ARLINGTON, Texas – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cooper Webb made it a clean sweep in the Lonestar state this week as he clinched a third-consecutive victory inside AT&T Stadium on Saturday for Round 12 of the 2021 AMA Supercross Championship. Coming into the three-race residency in Arlington, Webb sat two points down in the championship standings but he fought his way back to a 15-point lead as the series heads into a two-week break before returning with the last five rounds of racing.
Webb had a great start to the day, powering his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to the holeshot in 450SX Heat 2 and leading the first five laps of the race. He was joined mid-race by championship rival Ken Roczen and the two riders battled it out, with Webb settling into second. However, Webb found himself face down in the dirt on the final lap when another rider came into contact with him just before the finish but he quickly re-mounted to salvage a fifth-place transfer into the Main Event.
Despite a less-than-desirable gate choice for the Main Event, Webb positioned himself into second off the start and he maintained a consistent pace behind the leader for the first 19 laps of racing. Patiently planning his route to get by Roczen, Webb executed with six laps to go and he held strong to claim his third-consecutive victory in Arlington.
Webb: “I was just focusing on being consistent. I rode terrible in that heat race and didn’t like being put on the ground – that fired me up and got me going for the Main Event. To ride with Kenny that whole race and make a late charge was awesome, I felt really good out there. It’s incredible to get three here in Dallas, it’s unheard of for me. I’m pumped!”
After missing the first two Main Events in Arlington due to the aftermath of a crash last weekend, Marvin Musquin returned to racing on Saturday. He got off to a good start in 450SX Heat 2, racing his way to a clean transfer with a fourth-place finish in the heat. In the Main Event, Musquin got pinched off after the start and came through mid-pack on the opening lap. Working hard to re-gain positions early on, the French rider made a mistake going through the sand section on lap two where he got tangled with another rider and went down hard. Despite a deep desire to get back to racing, Musquin made the tough decision to sit out for the rest of the night.
Musquin: “Going through the sand section, I made a mistake and another rider behind me jumped and landed right behind me, hit me and I went down. I landed wrong on my hand and tweaked my wrist. With the pain and having no strength, I couldn’t keep going. I wanted to gain more riding out of it, considering I didn’t race Tuesday and even Saturday, but now we are going into a break so we’ll do our best to recover and get better for Atlanta.”
Next Race: Atlanta 1 – April 10, 2021
Results 450SX Class – Arlington 3
1. Cooper Webb (USA), KTM, 26 laps
2. Ken Roczen (GER), Honda, +1.351
3. Eli Tomac (USA), Kawasaki, +3.434
OTHER KTM
8. Joey Savatgy (USA), KTM
16. Martin Davalos (ECQ), KTM
17. Justin Starling (USA), KTM
22. Marvin Musquin (FRA), KTM
Standings 450SX Class 2021 after 12 of 17 rounds
1. Webb, 275 points
2. Roczen, 260
3. Tomac, 234
OTHER KTM
9. Savatgy, 138
10. Musquin, 136
16. Davalos, 91