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Chad was going awfully fast on that Honda before the Chadapult happened.
He doesn't look near as fast in corners on that Yamaha as other brands I've seen him on.
Go back and watch the SD broadcast and look for this shot as his on the gate for his semi, says it all.
Ken Roczen: won Anaheim 1 in his rookie season and went on to win several more races
Ryan Dungey: won the title his rookie year:
So the question is "Is Cooper Webb really the next big thing?". He believes he is. Yamaha created a whole team around the kid, so they must think so. It's a long long season, and he will come around, but let's not pretend like his agent was going around telling people he was going to be in the "top 15" when negotiating his rookie 450 contracts.
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I'll add that I never expected him to be the next big thing, I expected him to be between a fifth and an eighth place Rider so to me he's not really that far off.
Sadly CR and CW will have to adapt to this pig with lipstick if they want to succeed in the coming years.
Bike is where it is...he's hurt.
I'd rather buy a better handling bike and have the suspension redone to be as good or better.
As for the original poster writing, and I quote, "Cooper appearing to "struggle" on the current bike should not surprise anyone. In fact, it should be expected. I'll go one step further and say it was planned" I say no way no how. That is ridiculous.
That could be a few things, but most likely an untold injury... You know damn well he doesn't wanna be riding around in tenth place, so motivation is Not it... It could be the bike, but he has rode the 450 well before, just not indoors... Any which way, I feel like the 16 coop could have taken a bone stock 450 and been at least as fast as he was last year...
New year, new bike. He'll be fine.
i have no doubt he'll improve and it's not time to call it a loss, but i personally thought he'd be doing a lot better than 10th and 14th.
Pit Row
A couple of observations on my part. Cooper will become much more comfortable and competitive over time, but I'm not convinced he will ever rival Roczen and/or Dungey. I hope he does. The more at the top creates better racing. Cooper is a very small guy. He's 5'-7" tops. I've met and stood next to him and I felt noticeably taller and I'm only 5'-10.5" tall. Logic tells us that shorter legs will be a hindrance in the whoops. Not that he isn't very good there, but a taller rider with equal talent should have an easier time.
There are other things going on imo. Possible injury, lost confidence, much stiffer competition, I don't know, but I don't feel it's all the bike. We're not talking stock machine. No, it may not turn as well as other bikes, but someone with Cooper's talent can overcome some (but probably not all) of this by steering more with the rear wheel. The kid has been on a bike since he was 3. He knows how to do this.
Webb battled the Martins, Savatgy, and Craig last year. Sure he was better, but not hugely so. Would anyone expect any of those guys to fight for Top 5s in 2017 450 Supercross?
The system of advancing riders out of the 250s makes the 450s a tough field, exacerbated by the fact that riders careers are lasting longer. It was never going to be easy for Webb, who is not a once in a generation talent.
Will he get better? Undoubtedly. But history tells us that if he's ever going to be a 450 supercross champion, he will need to improve quickly and register Top 5s in his first seaso.
History repeats itself
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