Racerx Talks with Webb

A few weeks ago Jett Lawrence turned the momentum from a Daytona Supercross victory into a win streak and a growing points lead. He threatened to put nearly a full race worth of points between himself and the field. But two-time Monster Energy Supercross Champion Cooper Webb would not give up, and he's taken advantage of Lawrence's bad races (mistakes in Seattle, penalty and collision in St. Louis, bad start in this event) to claw back 21 points in three weeks. Webb's victory at Foxborough, Massachusetts, was the second in the last three races for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider, and now he's tied atop the standings with Lawrence with four races to go.

Webb was also fastest in qualifying, which is rare for him. This is a championship push, and he talked about it in the post-race press conference.

Take us through the night.
Cooper Webb: It was a great start, holeshot, which was huge, and I was able to put in some good laps. Kenny and I, I felt, had a good pace going at the beginning. Then honestly once the rain came, it got a little bit interesting for me. You don’t know if you can trust some of those hard packed areas. I had a few lines I needed to clean up and be better at. I saw Chase catching Kenny, we were all riding pretty well, then I made that mistake in the rhythm and that tightened it right up, quick. I could see them coming and then Chase got around Kenny and he caught me, quick.  Just try to hit my marks the last couple laps, try to think where he was catching me and where I could pick up time. That’s what I tried to do. Felt good. Haven’t led a whole main event in long time, and to have the co-points lead is an amazing feeling.

Where you aware where Jett was the whole race and where you thinking about championship points and were you aware of where Jet was throughout the race?
Yeah, I mean, it was tough. I saw first lap, he was buried like really far back. So, um, it made it tough, right? Because you, you wanna win. But, you got chase and you got him [Ken Roczen} and you got Eli, you got all these guys that are fast, but the championship guys is kind of at this stage where you're kind of thinking about ait a little bit. So it definitely was tough to stay locked in because you think about that and you think about maybe taking a second or laying over. So it definitely was challenging to see that, right away and then trying to push the limit of going out and still get a race win. But I feel after a few laps we were able to settle in. Just lock in and still get a race win.

Were you able to tell where the guys were making up time on you? I know the 3-3-1 was the rhythm. I don't think you were jumping it. And those guys behind you were. Just talk about the approach to that rhythm specifically as well.
Yeah, I knew that was the way [they were gaining] and then the whoops, you know, I was sticking to the jump line which worked in practice, but it wasn't working in the race. It’s tough when you commit to something and you're out front, it's tough to try something new that you haven't done all day. I had done the three-in once in practice, but that's it. I felt like the risk versus reward, unless I really needed to do it wasn't there. So that what I was thinking on that. And then, yeah, the whoops, the last lap, I finally skimmed it knowing that I needed a good run and it was night and day better. So you live and learn, but it's part of it in this class, reading the track and making those adjustments. And like I said, I feel like Chase picked up on some lines that, especially late, were really good. 

It seemed like you're just under pressure all day today from, from Jett in the heat race and then these two guys [Sexton, Roczen] in the main. What are you doing differently to make sure that you can stay ahead of those guys?
Well a start is a key, that's for sure, especially tonight. Like Chase said, it was tough to pass. But it's, hard. It really is. I've not led a lot, you know, so it's definitely different upfront. You just kind of have to know where you're fast and where you're not and try to stick to that. I think tonight was very hard to pass, but also you could ride behind someone and kind of realize whether they're slower and pick up on it. So it's definitely cat and mouse for sure. I think today was good though, especially after a break and kind of being off the racing for a little bit, you might come in anxious or a little bit excited and override. I felt like I did a really good job today with my riding and just finding a good flow all day.