Current 250MX points leader Justin Cooper leads the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship by eight points with five rounds left. The Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha rider found confidence following round seven at Washougal despite a crash late in moto two.

Image: Octopi Media.

That crash in moto two at Washougal… 

I was definitely trying to get the 1-1 and Jeremy [Martin] had a little bit more pace than me and I was kind of just trying to hold him off. He was able to get under me like halfway through that second moto. So I was just putting a charge back in to just try and make it interesting for the end. I saw I was catching him a little bit here and there at the end and I felt like I got pretty close with like three laps to go. So yeah, I was just trying to make a little bit of a charge and I crashed going up the uphill. I hit some potholes in the rollers and I never saw it coming. It’s a bummer. I would have never seen that coming and it’s a weird way to crash, but it was definitely tough trying to get back up, my bike was destroyed and facing up the hill. It is what it is, good first moto and just a good day overall. I had a really good day I feel and my riding was awesome, so a lot of positives to take from it. But obviously, a little salty and disappointed that happened late in the moto.

Was the first moto his best outdoor moto to date…

Definitely. I had a lot of company obviously, I had J-Mart and RJ [Hampshire] behind me and they were really bringing the heat so yeah it was tough. I had to regroup and those guys definitely didn’t leave me alone, so I had to step it up toward the end and I think I ran my fastest time with a lap to go. It was an all out sprint the whole moto and it was good. Definitely one of my better motos and it was good to hold off those charges that were constantly getting thrown at me.

Image: Octopi Media.

Any regrets on the late push in moto two at Washougal…

We had a good battle going, definitely wasn’t trying to give it up easy. I stuck in there, I was kind of learning from his lines and I know he had a little more pace than me at the beginning of the moto. You know, before the finish he drifted out and I had to yield. I stuck in behind him and did my best to follow him and keep pace with him. Toward the end there I felt like I caught him a little bit, it would have been really hard to make a pass for sure but I was trying my butt of to at least make it interesting. That’s all there is to say and then I was on the ground. Lucky to even get up [from the crash] my bike was pretty bad after that. It’s unfortunate but it’s part of racing, but a good day for me overall, I felt really good in both motos.

What clicked between rounds six and seven of the season…

Was a lot better [at Washougal] compared to Millville. I just really didn’t feel like myself [at Millville] I felt like I was fighting the bike a lot and today I just felt like I had a really good flow and could turn it up when I needed to. You know everyone is pretty similar in speed [at Washougal] and the track is pretty fast. So the starts were important today and we got those. I felt like I managed the races pretty good and yeah just felt like I had more of a flow. Basically I was just really fighting the bike at Millville and you really can’t do much with that, you’ve got to be one with your bike to be on the top step. I felt like we had that today.