VOLUME 56 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2019 P97
"I think maybe it adds a bit of
pressure, and it makes you feel
like you kind of have to live up to
it," Webb said in 2016. "To me,
everything I do is about finding
something to motivate me, and
I think that [the number two]
is something that, through my
career, will do that."
Between then and now there
were two mostly awful seasons
racing 450s for Yamaha before
Webb signed with Red Bull KTM
for 2019. It's easy to assume that
the added pressure of running
the number two played a role,
or at least added to the feeling
of failure that Webb must have
experienced fairly regularly
over the course of those first
two years in the 450cc class,
but even today Webb says his
number choice helped him turn
it all around.
"It was a tough decision at the
time," Webb says. "But that is
something that I think kept me
on it even when my troubles in
COOPER WEBB THRIVES SO
MUCH UNDER PRESSURE THAT
HE PILES IT ON HIMSELF JUST
FOR ADDED MOTIVATION
BY STEVE COX
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB KOY AND COX
