Cooper Webb's Best Skill

OldTiddler
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Longwood, FL, USA
Edited Date/Time 3/22/2021 8:33am
We all know Cooper is overall very fast, he's tenacious and makes few mistakes, but what no one seems to acknowledge is that this guy wins because of his cornering skills. He stays low and makes that inside line work like no other.

I don't know how many times I've seen Ken chasing him and goes for the outside lines while Cooper will stay low and come out ahead, but on the next lap Ken will take the outside yet again and lose more time. This is what we saw yesterday with Eli also, he kept going to the outside on that turn with the hooked rut and lose time every lap.

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RalphS
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3/17/2021 5:54am
I think you're steeling KTM some credit
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rallendude
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3/17/2021 5:55am
Cooper's best skill is the mind game. He broke Ken at Daytona.
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Zycki11
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3/17/2021 5:58am
rallendude wrote:
Cooper's best skill is the mind game. He broke Ken at Daytona.
I wouldn’t say that at all. But the pendulum has swung his way.
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KAWI642
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3/17/2021 6:03am
Cooper grew up and trained under the tutelage of Gary Bailey. The Bailey style, technique and methodical approach to racing still winning titles 25 years after the peak of his popularity.
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The Shop

TXDirt
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3/17/2021 6:33am
His best skill honestly is his style. It’s so perfect on the bike. He isn’t fighting the bike or the track. It’s just so on point. He very rarely makes a mistake. He doesn’t ride over his head. Last night he was just so dang smooth and perfect every corner every jump every lap.

He’s also a total gamer and doesn’t seem to get rattled much at all. His mental toughness is incredible.

If he wins this SX championship I do believe he will definitely have that SX hangover going into outdoors. Really just like he did last time he won the SX championship. The grind of SX takes its toll and I sorta expect him to start outdoors slow again.
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Motox460
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3/17/2021 6:46am
He is mentally the strongest guy by far..
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3/17/2021 6:54am
His best skill is kicking A$$!
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Markee
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3/17/2021 6:55am
Cooper never or very rarely ever gets passed for a win. He grinds to get the position or if he has it, he keeps it. We didn't win, but to this day my favorite MXON is Webb, Barcia and Martin in Erne France. All heart.
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Logan_724
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3/17/2021 6:56am
You see how he adapted to the track last night? His race craft is incredible. And his top end speed is now much faster.
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downard254
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3/17/2021 7:15am
I remember Dungey was very good on the insides of corners. I think I even remember reading that the logistics of Dungeys riding was to take the inside as much as possible as it shortened the track length by a pretty good amount. Wish I could find where I saw that.
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Talisker
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3/17/2021 7:23am
Looks like his best skill is cashing checks!!!
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MPJC
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Fantasy
3/17/2021 7:37am
The guy can just flat out race. He knows what line to take when he needs to make a pass, what line to take to not get passed, he's smooth and consistent with few mistakes, and his fitness lets him finish strong. He can have Tomac on him for lap after lap and not get rattled - not many guys can do that. Most guys will feel the pressure and make a mistake at some point. Tomac is the one that made the mistake. Not cracking first when being pressured is a pretty impressive skill.
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murph783
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3/17/2021 7:48am
He’s pretty good at riding a dirtbike
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captmoto
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3/17/2021 8:02am
downard254 wrote:
I remember Dungey was very good on the insides of corners. I think I even remember reading that the logistics of Dungeys riding was to take...
I remember Dungey was very good on the insides of corners. I think I even remember reading that the logistics of Dungeys riding was to take the inside as much as possible as it shortened the track length by a pretty good amount. Wish I could find where I saw that.
His corner speed was why RD hired him as a B class rider. I don't think he was on Rogers radar as a B class guy but someone told him to take a look at him.
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mxtech1
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3/17/2021 8:03am
His best skill is consistency. I track every single lap of each main event to do data analysis and his main event lap times are by far the most consistent out of the entire field.

So far this year, Webb's main event lap times have a standard deviation of 0.7 seconds, which is pretty incredible when you think about how many laps they have turned thus far and all of the opportunity for mistakes and crashes. What this stat means is that he is going to be able to maintain his main event lap times within 0.7 seconds from start to finish. Some races, like when the track is not very technical, he will be significantly better than 0.7 seconds during the main.

Ken Roczen is closest to Webb, with a standard deviation of 0.9 seconds. Tomac, for comparison, is 1.44 seconds as he often fades at the end of the main events (other than Daytona) which we saw in last nights main. I checked the lap times and Webb did not speed up at the end of the main (he actually slowed down a little bit) but Tomac started losing several tenths per lap in the last 3 to 4 minutes. Tomac quickly realized last night that the little bit of extra speed required to get around Webb was likely to cause a mistake from over-riding the track and even if he did get around Webb he knew he wasn't going to be able to hold him off for the last several minutes, so he backed it down and made sure he had a secure 2nd place finish.

