Eli Tomac, running fast on a muddy track all day, took the lead after the first turn and bolted to a dominating win Saturday in the 450 Supercross in San Diego.
The victory in the Supercross series’ fifth race catapulted the Kawasaki rider from Cortez into first place in the season’s standings.
Starting in the No. 2 position between top qualifier Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb, Tomac followed Roczen to the first turn and grabbed the lead as Roczen crashed and dropped to fourth. Justin Bogle was third.
Tomac and Bogle quickly jumped out to the front of the pack. In the second lap, Tomac hit the throttle and stretched out a commanding lead by running his best lap of the race – 1 minute, 21.179 seconds – more that two seconds faster than the rest of the field. By the eighth lap, Tomac was alone in first, leading Bogle by more than 20 seconds.
Roczen got by Justin Barcia for third in the fourth lap and by Bogle in the ninth, but he trailed Tomac by about 25 seconds.
As Tomac eased off the throttle for the remainder of the 12-lap race, Musquin, who started the race in 10th, mounted the final stage of a tenacious comeback and passed Roczen for second place in the last lap. His fast finish nearly matched Tomac’s time in Lap 2.
With Tomac slowing in the final lap, Musquin closed to within four seconds of the leader, making Tomac’s rout appear closer than it was, but lifting him into second place in the season standings.
Bogle and Chad Reed trailed Roczen for fourth and fifth, respectively.
Earlier Saturday, Tomac charged from a fourth-place start in his heat race to pass Aaron Plessinger in the final lap for the victory. Musquin was third, and Kyle Chisholm and Bogle rounded out the Top 5. Tomac posted his fastest lap in the race-ending sixth lap, at 1 minute, 11.880 seconds. Bogle was fastest, at 1:11.498 in the second lap.
In the first heat, Roczen held off Webb to win, running a fast lap of 1 minute, 11.65 seconds and earning the pole position for the main event. Tomac’s teammate, Joey Savatgy, was third, followed by Barcia and Blake Baggett. Webb posted the heat’s fastest lap, 1:08.918.
Tomac posted the fastest lap during qualifying rounds, at 58.636 seconds. Cooper was second, more than a second off Tomac’s pace, and Musquin was third.
In the 250SX race on Saturday, Monster Energy Kawasaki captured first and second places, with Adam Cianciarulo and Garrett Marchbanks. It was series-leading Cianciarulo’s third win of the season, and the one-two finish lifted the Kawasaki team into first place in the West’s manufacturer standings with 114 points, three more than runner-up Yamaha.
The sixth race of 17 races in the AMA monster Energy AMA Supercross series is next week in Minneapolis.
