get myself in a rhythm."
Cooper says this will be his
last 450cc race of the season,
as he steps over to the 250s
in preparation for the 250MX
outdoor Nationals.
"It was tough like I expected,"
Cooper said of his race. "We
even got a little bit of rain for the
main event. The track definitely
deteriorated. We just ticked
off the laps. I had a really good
pace going in the beginning and
made a bunch of passes. Then
I settled in behind Jason (An
-
derson), and I started running
his pace. From there on, I had a
couple of close calls with him,
and I got alongside him a couple
of times, but he was able to hold
me back there. I was definitely
Despite his run-ins with Sex
-
ton, Barcia had his best result
of the season with fourth, and
he also posted the quickest lap
time of the race.
Jason Anderson, on the Mon-
ster Energy Kawasaki, started
the race in fifth and finished
there. A bobble late in the race
nearly cost him a position to
Monster Energy Star Racing
Yamaha's Justin Cooper; the
two were separated by just 0.4
seconds at the finish.
"The rain we had leading up
to the main event also made the
dirt very slick in some spots,"
Anderson said. "I tried my best
to adjust to the changing track
conditions throughout the race
but, to be honest, I just couldn't
VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P71
FIRST IMPRESSION
RJ Hampshire was impressive to
say the least in his 450SX debut,
winning his heat race ahead
of veterans Cooper Webb and
Chase Sexton. "I holeshot the
heat, led a few laps, and then
reality hit that I might win this
thing," Hampshire said of the
heat race. "I won my first heat,
my first time ever trying to do it,
and first-ever race on a 450, so
that was awesome."
BACK IN, THEN
BACK OUT
Monster Energy Star Racing
Yamaha's Dylan Ferrandis was
supposed to return to action in
Daytona after suffering a concus-
sion at Dallas Supercross. The
Monster Energy Star Racing
Yamaha Team rider fell again
during press day and opted not to
race the night show despite quali-
fying 13th.
WELCOME TO
DAYTONA
After qualifying sixth and finishing
second in his heat race, things
were looking positive for Red
Bull KTM's Tom Vialle, who was
competing at Daytona for the first
time. The Frenchman got a great
start in the 250SX main and was
running second when he had a
big crash. Fortunately, he was
okay, but the same couldn't be
said for his bike and was forced
out of the race.
Briefly...
Chase Sexton and Justin Barcia
found themselves a little too
close together a couple of times.
PHOTO: ALEX KELLY
