Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac has backed-up his season-first win with his second consecutive victory at Round 5 of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship at Oakland.
Coming off of a season first win, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac came into Oakland Alameda County Coliseum prepared to repeat his incredible performance.
Tomac showed a hint of what was to come with a dominant win in Semi 1. As the gate fell for the 450SX Main Event, Tomac exited Turn 1 in eighth place. He knew he had to pass quickly to catch the leaders and that’s exactly what he did.
While the completion appeared to be riding to survive the challenging race track, Tomac began attacking the track at a blistering pace, creating unique racing lines and rhythm combinations that allowed him to quickly close the gap to the race leader. With two laps to go, Tomac’s No. 3 KX™450F made the pass for the lead and ignited the Oakland fans.
Tomac went on to win by 10 seconds, making it two wins in a row for Monster Energy Kawasaki. This marks the first back-to-back win of Tomac’s 450 Supercross career and elevates the Colorado native to second in the points standings. Josh Grant was unable to compete, due to a crash in practice earlier in the day.
“Today was very hot and cold,” said Tomac. “It took me all day to really dial the track in and I truly believe the semi was my saving grace. It allowed me to perfect my lines and get a good idea of how the track was going to deteriorate in the Main Event. I was feeling loose in the main, which allowed me to perfect my rhythm in the dragon-back section after the finish line. Overall, it was a good night and let’s keep the ball rolling.”
“Tonight was all about minimizing your mistakes and capitalizing on others’,” said Eli Tomac’s Mechanic, Brian Kranz. “We ran down the points leader, passed and gapped him. It feels great.”
450SX Oakland Results
1: Eli Tomac
2: Ryan Dungey
3: Cooper Webb
4: Jason Anderson
5: Cole Seely
6: David Millsaps
7: Blake Baggett
8: Chad Reed
9: Marvin Musquin
10: Dean Wilson
Championship Standings After Oakland
1: Dungey 89
2: Musquin 74
3: Tomac 69
4: Seely 69
5: Millsaps 55
6: Roczen 51
7: Reed 49
8: Anderson 47
9: Grant 46
10: Webb 44