This is why Webb is so difficult to beat. He doesn't make mistakes and he has the fitness to go fast the entire main. If he gets a holeshot, he is going to be extremely hard to catch (unless another rider is just blazing fast that night and has significantly more speed) and will most often win. If he gets a Top 5 start, he is going to slowly work his way to the front because he will start picking off riders as they make small mistakes, or fade, which slows their lap times. If he starts 5 to 10th, he will have enough raw speed to pass forward quickly and will then use consistency and endurance to slowly track down the Top 5 (might not win, but still has a legit chance of getting on the podium)

In short, the only way the other guys are going to beat Webb straight up is if they start ahead of him and are fast enough that they can sprint hard early on to build up enough of a lead that Webb can't overcome by the end of the race which is extremely hard to do when their lap times are so close and it's hard to gain a major speed advantage.
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cable
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3/17/2021 8:04am
Lets see him go back and do it on the yamaha. the bike has been very good on tight slippery tracks since dungey built it.
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peelout
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3/17/2021 8:05am
the thing i admire the most about Webb is he absolutely shows up when it counts.

dude can be struggling all day and then go out and rip a holeshot and take off.

as much as i want to see Kenny take this sucker, i don't see Webb losing it.
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Logan_724
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3/17/2021 8:14am
mxtech1 wrote:
His best skill is consistency. I track every single lap of each main event to do data analysis and his main event lap times are by...
His best skill is consistency. I track every single lap of each main event to do data analysis and his main event lap times are by far the most consistent out of the entire field.

So far this year, Webb's main event lap times have a standard deviation of 0.7 seconds, which is pretty incredible when you think about how many laps they have turned thus far and all of the opportunity for mistakes and crashes. What this stat means is that he is going to be able to maintain his main event lap times within 0.7 seconds from start to finish. Some races, like when the track is not very technical, he will be significantly better than 0.7 seconds during the main.

Ken Roczen is closest to Webb, with a standard deviation of 0.9 seconds. Tomac, for comparison, is 1.44 seconds as he often fades at the end of the main events (other than Daytona) which we saw in last nights main. I checked the lap times and Webb did not speed up at the end of the main (he actually slowed down a little bit) but Tomac started losing several tenths per lap in the last 3 to 4 minutes. Tomac quickly realized last night that the little bit of extra speed required to get around Webb was likely to cause a mistake from over-riding the track and even if he did get around Webb he knew he wasn't going to be able to hold him off for the last several minutes, so he backed it down and made sure he had a secure 2nd place finish.

This is why Webb is so difficult to beat. He doesn't make mistakes and he has the fitness to go fast the entire main. If he gets a holeshot, he is going to be extremely hard to catch (unless another rider is just blazing fast that night and has significantly more speed) and will most often win. If he gets a Top 5 start, he is going to slowly work his way to the front because he will start picking off riders as they make small mistakes, or fade, which slows their lap times. If he starts 5 to 10th, he will have enough raw speed to pass forward quickly and will then use consistency and endurance to slowly track down the Top 5 (might not win, but still has a legit chance of getting on the podium)

In short, the only way the other guys are going to beat Webb straight up is if they start ahead of him and are fast enough that they can sprint hard early on to build up enough of a lead that Webb can't overcome by the end of the race which is extremely hard to do when their lap times are so close and it's hard to gain a major speed advantage.
Coop also had the fastest lap last night.
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NV825
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3/17/2021 8:25am
I've noticed the same thing, Webb is completely dialed on the inside lines on corners. Unless a jump combo requires the outside, he saves so much time and energy by getting in and out incredibly quickly. I doubt he would be the same if he was on an aluminum frame vs. the steel frame.
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TXDirt
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3/17/2021 8:32am
peelout wrote:
the thing i admire the most about Webb is he absolutely shows up when it counts. dude can be struggling all day and then go out...
the thing i admire the most about Webb is he absolutely shows up when it counts.

dude can be struggling all day and then go out and rip a holeshot and take off.

as much as i want to see Kenny take this sucker, i don't see Webb losing it.
Agree! He’s a gamer! You can never count him out. He could have a bad qualifier. Hit the deck. Come back and win the main. He shows up when it’s go time.

He’s also really good about grinding it out in the main. He’s had a few bad starts and it can be like half way point in the main and he’s in 7th and you sorta count him out. And he keeps grinding and grinding to a 2 or 3rd place finish.

He’s ballin out right now.

If he didn’t have that bad get off last year I think he was just getting ready to go on a roll.

When the Webb train gets rolling it’s hard to stop it. His finishes the last several weeks are proof of that. He’s rollin!!
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Teej317
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Colstrip, MT, USA
3/17/2021 9:04am Edited Date/Time 3/17/2021 9:06am
OldTiddler wrote:
We all know Cooper is overall very fast, he's tenacious and makes few mistakes, but what no one seems to acknowledge is that this guy wins...
We all know Cooper is overall very fast, he's tenacious and makes few mistakes, but what no one seems to acknowledge is that this guy wins because of his cornering skills. He stays low and makes that inside line work like no other.

