Source: Supplied.

It was a career milestone for Monster Energy/Yamalube/Chaparral/Yamaha Financial Services/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb at Oakland’s fifth round of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship as he rode to his first 450SX podium finish.

In a night of first-time performances, Webb topped qualifying ahead of a stacked premier class field, earned his first heat race victory and then carried that momentum into the main event to claim third place behind Eli Tomac and defending champion, Ryan Dungey.

“Mainly just the mentality of it all really,” Webb said. “I think I’m gaining confidence and getting better and better, the bikes coming around and we’re doing some racing. Racing is the best way for me to push the bike and push myself, so I think that was the main thing.”

Confidence is key for the rising 450SX star, confirming he felt comfortable throughout the day on the challenging Northern California circuit before backing it up with a career-best finish.

“I’m just getting more confident, like I said, and today went really well all day,” he explained. “You just have those days when you kind of know you’re going to have a good day, so it was nice to back it up throughout the night show.”

The 21-year-old now sits seventh overall in the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship 450SX points chase, just two ahead of Australian teammate, Chad Reed.