Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Supercross red plate-holder Cooper Webb has indicated that he could have used added aggression in an attempt to make a move on Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin at Salt Lake City 1 if it was a ‘do-or-die’ situation.

Webb made his way onto the back of Musquin in the closing laps and effectively crossed the finish in formation, but appeared to hold back in comparison to when he’s battled the likes of primary title-rival Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) in the past.

“It was kind of a sigh of relief, honestly, when Ken went down,” Webb admitted. “I feel like me, Malcolm [Stewart] and Jason [Anderson] were riding a really good pace, I feel like we were slowly, but surely, catching on and when Kenny went down it was like a sense of urgency for me to get going.

“I knew that, ‘okay, this is my shot to go after this win’, and I kind of just buckled down, had some good laps going and was able to catch [Marvin]. I saw him making mistakes in the whoops and knew that was going to be my spot, then he found the line that I felt comfortable with and started taking it. I had to start searching around, could make a run, but – like Malcolm on me – was never quite close enough to pass.

“It was definitely a track that was very tight and tough to pass. I felt like if it was a do-or-die situation, I maybe could have gotten aggressive, but overall it was an awesome race and we battled hard to the very end. It was pretty spectacular for KTM to go 1-2 and for Marv to get a win after a long time.”

The 2019 champion, who is on the verge of clinching a second 450SX crown at this weekend’s finals, has built in a comfortable buffer over Roczen in recent weeks and will carry a 22-point advantage into round 17 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. For Webb, finishing second to Musquin was enough after witnessing Roczen exit from the lead earlier.