Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/661756
SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD ROUND 12 / APRIL 2, 2016 LEVI'S STADIUM / SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA P84 250SX West II NEVER EASY You can't accuse Cooper Webb of doing things the easy way, at least when it comes to winning. In the 250SX West class, which resumed after a long six-week break, Webb recorded his fifth win of the eight races held so far, and just like his previous four victories, it did not come easily. Once again, he had to come from behind. He emerged from the first turn right around mid-pack. For most racers, that's the kiss of death, and just getting on the podium at that point is pretty much all they can hope for. But not for Webb. With Webb, a mid-pack start means that he has a very good shot at winning, and probably will, so when he settled into sixth place after the first lap, you pret- ty much knew that Webb was for sure going to get on the podium, if not the top step. There was at least one rider ahead of him, however, that had a realistic chance of preventing a Webb win, and that was holeshotter Zach Osborne. Joey Savatgy and Christian Craig, the only rid- ers other than Webb to win this year (Savatgy has two victories), got worse starts than Webb, so the question was: Could Webb catch Osborne? Osborne pulled a clean hole- shot and was running away from Alex Martin in second. Mitchell Harrison was running second before getting passed by Martin and Webb. Shortly thereafter, Harrison went down and dropped to 18th by the end. Webb took second away from Martin on the eighth lap and then started to run down Os- borne, who was having a great ride, but when Webb gets you in his sights, it's only a question of when he'll get by you. For Osborne, it was lap 12; that's when Webb, on the Yamalube/ Star Racing Yamaha, swooped in for the kill, cleanly passing the Husky-mounted Osborne for the lead. Osborne kept it somewhat close the rest of the way, but there would be no catching the number-one plate holder on this night. Webb took the checkered flag 1.36 seconds ahead of Osborne. Savatgy got on the podium in third but he was not happy about it. He wanted to—no had to—at least get by Osborne to stay in the title hunt, but, in reality, needed to beat Webb on the night to have a real chance at the championship. Instead, he gave away five more points to Webb, who now heads into the Las Vegas final (where the 250 main event will combine both East and West riders all vying for the same points) with a 16-point advantage over Savatgy. Third in the championship, Craig, the only other rider who has an outside shot at the title other than Savatgy, ended up fourth, giving up a precious two points to Savatgy. He now trails Savatgy by seven.