Image: Octopi Media.

After a crash in the opening moto at High Point saw him finish fifth, Justin Cooper’s rebound to win moto two seemed as though it might have been a critical turning point for his title challenge.

It’s no secret that Cooper is a front runner to take the 250 class championship in the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series this summer, but it took the reigning 250SX West champion a few rounds to get his first moto win of the season.

While he made it happen and grabbed a win in the second moto of round three at High Point, an opening moto crash saw him finish fifth.

“First moto got a good start, I think I was top three and just tucked the front end right before the finish and killed the bike trying to pick it up quick,” Cooper explained. “But yeah, from there it kind of unraveled and was kind of just eating roost the whole time.

“It was a much-needed rebound in moto two and I knew that, so the first moto I’d like to forget a little bit, but at one point I had a good flow going and I just lost it, so I put that one behind me and regrouped for the second one.”

Perhaps what stands out most isn’t just the fact that he captured a fairly dominant win in the second moto, managing the race from the front as points leader Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) chased him, it’s that he said he’s found comfort on his Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha and enjoyed the race.

“Not much [changed] really [in the second moto] I just had a better flow going in the second one,” he continued. “Definitely going down doesnt help anything it kind of just took the wind out of my sails in a way and it took me a little bit to get going but we put it all out there in the second moto.

“I rode like myself and I felt like I had a really good flow going at least for the first half and once I got a gap it was kind of just managing it from there. I was really enjoying the track and I felt like I was one with my bike so that’s always important. Yeah, just definitely felt really comfortable in the second moto, I enjoyed it and that’s probably one of the first races I’ve enjoyed like that in a while.”

With a newfound rhythm and what sounds like a bit of adjustment time needed to get flowing outdoors behind him, Cooper has done well at managing the early season, now sitting second overall, just 11 points back of Lawrence with nine rounds and 18 motos left in the championship.

“The season is still young it’s a long championship we’ve got nine more rounds,” he concluded. “So it’s just about putting in good results right now and I felt like today was a good start to where we want to be.”

The series now takes a weekend off before heading to the famed RedBud MX over the Fourth of July weekend for round four of the championship.