JUSTIN COOPER

The prospect to the 450MX division, New York’s Justin Cooper, was eager to perform in the Northeast for this June weekend. He was acclimated to these conditions, and even with the rain that had fallen over the course throughout the moments prior to qualification, the former MXON standout was ready to tackle whatever was thrown his way. Into the first moto he and the rest of the field would fly, with Cooper gathering a fourth-place position in the early stages before making a swift move on Honda’s Dylan Ferrandis. Once into the third-place residency, he appeared rather fluid...until a mistake, in the inside rut of corner number two, would nearly fling him off of the motorcycle! Hunter Lawrence (only seconds in front of him) had done the same thing and lost the lead...but for Cooper’s particular incident, the front-end of the motorcycle would rise and the bike would nearly come loose from his grip! However, he somehow stayed attached and only managed to descend to fifth — where he would once more stalk the French rider through the ninth lap, before making another pass, just after the roller section amid an outside line! Now into fourth, he remained here and defended the position from Ohio’s Aaron Plessinger through the sixteenth circuit...which concluded the first moto tenure in PA, granting Cooper the fourth-place position. After a bit of a rough start to the second moto, Cooper’s initial standing of eleventh, was erased, in favor of an eighth-place position being obtained after ten minutes of action. He was on a paralleled trajectory to Dylan Ferrandis, after passing Malcolm Stewart. The two would battle, well past the twenty-five minute mark of the moto...where the ground had become severely crusted, and extremely hard-packed, despite the multitude of ruts on the course. Though when the two-lap board neared, it appeared as though Cooper was solidified in front of Ferrandis. Veteran’s of the class, (i.e. Jason Anderson and Aaron Plessinger) were next to be overtaken in the lineup...but Cooper couldn’t seem to generate the surplus of speed needed to overtake both of the previously noted riders. However, with Ferrandis and Justin Barcia in the segments behind him, Cooper knew that he couldn’t undergo any mistake(s) if he wanted to garner the eventual sixth-place standing...and as all eventually concluded, the Star Racing Yamaha rider solidified his position within the Yamaha unit — taking fifth overall with his combination of scores.