Rob Koy

Cooper Webb's Day at Budds Creek MX 2017 | PHOTOS

Cooper went 9-7 for 7th overall at Round 11

August 23, 2017

Monster Energy/Yamalube/Chaparral/Yamaha Financial Services/Yamaha Factory Racing Team rider Cooper Webb went 9-7 for 7th overall at Budds Creek. The Newport, NC resident that now trains in the Charlotte, NC area only had a six hour drive to Budds Creek. So Cooper had a lot of friends and family make the trip to the track he had raced many times as an amateur. We will take you through Cooper Webb's day and give you an inside look at his race day at Budds Creek.

Cooper Webb’s mechanic Eric Gass does some final prep on Copper’s factory YZ450F before the 1st practice got underway.Rob Koy

Cooper’s factory Yamaha sits waiting for him to get her dirty in the 1st timed practice. The Yamaha factory team does a nice job with the marketing partitions showing off Cooper’s bike and the brand new 2018 YZ450F since Cooper is the only rider under the tent for the outdoors.Rob Koy

In the 1st timed practice Cooper turned his fastest lap, a 2:12.313, on his 5th lap of the practice. Cooper only got down to the 2:12s twice in the session were he recorded a 2:12.727 on his 2nd lap, the other laps were throwaway laps.Rob Koy

After the 1st timed practice Cooper took time to sign autographs for his fans.Rob Koy

Cooper took pictures with his fans and even had his mom come through the line and take a picture together with the family dog. Cooper looked like he was having a good time in between the practice sessions.Rob Koy

When Cooper got ready to head to the gate for the 2nd timed practice he took a moment to check his lever position and rocked the bars back and forth to see how loose or tight the steering was.Rob Koy

Cooper is kept cool as he waits for the five-minute starting session to start. The factory Yamaha team has been using battery-powered fans and leaf blowers all summer to keep both Cooper and the bike's temps down.Rob Koy

During the starts the leaf blower was pointed towards the engine and transmission to help cool it down after doing many starts.Rob Koy

In the 2nd timed practice, Cooper was able to turn a faster lap of 2:06.653 for the 3rd fastest time on his 4th lap. The track was much dryer and here Cooper took the inside 1st double by the roller section before the finish line jump.Rob Koy

Cooper gets ready for the 1st Moto of the day and looked to be in good spirits as he geared up for the race.Rob Koy

Cooper took the inside gate hoping to get a good jump out of the gate and use the inside line into the 1st turn. Unfortunately, Cooper didn’t get the jump out of the gate he needed as he got pinched off into the grass. He managed to take the bad start and come out in 9th place after the 1st lap.Rob Koy

Cooper takes the main rut through the U-turn off camber as he tries to get his inside leg up and out as he exits the turn.Rob Koy

Eric Gass gives Cooper his lap times and lets Cooper know that 14 minutes has passed in the race, while Blake Baggett’s mechanic tells him he is in 8th place and he needs to “fire up.” Cooper finished the Moto in 9th place.Rob Koy

For the 2nd Moto, Cooper lined up just inside the doghouse hoping to get a better start then he did in Moto 1. He came out of the 1st turn in 9th place right behind Marvin Musquin and was able to pass Marvin and Matt Bisceglia on lap 2 to move up to 7th place.Rob Koy

Cooper lost his fork guard in the 1st turn but that did not slow him down as he took the inside line through the braking bumps before dropping down before the tunnel jump after the finish line.Rob Koy

Cooper stays inside the track marker as many of the riders were taking the line between the banner and the marker as they entered the off camber turn.Rob Koy

Cooper got trapped behind a lapper as they went through the off camber. Cooper revved his engine trying to get the lappers attention.Rob Koy

Cooper Webb held the 7th place position from lap 2 to the checkered flag.Rob Koy

Cooper Webb went 9-7 for 7th overall at Budds Creek. Cooper and the team has had some ups and downs this outdoor season and is looking forward to the off-season so they can get to work on the new 2018 Yamaha YZ450F. Cooper rode it and seems to like the changes and hopes that the new model will propel him and the team to better results next year.