Eli Tomac on Saturday went to the lead early and ran away with the 450 Supercross in Tampa. He bolted to the top of the standings for the first time this season.
It was his third win of the season, and second in three tries.
As the gate dropped, Adam Cianciarulo grabbed the lead after the first turn, ahead of Vince Friese. Tomac, in third at the start, passed Friese in the second lap, and Kawasaki teammates Cianciarulo and Tomac pulled away from the pack.
Meanwhile, series leader Ken Roczen charged through the pack, and by the third lap was in fifth, trailing defending champion Cooper Webb.
Tomac challenged his teammate midway through the race, veering slightly off the track after a failed pass. He quickly recovered, and taking an outside line in the sand, got by Cianciarulo in the 11th of 26 laps for the lead.
With a clear track in front of him, Tomac pulled away, leading Cianciarulo by more than 3 seconds by the 15th lap and the rest of the pack by more than 10 seconds.
Cianciarulo went down during the next lap and dropped to ninth place, and Webb moved into second, 12 seconds off the lead. Roczen, recovering from a near crash, bounced back and pulled into third.
With five minutes to go, the field settled, and Tomac was the distant leader.
He won going away, 7 seconds ahead of Webb. Roczen, recovering from a frightful start, was third. Justin Barcia and Justin Hill rounded out the top five.
With the victory, Tomac took the series lead for the first time this season and now leads Roczen by four points, and Webb by 11 points as the series approaches midseason.
Earlier Saturday, Kawasaki teammates Cianciarulo and Tomac finished one-two for the seventh consecutive time during qualifying rounds. Cianciarulo posted his fastest lap at 47.704 seconds, and Tomac was a step behind at 47.823 seconds. Roczen, Webb and Anderson filled out the top five.
The Monster Energy team also fared well in the two heats. In Heat 1, Tomac won start to finish, crossing the finish line 1.482 seconds of Malcolm Stewart. Webb was third, 7.394 seconds off the lead. Cianciarulo placed second behind series-leading Roczen after leading the first seven laps. Roczen overtook him in the eighth of nine laps, and edged in a drag race to the finish line to win by a scant 0.496 second. Osborne was third.
Next Saturday, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series goes to Arlington, Texas, for the eighth round of the 17-raqce series.
