CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 56 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 12, 2019 P53
HILL SITS OUT
In San Diego, Justin Hill (JGR/Yo-
shimura Suzuki Factory Racing) hit a
hole on the track that was concealed
by standing water, causing him to
smash his ribs into the handlebars.
He was checked out after the race for
a possible ruptured spleen, but that
came back negative. It's "just" a rib
injury. Hill missed Minneapolis. "I've
spent the week so far in a lot of pain
and have very limited movement, due
to injuring my ribs at San Diego," Hill
said on the JGR Instagram page. "It's
hard to picture racing when everyday
things are this painful. Fortunately for
me, I have every rehabilitation resource
I could have at my fingertips! I'm itching
to get back on the bike and get the
results I know that I'm capable of."
Briefly...
BY STEVE COX
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB KOY
T
hings can (and often do) change dramati-
cally, and without warning, in supercross
and motocross racing, but what we're
seeing right now has all the hallmarks of the
start of a new era. We've seen this happen
plenty of times before: A young guy comes into
the big-bike class, and whether it happens im-
mediately (Jeremy McGrath, Damon Bradshaw,
Ricky Johnson, Ryan Dungey, James Stewart,
Chad Reed all come to mind), or after a couple
learning seasons (Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villo-
poto), something clicks in the new guy and then
all he cares about from then on out is winning.
Cooper Webb has struggled at times over the
last couple years, but the primary struggle was
with his own confidence. But after he switched
to the Red Bull KTM team this past off-season,
things started to really click for Webb. Then he
won his first 450 SX race at Anaheim 2, fol-
lowed that with another one in Oakland, took a
week off from winning in the mud at San Diego
(though he did ride well), then stepped right
back up to the top step again in Minneapolis.
After winning three of the first six rounds, Webb
has now won half of the races run in 2019, and
although there are a lot of things that go into it,
the primary difference between Cooper Webb
this year and prior to this season is his confi-
dence.
As Bob Hannah once said: "I'm no idiot, after
I won my first race, I figured I could do it again."
In the 250SX class, the East riders finally got
their chance go racing, which means we got to
see a batch of fresh names, like Justin Cooper,
Jordon Smith, Chase Sexton and Alex Martin.
But the one name that is going to perhaps wear
out rather quickly is that of Austin Forkner who
WEBB
COOPER WEBB IS LAYING HIS CLAIM
ON THE 2019 450SX TITLE.
AGAIN
