Cooper’s Forward Momentum Continues with First Overall 450MX Podium at Thunder Valley
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper earns another career-best result early in his rookie season, scoring a debut 450MX overall podium at the Thunder Valley National / Jun 9, 2024 /
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper built on last week’s career-best performance with a pair of holeshots and his first overall 450MX podium yesterday at the Thunder Valley National in Lakewood, Colorado. The rookie continues to make forward strides early in the season, earning a 3-3 moto score for third overall at Round 3 of the Pro Motocross 450MX Championship.
Cooper got a strong start to the day, qualifying third in the combined times. From there, he grabbed the holeshot in the first moto and set a blistering pace to build a comfortable gap up front. As the race wore on, the competition was able to close the gap, and he was shuffled to third with five laps remaining. Cooper rode on to finish third and score his second-consecutive moto podium in five tries.
In Moto 2, Cooper grabbed his second holeshot of the day. With the red plate holder hot on his heels in the opening laps, the New Yorker kept cool in the heat of the battle and maintained the lead. He led for most of the race until four laps to go when he was passed by the defending 450MX Champion and then shuffled to third. Cooper rode it home for three straight moto podiums and his first overall 450MX podium finish with a 3-3 score. As the series heads east, he sits fourth in the championship standings and trails the leader by 20 points.
Next up for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team is Round 4 of Pro Motocross and Round 21 of the SuperMotocross World Series at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, on June 15.
Jeremy Coker – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“It was an absolutely phenomenal day for Justin Cooper. Two holeshots and a total of 23 laps led - that’s pretty amazing. We’ve been so close every weekend and he deserves this podium. Hopefully the next step is a win.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“It was a really good day. I qualified third and got off to two great starts today. The bike was definitely going up that hill, and it came pretty easily. I was able to lead a lot of laps today and pretty much just tried to run away, but eventually got caught there at the end in both motos, which is a bummer. I definitely got tired there at the end. I need like five more minutes in each moto. It’s something to build off of, though. We’ll just keep working.”
2024 Pro Motocross 450MX Thunder Valley Results
2024 Pro Motocross 450MX Championship Standings
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