KTM Factory Racing press release:

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cooper Webb battled down to the very last moment in Sunday’s 450SX Main Event to claim a hard-fought second place finish at Round 13 of the 2020 AMA Supercross Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the 250SX East division, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pierce Brown continued his quest for a podium finish as he secured a career-best finish of fourth amidst less-than-favorable conditions.

In the series’ third-consecutive appearance inside Rice-Eccles Stadium, Sunday’s track conditions were anything but typical as heavy rainfall mixed things up all day long. Qualifying was shortened to only one session and riders were faced with everything from standing water, to sticky mud, deep ruts and even some dry spots on the racetrack. Webb secured the fourth-fastest time in qualifying, where he came into 450SX Heat 1 READY TO RACE as he powered his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into the holeshot and early lead. He made a mistake on lap two that dropped him into second but he rallied back to overtake the lead with two laps to go and he was able to secure the heat race victory and a top gate choice for the Main Event.

A good start proved to be vital as the rain returned before the start of the 450SX Main Event. As the gate dropped, Webb powered his way to the front where he sat in second early on before taking over the lead by lap two. With a clear track ahead, Webb made an early charge out front before going to battle with Eli Tomac on lap nine. Tomac took over the lead but Webb didn’t give up as he fought to reclaim the position on lap 16. As the clock ran low, Webb and Tomac engaged in an intense head-to-head battle through all kinds of lapped traffic and after 24 laps of hard racing, Webb finished 1.281 seconds back for second-place.

Cooper Webb: “It sucks I got second but man, it was a battle from lap one until the last lap. The conditions were tricky and the lappers were gnarly – a lot of it came down to that. It seemed like one lap I might get it right and one lap he might get it right but we were really pushing hard. It was a fun race even though I got beat. We’ll try to get the top spot on Wednesday.”

The 250SX East class wrapped up its seventh round of racing on Sunday and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pierce Brown put forth another stellar ride in his home state of Utah. Following an impressive third-place finish in the heat race, Brown powered his KTM 250 SX-F into a top-five start in the Main Event. He quickly made his way into fourth and from there he rode a solid race to finish just off the podium in fourth.

Pierce Brown: “All-in-all it was a solid day and I couldn’t be happier. I ended up third in my heat race and fourth in the Main Event. This is my fifth Supercross race ever so to have my best finish yet, I’m stoked!”

The 250SX East class will now take a 10-day break from racing as the Western division competes at the next two rounds. Brown and the Eastern division will return on June 17 for a final bout before heading into the East/West showdown at the season finale on June 21.