I don't know how many times I've seen Ken chasing him and goes for the outside lines while Cooper will stay low and come out ahead, but on the next lap Ken will take the outside yet again and lose more time. This is what we saw yesterday with Eli also, he kept going to the outside on that turn with the hooked rut and lose time every lap.

Great observation, I would agree. Cooper stays lower in the corners than anyone else. Also, he has a knack for finding what works for him (e.g whoops). In last night's race he was jumping half the section, then skimming out....unique, consistent, and fast. Plus that inside line in the 90 degree corner after the whoops was sneaky fast and smooth. I think Kenny and Eli were blasting the same outside rut lap after lap.
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Logan_724
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Greenville, SC, USA
3/17/2021 9:15am
OldTiddler wrote:
We all know Cooper is overall very fast, he's tenacious and makes few mistakes, but what no one seems to acknowledge is that this guy wins...
We all know Cooper is overall very fast, he's tenacious and makes few mistakes, but what no one seems to acknowledge is that this guy wins because of his cornering skills. He stays low and makes that inside line work like no other.

I don't know how many times I've seen Ken chasing him and goes for the outside lines while Cooper will stay low and come out ahead, but on the next lap Ken will take the outside yet again and lose more time. This is what we saw yesterday with Eli also, he kept going to the outside on that turn with the hooked rut and lose time every lap.

Teej317 wrote:
Great observation, I would agree. Cooper stays lower in the corners than anyone else. Also, he has a knack for finding what works for him (e.g...
Great observation, I would agree. Cooper stays lower in the corners than anyone else. Also, he has a knack for finding what works for him (e.g whoops). In last night's race he was jumping half the section, then skimming out....unique, consistent, and fast. Plus that inside line in the 90 degree corner after the whoops was sneaky fast and smooth. I think Kenny and Eli were blasting the same outside rut lap after lap.
He knew lap one he was going to have to jump the whoops, and immediately on lap one he was searching for that line. Mastered it about 8 min in.
slipdog
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3/17/2021 9:31am
It's too bad he doesn't have a more likeable personality because taking away the backflop to concrete last year, he really has been the best 450 rider since he got with KTM, Roger, and Aldon.
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gt80rider
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Boulder, CO, USA
3/17/2021 10:08am
Reminds me a bit of K-Dub, but not to such an extreme.... K-Dub was the absolute King of the inside line, especially when it wasn't working for others..... super hard to do, to have such precision....
byke
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Auburn, CA, USA
3/17/2021 10:14am
His best skill seemed to be all the places on the track except for the whoops.
wrc777
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Fantasy
3/17/2021 10:20am
byke wrote:
His best skill seemed to be all the places on the track except for the whoops.
Yeah I felt like he was just trying to survive there, and you could see Tomac make up lots of ground there and slowly give it back plus more the rest of the track. Webb was really flying in that jump section before the finish line.
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motomike137
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Fenton, MI, USA
3/17/2021 11:31am
Webb's #1 asset is his belief in himself.
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Ranman68
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Lubbock, TX, USA
3/17/2021 1:39pm Edited Date/Time 3/17/2021 1:41pm
Coop enters corners slower and comes out of them faster. Last night, lap after lap, Tomac would brake late, charge into corners at warp speed, gain 2 bike lengths on Webb, and then lose 3 bike lengths to Webb exiting the turn. Turn after turn, lap after lap.
He takes the tight, inside line better than anyone. He rolls through turns beautifully, and gets wicked drive out of them. He adapts to the track, finds new lines, and always gets better as the race progresses. His fitness is unmatched, his racecraft is amazing. He doesn't crack, and only gets better if you pressure him.
The dude is an animal. In 2019 and 2020, he didnt have the raw speed to beat Tomac in a one-on-one duel. He got the job done with his specific, other strengths. Last night, a hooked up, dialed in, hard charging Tomac and Roczen both, straight up lost to Webb in a dual.
Tomac and Roczen are beasts that can put a hurt on the rest of the field, but Webb is just too much. He's just better. Webb getting injured is the only hope that they have as far as the title goes.
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Darrin Willis
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3/18/2021 5:16am
KAWI642 wrote:
Cooper grew up and trained under the tutelage of Gary Bailey. The Bailey style, technique and methodical approach to racing still winning titles 25 years after...
Cooper grew up and trained under the tutelage of Gary Bailey. The Bailey style, technique and methodical approach to racing still winning titles 25 years after the peak of his popularity.
This brings up some interesting points. He rides in the attack position. Very old school compared to many of today's riders. Also--- is bailey not coaching top riders anymore because of showing his wang?
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FreshTopEnd
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Sacramento, CA, USA
3/19/2021 12:00pm
Cooper's strength l is that he has Reedy's chip and ruthlessness, and he doesn't have to race Ricky or James.
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