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Friday afternoon bench racing.
Where is the path for Webb headed? I think when he graduated from the 250 in 2016 most of us would have said a decent rookie year in 2017 with some podiums and then in 2018 he is starting to win a few. It has not quite played out that way, and for sure some injuries have been part of the equation.
But if we go back, there hasn't been a guy who looked as ready for success since Tomac and Roczen, who both left after 2013. And while both of them had some injuries in their first 2 years they both won races in year 1, Roczen won a title as a rookie, and by year 2 they were considered title challengers and both of them won multiple MX and SX rounds in year two. So where does this leave us with Webb?
Were we maybe a bit too swayed by his relative dominance in the 2015/2016 250 West SX? I mean, he was beating Bowers, Savatgy and Craig. When Tomac won his title in 2012 he had to beat Dean Wilson, Cole Seely and Marvin Musquin. In 2013 Roczen had to beat Tomac, Seely and a blossoming Jason Anderson. What about outdoors? Coop won in 2016, but JMart was sick, Osborne blew up a lot of Huskys, and Savatgy started out strong but obviously had some physical illness issues as the season wore on. Loveable Alex Martin was 2nd in points that season. Compare to say 2012 and 2013 when Tomac and Roczen had to battle each other plus Baggett, Barcia (2012), Musquin, and sometimes Dean Wilson. Maybe as impressive as Cooper's 2016 season was, it was also maybe not up against the same quality of guys which may have led all of us astray?
It sure seems like the pendulum could swing either way for Cooper Webb.
Where is the path for Webb headed? I think when he graduated from the 250 in 2016 most of us would have said a decent rookie year in 2017 with some podiums and then in 2018 he is starting to win a few. It has not quite played out that way, and for sure some injuries have been part of the equation.
But if we go back, there hasn't been a guy who looked as ready for success since Tomac and Roczen, who both left after 2013. And while both of them had some injuries in their first 2 years they both won races in year 1, Roczen won a title as a rookie, and by year 2 they were considered title challengers and both of them won multiple MX and SX rounds in year two. So where does this leave us with Webb?
Were we maybe a bit too swayed by his relative dominance in the 2015/2016 250 West SX? I mean, he was beating Bowers, Savatgy and Craig. When Tomac won his title in 2012 he had to beat Dean Wilson, Cole Seely and Marvin Musquin. In 2013 Roczen had to beat Tomac, Seely and a blossoming Jason Anderson. What about outdoors? Coop won in 2016, but JMart was sick, Osborne blew up a lot of Huskys, and Savatgy started out strong but obviously had some physical illness issues as the season wore on. Loveable Alex Martin was 2nd in points that season. Compare to say 2012 and 2013 when Tomac and Roczen had to battle each other plus Baggett, Barcia (2012), Musquin, and sometimes Dean Wilson. Maybe as impressive as Cooper's 2016 season was, it was also maybe not up against the same quality of guys which may have led all of us astray?
It sure seems like the pendulum could swing either way for Cooper Webb.
Since then over the last two years he has battled injuries, lack of confidence in the Yamaha, perhaps too big of a posse which has caused him to lose some focus.
I think he still has it in him to be very good on the 450 ( win races). But its going to take a change of scenery personally and professionally for that to happen.
edit///
I do give him props for moving up to the big boy class. More guys need to move up. Example, JMart, Osbourne, etc etc etc.
He could have stayed down on 250 outdoors. It's time for guys to move up. The "premiere" class is far from that and has been an issue for years. Lack of competition.....
Webb still has untapped potential that perhaps someone like Decoster could help open up.
His path so far is very similar to that of Ivan Tedesco, who won both 250 titles but found the 450s to be much more challenging and crash-prone. I suspect he will be more successful than IT over the long run, he works very hard and has a lot of desire. But anyone expecting him to be another RC or Stew just hasn't been paying attention.
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Based on what?
Not like the hype wasn't legit around him moving up.
I say that as a big Webb fan.
You can't point to a race two years ago. Herling's is leading MXGP championship and winning races on the toughest tracks in the world. Webb is on the couch and has yet to log a moto win since that USGP two years ago.
So yeah...
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