All eyes were focused on Hunter Lawrence and Ken Roczen going into Denver, but the battle behind them in the main event actually turned way crazier than anything up front. You had Justin Cooper catching his teammate Cooper Webb and getting into a big teammate battle, then Cooper Webb getting into it with Jorge Prado and going down, then later J-Coop crashed with Dylan Ferrandis. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 teammates ended up 11th (Webb) and 13th (Cooper). Tough night. We talked to J-Coop about it yesterday and he said, "I started way back so I made really good progress up until I would say, Coop [Webb]. He was cutting down really low in the turns, so I didn’t really know how to go about passing him without T-boning him. I felt like I was just stuck there. It’s a bummer."
Here's Team Manager Rich Simmons on it.
Racer X: Rich Simmons, I assume neither of your riders are talking to the media. I don't know who should be more angry, probably J-Coop because he needed to just get by Coop [Cooper Webb], and he probably maybe would have got Eli [Tomac, for a podium] because he was riding that well. And then Coop [Webb] just couldn't get by Jorge [Prado] and then tried it, and then went down. Dude, I don't know! You go on, Rich!
Rich Simmons: Yeah, yeah, mean it's a little frustrating because Justin came through the pack from, I think, 15th…
Did he just get a bad start?
I don't think he was really that bad. It was more of maybe in the first turn, not sure what happened, but he came through the pack quicker than I even thought. It caught me off guard as I was watching Webb in the beginning, but when when he got by [Justin] Barcia, he turned his best lap time of the main event, which is, I think, a 0.5 seconds faster than everybody else at that time. Obviously the leaders had checked out, but yeah, I thought he could get on the podium and then unfortunately he caught his teammate and couldn't get around him.
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Align Media ![Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb]()
Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb Align Media
Did you think he was being too nice? To me, I thought they both ratcheted up their levels a little bit, you know, battling each other?
J-Coop fell into Webb's pace, and yeah, it's not Webb's job just to let him by. So I have to understand that, as racers, but as a representative of the whole team, it is frustrating because I felt like there was a podium there for Justin.
I would agree with that. He was on it, man.
And should he be more aggressive with his teammate? Maybe. I don't want him to take him out either, but, yeah [he could be more aggressive] and I think Coop [Webb] would be okay with that. I also don't think Webb knew how quick Justin was going or where he came from, and his thought process probably is like ‘If he gets by me he's stuck behind Prado [anyway].’ But yeah, it's frustrating. I think unfortunately the results don't show where Justin should have finished.
What was the anger level from them after the race?
[Long pause] I mean, Justin is pissed. He sat out here in his gear for probably half an hour. But I also would have liked to see Justin try to take a different line in the whoops to get around Webb because he was just kind of stuck there, but yeah, he should be pissed. I hope he is.
And then when you go further back or further earlier in the race, you know, everybody got around Prado except for one guy, and Jorge's really good at that. We know that. But also Coop's race also could have changed had he been able to get by Prado, and then that frustrated him to no end, and everybody's going by Coop and going by Prado. Like at that point he's losing it too.
One hundred percent. I mean, I think it took Eli a while to get by Prado as well, but obviously Coop's already had a couple of incidents with Prado throughout the year and I mean, he's racing his race too. I don't really like some of it, but hey, it's his race. He's not the only guy out there doing that. Coop, I think, made some attempts at passing and maybe in the wrong areas. And then, yeah, I think that took the wind out of his sails.
Then he goes for a block pass and he falls down!
Yeah, that's frustrating. I don't know, I've only rewatched it once, so I don't know what's happening, and he's down. So yeah, definitely frustrating. I mean, I don't think Justin's happy with his teammate and I know Webb's not happy with the results, so…
Watch the incidents in the 450SX highlights below.
Well, Justin got him at one point and then Webb dove it in deep and got them back, you know?
Coop's a three-time champion, so I don't expect him to roll over for anybody, but there was, and, I've had this conversation with Webb, there was somebody else in that turn that he could have done the same thing he did to Justin and he chose not to. I guess it was early in the race, but if you're going to race your teammate that way, then you race everybody that way.
I mean, honestly, I like Coop just like you do, and I kind of agree with you. Like it looked like he ratcheted up when J-Coop got to him.
Yeah, I think there was maybe eight laps to go or so and maybe he thought he could hang on to that spot for that [amount] of time. I don't ever want to say let anybody by. But if he falls in behind Justin, I think knowing his riding style, he picks up that pace and probably goes with him. He gets Prado and he probably does maybe even get Eli. I don't know, but yeah, it was a rough night.
