Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cooper Webb had an impressive showing at Spring Creek MX Park on Saturday for Round 8 of the 2019 AMA Pro Motocross Championship after experiencing a series of career firsts that led up to a 1-1 overall victory in Millville, Minnesota.
Earning his first-career 450MX moto win in race one, Webb doubled down in race two to claim his first overall podium, as well as first overall win, of his career in the premier 450MX class. In addition to Webb’s career milestones, the Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin finished just off the overall podium in fourth with 3-7 moto scores amidst less-than-favourable conditions.
Ample amounts of rainfall plagued the area all morning long, with lightning storms coming into effect just before the day’s scheduled practice. As a result, race officials cancelled half of the practice sessions and added a one-hour delay in the race schedule to work on the track. While the rain stopped well before the start of the first moto, the Spring Creek MX track was chock-full of muddy surprises as riders trudged through the sloppy conditions in Moto 1.
Webb was good from the word go as he claimed the top qualifying position despite the condensed schedule and muddy racetrack. He maintained the momentum in Moto 1 as he powered his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into the early lead in Moto 1. He solidified himself as the man to beat right away after charging his way to a 10-second gap in the opening laps. He remained solid through the checkers, ultimately leading all 15 laps to capture his first-career 450MX moto win. In Moto 2, Webb shot off the line to claim the holeshot and early lead. He diced back and forth for the lead early on, engaging in a close with Ken Roczen. While out front, Webb made a mistake and came up short on a triple, causing him to go down briefly on lap four. He re-mounted in second and determined to make up the lost time, Webb put on a hard charge to ultimately reclaim the lead with two laps to go. He held on for the Moto 2 victory, successfully completing a 1-1 sweep in Minnesota.
Cooper Webb: “I felt really good today. It’s incredible to go 1-1, I don’t know what happened to everyone else but I got two good starts, stayed out of trouble and it felt really awesome. It’s amazing what a moto-win can do for your confidence!”
For Musquin, the day didn’t quite go as planned but the French rider salvaged as much as he could with the cards he was dealt. In Moto 1, he didn’t get the strongest jump off the muddy start but he carefully navigated his way into the top-10 on lap one. From there, Musquin immediately began a calculated charge through the field and he made his way up to a podium position by lap six. He put on a great charge in the final laps to ultimately secure third. In Moto 2, Musquin got caught in the bottom of a multi-rider pileup off the start and after climbing his way out, was forced to begin outside the top-20. In the first five laps, he was able to impressively charge his way up to 10th, where he set his sights on the top-five. Musquin was able to pass a few more riders to ultimately salvage seventh in the moto and fourth overall for the day, narrowly missing the overall podium with 3-7 moto finishes.
Marvin Musquin: “I’m definitely not happy because the riding today was pretty good but the result is not what I wanted. I was looking forward to a good battle for the lead and to make up some points but that didn’t happen. Next week is Washougal and we’ll spend the week in California working with the team, so it will be good.”
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