The powerhouse trio of riders under Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s 450 tent means lots of riders battling each other at the front, and that was the case again at Thunder Valley. A surging Justin Cooper notched the fastest 450 qualifying time of the day, his first-such feat in 450MX, and then led a good bit of the second moto. He was sending it to get to the lead, too, somewhat uncharacteristically so! Eventually, the pack caught back up to him, including Jett Lawrence and…Yamaha teammate Eli Tomac! Tomac would go 4-2 on the day for second overall, JCoop would finish 5-3 for fourth.
On the other end, new Monster Energy Supercross Champion Cooper Webb sounded sick all weekend but toughed out 7-6 scores. Following a bike failure and DNF in the first moto of the season, Webb has gone 7-7-7-7-6 in the last five motos. Can you guess what position Webb holds in the standings? Seventh, of course.
Here’s how the team described the day in Colorado.
Rich Simmons – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“Overall, it was a good day. Qualifying went well for Justin and Eli, and also for Webb, especially since he was feeling under the weather. In the first one, Eli had a good moto but just couldn’t get around Hunter (Lawrence). I feel like if he did, he could’ve pushed to the front. In the second moto, Webb had a great start and was battling up front, but unfortunately couldn't stay there. Justin showed good speed at the beginning of that moto, and Eli obviously was pushing as hard as he could to try to get Jett (Lawrence), and just made a mistake. We’ll just keep working at it, regroup, and go into the next weekend. I think we’re on the right track, and a big thanks to the whole team for their efforts.”
Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #3
“It was a solid day here in Colorado. In the first moto, I did a ton of battling, but I just struggled with making some passes. I needed to be a little bit better with some lines. Then I was able to capitalize on a late-race mistake from Hunter and ended up third. In Moto 2, I went to battle once again and was a little bit behind on the start, but made a push all the way to the front. I was right behind Jett, and we were dicing back and forth. I had one spot specifically where I thought I was a lot faster than him, and then got a little too excited when I was near him and crashed in the turn before that section. I gave it all I had. Unfortunately, it was second, but I will keep pushing.”
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 190 |
| 2 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO  | 162 |
| 3 |  Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | 156 |
| 4 |  Hunter Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia | 153 |
| 5 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | 148 |
| 6 |  R.J. Hampshire | Hudson, FL | 117 |
| 7 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 100 |
| 8 |  Jason Anderson | Edgewood, NM | 99 |
| 9 |  Joey Savatgy | Thomasville, GA | 98 |
| 10 |  Jorge Prado | Lugo, Spain  | 82 |
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Qualifying Points | Projected Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 465 | 25 |
| 2 | Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | 429 | 22 |
| 3 | Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | 411 | 20 |
| 4 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL | 363 | 18 |
| 5 |  Malcolm Stewart | Haines City, FL | 337 | 17 |
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“It was a good day here at Thunder Valley. I got my first qualifying pole position in motocross, so that felt good. The track was really rutted in practice. They kept fixing it, and it got easier and easier, but the speeds really went up. It took the technical side out of it a little bit, and I just kind of struggled to really send it in the motos, but we had two good rides today. Fifth was all we could do in Moto 1. By the time I got there, there was a pretty big gap to the top four. The second moto was really cool. I started around fourth and got into the lead and led for about half of the race, which was fun. I was smiling under my helmet and just enjoying the moment for the first time. I haven’t really ever done that, so that was cool. The weather was awesome today. The track was good too, but I was just a little bit off those top two.”
Cooper Webb – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #2
“Lakewood was a good day for me. I was able to qualify seventh, which was the best I’ve done so far this year. Being under the weather, it was a tough day, but we pushed hard, and I gave it my all. I was able to go 7-6 for sixth overall. We’ll heal up and get ready for High Point.”
