Image: Octopi Media.

A challenging night at Anaheim 2 saw defending 450SX champion Cooper Webb finish a disappointing eighth, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider stating post-race that ‘the only thing we can do now is regroup’ in a bid to rebound at Glendale.

Webb qualified sixth for round four before finishing P6 in his heat race, a lack of outright pace throughout the event becoming evident in the lead up to the premier class main event.

After crossing the line 10th on the opening lap of the main, Webb reached as high as seventh before being relegated to eighth by Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing), where he finished the race.

“Extremely tough night tonight at A2,” Webb reflected. “I didn’t get a great start and I was pretty buried in the pack early on. I was able to make some passes and get up to around seventh, and then ended up falling backwards a few spots.

“I was able to get back up, make some more passes and ended up eighth. Definitely not a great night at all, but the only thing we can do now is regroup and try to get better for next weekend in Arizona.”

Webb’s title defence started strongly at Anaheim 1, where he finished second behind Ken Roczen, then finished seventh at Oakland. San Diego saw Webb finish a stronger fourth, however, P8 at A2 means the number one currently sits fourth in the standings, now 12 points down on red plate-holder Tomac heading into Glendale’s round five this Saturday.