Cooper Webb on Title Hunt | 2023 Anaheim 2 Supercross

In a chat on press day at Angel Stadium, Cooper Webb discusses the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross title fight.

Cooper Webb of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team has had a positive start to the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season and silenced many of the naysayers who ruled him out of title contention before a single checkered flag had fallen. It has been well documented that last year lacked any positives, because of issues with the bike and whatnot, but how has rebounded mentally from such a defeat? In this exclusive Vital MX interview from press day at Anaheim 2, round four (or three) of the term, Webb dives into his mindset and current positioning.

Jamie Guida, Vital MX: We’re back at Anaheim, with a little better conditions than the first time. Can we get a win?

Cooper Webb: We are going to try, man. Yeah, we're going to try our butt off. It’s a lot drier this time around. You can see how dry it really is, and it is a Triple Crown format. A little different than what we have been doing. Doing press day, a little track walk, checking it out and a little different track. So far it seems pretty easy. This section here looks a little interesting (rhythm section along the third base line), but we'll see how it breaks down.

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What is it going to take to catch up to what Eli's doing? His lap times have been consistently low. You're not far off, you need just a bit more.

Yeah, a little bit of speed, but I'm happy with where I'm at. I feel like I can run my laps consistently. I feel like I didn't push and give my all last week. I felt that I left a lot on the track. Meaning I feel like I had the speed, but I was maybe just too consistent and waited too late. Like you said, he has some really fast speed right now. We worked on that this week. The Triple Crown is going to be all about good starts. It's short racing and good starts will be important, and consistency as well. Yeah, I'm happy with where I'm at. I know what it takes now to win. I saw how you need to ride to win, and I think it was a big step. At A1, he had a crash and still won. Last week I kept him honest the whole entire race and there were a few mistakes made by me. You know, he is riding really good. It's going to be a long season, you know? We are still early. Like I said, I'm happy with where I'm at right now and we will just keep building.

In 2019 and 2021, your championships years, It seemed like a totally different guy than in 2020 and 2022. Now we are back to another odd number year and it seems like that guy is back again. Do you feel like you just need a year to recover from a championship? It feels like the Cooper from '19 and '21 this year. You are cutting down, aggressive and we didn't see that as much last year. Not towards the end of the season anyway.

It's funny. Everyone's been saying it's the odd year. I mean, I obviously didn't win the championship in 2020 but I got second in points. I think I had four main events wins. It wasn't really an off year like last year... I mean, who knows what the reason is. I think I just kind of throw away last year. It was not a real testimony to much. I think in 2020 we steered in a bike direction that we shouldn't have. Once we went back a certain way at Salt Lake then I felt like I was pretty good at that point. In '20, I really think that had Dallas not happened then it could have been a great season. Last year was a wash and you learn from it. I just literally look in the rear-view mirror and pull a tear off. This year I've just gotten back to a good headspace. I'm enjoying the bike and I'm enjoying racing a lot. You grow and you learn. I feel like it's starting to add up, with all that experience, but it's not easy when you race guys like Eli Tomac.

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