Page 34 - GRIT-80

ELI TOMAC
450 MX / 1ST
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Eli Tomac has been an unstoppable force so far here in the 2018 outdoor nationals. He has won all six motos at the rst three rounds and has showed virtually no signs of letting up. The lead man on the Monster Energy Kawasaki has won all these motos in various fashions: starting up front, charging from behind, being patient and waiting for proper opportunities, or simply walking away from the rest of the eld. He certainly had enough motivation coming into the season after a frustrat- ing year of Supercross and the chance to defend his outdoor title. The red number one plate carries a lot of weight and some people simply can’t handle the pressure, but Tomac has proved numerous times already this season that he will not wilt. Tomac looked solid in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He is a west coast guy, so he didn’t have that total raw speed we have seen at the rst three rounds, but he was nonetheless very quick on the east coast terrain at High Point. He quali ed with the second fastest time but was a full second slower than pole sitter Blake Baggett. Tomac might have his rst real test of the season in the motos that lie ahead. Moto one at High Point began with a rarity from Eli Tomac, a holeshot. The defending champion ripped the holeshot and imme- diately started inching away from the eld. He was clicking quick lap times and built around a four second lead just a couple of laps into the race. However, unlike at the other three races this year, that small gap never got any bigger. He could not pull away and as a matter of fact, Marvin Musquin began inching up on him at the halfway point. Pretty soon, Musquin was all over Tomac and after
a slight mistake coming down a hill, Musquin squeaked by and took over the lead with about ten minutes to go. Tomac attempted to retaliate but just could not piece together smooth enough laps
to mount a charge. He would have to settle with second place and lose a moto for the rst time all year. Moto two saw Tomac get out to another fast start. He was in third behind Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin but slingshotted by both of them and into the lead after a mistake from Roczen held up the top two. Roczen roared back in the following corner to push Tomac back to second. Tomac then settled into a steady pace behind Roczen and looked content to not push the envelope in such a long race. He didn’t have to be patient for too long though because Roczen bobbled and went off the track on lap two allowing Tomac to hammer right by. Tomac once again built a comfortable but not sizable lead on now second place rider, Musquin. And almost in the same fashion as moto one, Musquin closed the gap and ignited a battle in the latter stages of the race. With just a few laps to go, Tomac was dealing with as much pressure as one could possible handle because Musquin was simply all over him. Both riders maneuvered the rough and off cambered course at unfathomable speeds. Tomac had to block Musquin on numerous pass attempts and it would prove to be just enough as Tomac would hold on to the end to bring home the moto victory and the overall. Although Tomac’s moto winning streak was brought to an end, his 2-1 was enough to continue his overall win streak which now stands at four.
34 GRITMOTO • JUNE 17, 2018