Not a good year for Cooper Webb based on the old standards of winning championships, as the 2019 and 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Champion went winless throughout the 2022 campaign. Lots of stories behind the scenes between a new Red Bull KTM motorcycle and switching away from old trainer Aldon Baker and over to Michael Byrne. Eventually Webb went back to Baker, and made some headway with the bike, but that wasn’t enough to rescue his season. How can he fix it for the future? On last week’s PulpMX show, Steve Matthes asked Cooper about his season, what went wrong, and how he plans to get it fixed for 2023.
Webb is going to skip the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motorcross Championship for the summer, telling DMXS Radio a few weeks ago that he’s still dealing with some issues relating to a recent head injury. Further, he wants to put his focus on figuring the bike out for 2023 Monster Energy Supercross. Here’s what he had to say.
Racer X: Coop, you’re an all timer, two titles, some incredible rides, this season didn’t go the way you wanted. What happened, obviously the new bike is part of it. Take us through it.
Cooper Webb: It was a tough year. Some stuff transpired in 2021 and I think some of this started back then. I had won that championship and I was getting pretty burnt. I was probably going to only race one more year, so I thought about it, and I wanted to do something new and different. Just to extend my career and have something new to do, as bad as that sounds. So, we made the change during outdoors in 2021. So then outdoors didn’t go so great, I got better at the end, but it had thinned out. Then we had the new bike, as you said, I didn’t gel with it right away. But there was also off the track stuff, there was a lot going on behind closed doors, me versus certain people, trying to prove every single thing right or wrong about me. I had a lot to prove and a lot on my chest, and a lot of that was self-induced.
I’m glad you said that. You could have taken the easy way and did the same program.
Right so I took that on myself. In December I felt I was riding well, but it’s also hard to say. I had been doing the program with Aldon where I had ridden with top guys every day. I started to ride with Jett and Hunter a lot, but Jett actually got hurt, and Hunter is a bit like me when it comes to practice, where he can be off. I was riding great, felt great, bike was good. One of the things we messed up on was we never rode the old bike the whole off-season. We started with the new bike, and it had some really good qualities…
They might not have wanted you to!
Yeah, I get it. Going back was not an option. I had not ridden the old bike in supercross since Salt Lake. We weren’t allowed to ride anywhere but the KTM track until December 9th. It’s the same track, same bumps, AP [Aaron Plessinger] would say the same thing, everyone was loving their bikes there. Then we got to Florida, and I was only there for three weeks before the season. You’re just getting to know the tracks there and then it’s time to go race. We didn’t have a lot of data to go on or knowing how the bike would work in certain conditions or certain areas. A1 I rode great, but we ended up jumping the whoops. I think at that point I was so confident that it didn’t matter. But every week after that, it was massive changes and massive changes. I’m not a guy that can hop on something brand new and go balls to the walls. I’m more patient and conservative, and I don’t ride over my head. Just a lot of that. It was tough to get the right setting, and we’re in that period where it’s like “You should have never left Aldon, you’re not in shape.”
Behind the scenes they’re like eyeballing you, right?
Yeah, it was pretty tough, because the team told me I was making a massive mistake. And they’re probably right, in a way. But like I said, at that point my mind was made up because I was going to retire. So I went back to Florida, and it’s at that point where Michael (Byrne) and I separated. Then I was all in on the program with Jett and Hunter. I was in Florida, away from the team and the noise, and at that time that was the best thing for me. I told the Lawrence’s I wanted to be treated like a son. Yell at me, cuss at me, tell it to me straight, tell me where I suck and where I’m slow. I’m all in. That was really good for me, to clear my head and knowing when I showed up at the track, this is what we’re doing. Kind of like I had at Aldon’s, just a good routine. At that point we have fixed some of the issues with the bike, too. That was Minneapolis, Daytona, Dallas, in my opinion that’s where the season got better. Then we had a meeting with KTM once my contract was up, and they talked about extending it, but they said I would have to go back to Aldon’s. And at that point I was okay with that.
![Webb and Musquin at the Detroit Supercross.]()
Webb and Musquin at the Detroit Supercross. Align Media ![Webb's race KTM at the Minneapolis Supercross.]()
Webb's race KTM at the Minneapolis Supercross. Align Media
At one point you, Zacho, Marvin, no one is a fan of him at different points….
For sure. But we sat down at dinner and discussed what I would like to see and what he would like to see. Let’s just start from scratch, like we had just met. Get back on the program. Unfortunately, that was Detroit where I brain farted, and I got landed on, broke my hand. Now I’m not able to ride during the week, I’m not sharp, I’m trying to move, it was just a recipe for disaster. But I was like “Nope, I’m racing, no matter what.” But you’re not 100 percent, your confidence starts to go down. After a few weeks I finally feel like I had gotten my hand ready, and I had a practice crash in the whoops. That really did it for me. The crash came out of nowhere, and I was having crashes that came out of nowhere, like in Seattle. I was just not comfortable. I had a really good week leading to St. Louis but then I ate shit. I had symptoms for a bit, but, like I said, I was still going to go racing. You’re set up for failure at that point. In the back of my mind, with the bike, we’re not figuring anything out because I’m not riding during the week. We learned a lot as far as what didn’t work and what the plan is for next year, but this year, with parts, with Austria, it’s not like it has ever been. What was also tough is that Marv and I always liked completely different setups, so something that he would like, I would hate it. AP was hurt and he doesn’t even know the bike at the beginning of the season. Also, with AP and Malcolm, I think a lot of this bike is good for a bigger rider, so we had to figure out some stuff for me. But it is what it is. Like I said, a lot of it was self-induced. It sucks. To be a past champion and get absolutely reamed, it sucks.
A lot of teams come out with a new bike, and it takes a year, and they learn a lot in the first year.
And that’s where I have complete faith in this group. They’re not going to fail me. Everything is gearing toward 2023, all the testing we’re going to do. And with going back to Aldon’s, it’s like having a fresh start. I know we’re gonna get it figured out, and like I said, to go into a new year clear headed, it’s good. When I look in the mirror, I can look at it and did all I could. This year has been shit but I never gave up. I think, and this sounds bad, but I was getting so used to winning supercrosses that I would barely even fist pump over the finish line. I don’t want to sound cocky but that’s how it was. I was only off the podium the last few years like two times a year in supercross, so I was pissed if I didn’t win. Looking back, it sucked, but I learned some stuff being away, and I learned what I need to do, and it’s going to make me appreciate being back on top next year, for sure.
It takes some balls to come back to Aldon. That would be a hard conversation to have.
It’s tough. Yeah, it’s tough, but I feel like I’m the kind of person that will do whatever it takes to win. Yeah, I had some issues there before, but nothing is worse than not performing up to your potential. I’ll go to Alcatraz every day if I have to do that to be a champion. I’ll get over it!
Are you worried about getting burnt out with Aldon again?
No. Like I said, when we got back, there were some things that I wanted to change, and some things that changed. And a lot of things changed internally, and some stuff is off of Aldon’s plate, which allows him to focus on us now, which I think is great. We have a great plan, but at the end of the day what I get back to is that the winning is what we’re striving for. It doesn’t matter in my mind, doing the stuff I did before, it’s worth it because you’re winning and that’s what you want to get. Making the most of your career is outweighing that. And the group we have here now it’s a lot more fun day to day. If one guy is faster, we’re all good. The older group we had, we were all competitive, and we had some run ins, weekly. Also, the deal that KTM did with Aldon kind of took some pressure off of us, financially. Like I said, leaving and coming back was the best thing for me. I got a tall cup of perspective.
