BUCHANAN, Mich. – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cooper Webb secured a season-best finish of seventh overall in a hard-hitting field of 450MX riders at Saturday’s RedBud MX National in Buchanan, Michigan. Rookie teammate Max Vohland also scored his best finish at Round 4, claiming ninth overall in the 250MX division.
With a season-best qualifying position of fourth, Webb had a positive start to the race day. He lined up with a solid gate choice in Moto 1, powering his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to a great start up front. He found himself in the top-five battle early on and he got shuffled back to ultimately claim a hard-fought seventh-place in the first moto. In Moto 2, Webb got a seventh-place start and he maintained a forward charge early in the race. Just after the halfway point, Webb had an unpleasant encounter with the infamous “LaRocco’s Leap” when he cased the landing of the massive triple and jammed his back. From there, the reigning 450SX Champion went into preservation mode to ultimately salvage a ninth-place finish in the second moto. With combined scores of 7-9, Webb ultimately secured seventh overall for the day.
Webb: “Today was an up-and-down day at RedBud. In the first moto, I had a good fight for seventh and I felt okay with that but Moto 2 was a bit of a struggle. I fought my way up from a so-so start and then I cased LaRocco’s Leap about 20 minutes in and jammed my back my pretty good and I just kind of limped it to the finish. Overall, it’s not what we want but we’ll come back at Southwick looking to improve.”
Like his teammate and many other riders, Musquin also found himself in a losing battle with LaRocco’s Leap earlier in the day. He got off to a seventh-place start in Moto 1 and battled inside the top-10 for the first six laps but a slight misjudgment caused him to come up short on the landing, resulting in a DNF due to a broken wheel. With a quick repair between motos, Musquin was fortunately able to return his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to the gate for Moto 2, where he salvaged a top-10 start from the outside. Working his way up to seventh after about five laps, the French rider maintained his pace to finish seventh in the second moto.
Musquin: “It was definitely a rough day. Unfortunately, I broke the wheel launching the single over LaRocco’s Leap (not going triple but double-single) and I landed hard on the single so I had to DNF, which is really bad. In the second moto, I knew it was going to be hard to get a good start but I did my best and tried to rail the berm on the outside and put myself in the top-10 on the first lap. I came back to seventh and I had a better feeling in the second moto but I’m looking forward to going back to Southwick and putting his one behind me.”
It was a solid day for 250MX rookie Max Vohland, who came away with a top-10 overall in his fourth race aboard the KTM 250 SX-F. Vohland got a seventh-place start in Moto 1 and he battled in the top-10 all race long to ultimately secure 10th. In Moto 2, he got off to a 12th place start on the opening lap and he picked off a couple riders early on to reach 10th by the halfway point. He got passed with a few laps to go, dropping to 11th, but he managed to secure ninth overall on the day with combined moto scores of 10-11.
Vohland: “Overall, I think it went pretty good today. I’ve got a pretty well-set base now, I just need to work on some stuff both off and on the bike and try to keep getting better results one-by-one each weekend. I’m looking forward to Southwick, I really like the sand and hopefully we can do well there.”
Offroad racer Kailub Russell had an eventful start to the day as he made a trip to the 250MX Last Chance Qualifier after just missing a spot through the timed qualifying sessions. With a sturdy performance aboard the KTM 250 SX-F, Russell earned his spot on the gate with a third-place finish in the LCQ. The day would only prove to get tougher for Russell as he suffered a series of crashes that would ultimately overshadow his racing and leave him sidelined after re-igniting a previous ankle injury.
Kailub Russell: “Overall, I’m not super stoked on how anything went today. I tried to turn it around and felt like I rode better as the day wore on but I didn’t set the tone straight away. I’ve had a problem with my ankle ever since I broke my jaw and I’ve got it taped up but it’s just not strong enough. In the second moto, I was going around the turn and I kind of dabbed my foot and the back tire kind of sucked it up and tweaked it pretty hard. It’s one of those where you immediately think the worst because it takes the breath out of you and you’re kind of stuck there for a second, so that was pretty much the end of my day.”
The AMA Pro Motocross Championship returns to racing next Saturday, July 10 for The Wick 338 National in Southwick, Massachusetts.
Results 450MX Class – RedBud National
1. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA), Yamaha, 1-2
2. Eli Tomac (USA), Kawasaki, 4-1
3. Aaron Plessinger (USA), Yamaha, 3-3
OTHER KTM
7. Cooper Webb (USA), KTM, 7-9
9. Joey Savatgy (USA), KTM, 10-10
12. Fredrik Noren (SWE), KTM, 12-15
14. Marvin Musquin (FRA), KTM, 38-7
15. Justin Bogle (USA), KTM, 14-14
20. Chris Canning (USA), KTM, 21-17
21. Ben LaMay (USA), KTM, 23-18
26. Nathan Augustin (USA), KTM, 25-30
28. Nicolas Rolando (URA), KTM, 29-28
40. Trevor Schmidt (USA), KTM
Results 250MX Class – RedBud National
1. RJ Hampshire (USA), Husqvarna, 2-2
2. Justin Cooper (USA), Yamaha, 4-1
3. Jett Lawrence (AUS), Honda, 1-6
OTHER KTM
9. Max Vohland (USA), KTM, 10-11
20. Josh Varize (USA), KTM, 17-18
26. Christopher Prebula (USA), KTM
27. Jeffrey Walker (USA), KTM
29. Vincent Luhovey (USA), KTM
30. Jack Chambers (USA), KTM
32. Matthew Curler (USA), KTM
38. Kailub Russell (USA), KTM
42. Max Miller (USA), KTM
Standings 450MX Class 2021 after 4 of 12 rounds
1. Dylan Ferrandis, 179 points
2. Ken Roczen, 165
3. Aaron Plessinger, 143
OTHER KTM
9. Cooper Webb, 102
10. Marvin Musquin, 90
11. Joey Savatgy, 76
13. Justin Bogle, 49
15. Fredrik Noren, 41
Standings 250MX Class 2021 after 4 of 12 rounds
1. Jett Lawrence, 172 points
2. Justin Cooper, 164
3. Hunter Lawrence, 128
OTHER KTM
12. Max Vohland, 60
20. Josh Varize, 26