Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac captured his first 450SX win of the season at Round 5 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, giving him the 450SX championship points lead.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross resumed this weekend at Round 5 of the 2019 season in downtown San Diego, California under wet and muddy conditions. However, these conditions would not slow Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac from capturing his first 450SX win of the season that catapulted him to the 450SX championship points lead.
In the 250SX class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team rider Adam Cianciarulo led a Kawasaki sweep of the top two positions as Cianciarulo won his third race of the year and rookie Garrett Marchbanks rode to his first career podium finishing in second. The win for Cianciarulo also secured the points lead for him in the 250SX Western Region championship standings.
“What a night! It has been an up and down first couple weeks of racing for me, but to get the win tonight is huge,” said Cianciarulo. “It eases my mind going into the break with points lead and the red background plate, although I can’t wait to see it on my KX™250. I also want to give a shout out to my teammate Garrett Marchbanks on his first ever podium. It was awesome to have the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team go 1-2 tonight.”
Tomac used San Diego Supercross to exert his dominance against the rest of the field. All riders were limited to just one qualifying session on the day due to the nasty weather conditions, Tomac was able to qualify fastest heading into the night program. In Heat 2, Tomac quickly maneuvered his way to the front to capture the heat race win. With the muddy track drastically changing, Tomac used his gate pick wisely for the main event, where he was able to tuck inside on the first corner for a second place start. He would quickly make a pass into first place, and ride a smart and consistent race, leading every lap, and building a gap as high at 20 seconds to win the main event. Tomac leaves San Diego with the red number plate as the new 450SX points leader and a four-point gap over second place.
“Man, what can I say? Today was just insane with the weather conditions and the sloppy mud,” said Tomac. “For me, today was one of those days where I just felt on all day long. I had a few hectic moments in the main event, but we survived the mud, got our job done, and now we are leaving with the red plate which feels good. I am looking forward to racing back underneath a dome next week on a dry track in Minneapolis.”