Fifth victory of 2015 gives Webb AMA 250SX Supercross title

2015-04-15 14:36
A milestone was reached for eighteen year old Cooper Webb and also for Yamaha with their latest generation YZ250F as the seventh round of the 2015 AMA 250SX West Coast Supercross series at the NRG Stadium in Houston was claimed by the Yamalube Star Racing rider. His fifth victory of the year also delivered Yamaha’s first 250SX championship success since 2008 and closed the intense competition around the stadiums and arenas of the United States with one fixture remaining on the current schedule.

Webb made a decent start in front of more than 48,000 spectators in Texas and circulated in the top four during the formative stages of what would be a decisive Main Event and the first time that the West Coast field had seen action since the beginning of February (AMA Supercross had been working through the East Coast championship).

When principal title rival Tyle Bowers pulled out of the running at mid-race distance and his other threat, Jessy Nelson, not active in Houston due to a training injury, Webb was free to run his laps without worrying about his thirty point advantage in the standings. Matt Bisceglia could offer no resistance in second place and with four laps to go Webb demoted Shane McElrath to win by two and a half seconds.

“This is unreal," the Yamaha man said in the official series press release. “I dedicated my whole life for this moment right here and it paid off. I was a four-year-old chasing a dream and it came true. I knew I belonged up here so I never quit. I kept fighting and here we are."

Webb scored a freak seventh position in the opening race of the year at the Angel Stadium in Anaheim but then racked up a pile of winner’s trophies with spoils at Phoenix, Anaheim II & III and San Diego. He only missed the top spot of the podium once when he finished second in Oakland for round four.

In Houston the Star Racing crew were pleased to see Aaron Plessinger tussling for a rostrum ‘157’ and only just lost out to Malcolm Stewart. The youngster was fourth at the flag. In the principal 450SX class JGR Yamaha’s Justin Barcia returned to action on the YZ450F after recovering from a pelvis injury and claimed ninth position.

AMA Supercross continues onto San Francisco this week before then travelling to New Jersey and back west to Las Vegas for the 2015 closer at the Sam Boyd Stadium.

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

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