try and fix a few things. It feels great to get two podiums in a row. Compared to last year we were sitting out the second round, so to start the season out like this is pretty cool. The track was pretty tough today, we just had to take what we could get out there. Still, big improvements, and we’re not going to stop here. The bike was great all day again. We’ll just keep searching for new things and keep trying to better our self each time we get out on the track.”
Chase Sexton – P3
“I had a pretty good start in the main, where I could make something happen and I felt really good on my bike but with five minutes left I made two mistakes which cost me big time.”
Martin Davalos – P5
“This race was one I wanted to get through healthy and I was able to do that. It was great to show that I’m capable of being up with the front runners and bounce back. I would love to get a better start next weekend and really contend for a podium spot.”
Mitchell Oldenburg – P6
“The track conditions were tough tonight; it was super soft and rutted. I kind of got off to a slow start in the main again this week, but I was able to regroup fairly well and finish with a decent sixth. I’m really pumped on my heat race and how the practices went this morning. So I’m looking to build on this race and go to Detroit for the Triple Crown next weekend and come out swinging.”
| Arlington 250SX East Main Event Results |
- Austin Forkner – 19 Laps
- Justin Cooper +04.261
- Chase Sexton +09.964
- Jordon Smith +15.330
- Martin Davalos +16.091
- Mitchell Oldenburg +16.344
- Kyle Peters +26.738
- Alex Martin +30.167
- Brandon Hartranft +36.029
- Kyle Cunningham +36.557
| 250SX East Points after Round 2 |
- Austin Forkner – 52
- Justin Cooper – 44
- Jordon Smith – 42
- Chase Sexton – 39
- Alex Martin – 34
- Mitchell Oldenburg – 34
- Kyle Cunningham – 29
- Kyle Peters – 29
- Brandon Hartranft – 29
- Martin Davalos – 25
Source: MCNews.com.au