Eli Tomac was impressive again at the FMF Glen Helen National. (Photography by Kit Palmer)
SAN BERNARDINO, CA. (May 23, 2015) It appears that last week’s runaway win by Eli Tomac at Hangtown, the opening round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, was for real, as he followed that up with another romp at Glen Helen Raceway.
The GEICO Honda Team rider dominated the 450 class, once again, on a cool and overcast day in Southern California, winning the first moto with 37 seconds to spare over Justin Barcia and moto two by 23 seconds over Ryan Dungey. The winning margin might not have been as impressive as the previous week, but very impressive nonetheless.
Tomac moved into the lead in moto one after passing fast starters Phil Nicoletti and Barcia (AutoTrader.com/Toyota/Yamaha teammates) before running away. Dungey quickly got into second and kept Tomac honest for a while before losing sight of the Honda rider. Dungey eventually stalled his bike twice, once on the last lap that dropped him back to sixth at the finish.
Barcia inherited second, while Nicoletti held onto third for his best finish ever on the pro circuit. He finished just three seconds behind Barcia.
Fourth went to Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports’s Chad Reed but he was still 40 seconds behind the winner, Tomac. Weston Peick, on the AutoTrader.com/Yamaha, took fifth, followed by Dungey, Blake Baggett, Ken Roczen, Christophe Pourcel, and Justin Brayton.
Between motos, Dungey’s Red Bull KTM Team crew replaced the motor in his bike. Dungey said the bike wasn’t running quite right in the first moto, which most likely had something to do with the two stalls. Not knowing what the problem was, the entire motor was swapped out.
Tomac nailed the holeshot in the second moto and never looked back. Dungey tried keeping him in sight but to no avail. Once again, Tomac was just too good.
Roczen, who experienced a couple of tip-overs on the day, finished 16 seconds behind Dungey, with Barcia finishing fourth. Jason Anderson finished fifth, followed by Peick, Baggett, Reed, Cole Seely and Pourcel.
“I’m really comfortable right now,” Tomac said. “I’ve never been in this position before [feeling comfortable] this early in the season where I feel like I’m one with the bike,” said Tomac, who won in his first professional start at Glen Helen. “The motorcycle is just really easy to ride right now. I’ve improved my starts a whole lot and that’s been huge for me. I battled with Ryan [Dungey] there for a while in the first moto and he stalled his bike, which made it a little easier [to make the pass and win]. In moto two, I just ripped the holeshot and had fun.”
Barcia’s 2-4 was good enough for second overall, while Dungey’s 6-2 gave him third overall.
“Third place isn’t necessarily something to be bummed at, it’s a respectable spot,” Dungey said. “But we want to win. That’s what we’re here for. The bike wanted to shut off in the first moto and it kept getting worse and worse before it eventually did. In the second moto we just wanted to focus on a good finish, so I got a good start and just followed Eli. We made up some ground from last week and we’ll keep working at it.”
Roczen’s 8-3 netted him fourth overall. Roczen said his injured back felt good on the day, but small falls in both motos kept him out of the hunt for the overall win.
Nicoletti couldn’t match his first-moto performance. He got off to a good start but crashed on the second lap and dropped to the very back of the pack. He climbed up to 21st in the 40-rider field, his 3-21 giving him ninth overall.
Tomac now leads Dungey by 19 points in the race for the championship. Peick is third, 17 points behind Dungey and three points ahead of Baggett.
Results
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
FMF Glen Helen National
Glen Helen Raceway – San Bernardino, California
May 23, 2015
Round 2 of 12
450 Class (Moto Finish)
1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (1-1)
2. Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha (2-4)
3. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (6-2)
4. Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki, (8-3)
5. Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Yamaha (5-6)
6. Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki (4-8)
7. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki (7-7)
8. Christophe Pourcel, France, Husqvarna (9-10)
9. Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, Calif., Honda (14-9)
10. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna (38-5)
450 Class Championship Standings
1. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda, 100
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 81
3. Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Yamaha, 64
4. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki, 61
5. Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha, 58
6. Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki, 51
7. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna, 50
8. Christophe Pourcel, France, Husqvarna, 48
9. Chad Reed, Australia, Kawasaki, 46
10. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki, 43
