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ELI TOMAC
450 SX / 1ST
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> The 2018 season started off so promising for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac. The Colorado native led the first laps of the year at the opening round but ended up making a slight error and crashing out of the race. This came as a shock and seriously hurt him in the points standings, putting him in a huge points deficit one race into the series. The fall injured his shoulder and it would ultimately hold him out of round two in Houston despite his best efforts of toughing it out. Coming into round three at A2, Tomac’s shoulder was feeling much better and he needed something fresh and enticing to get his season back on track. The new Triple Crown Format being debuted at A2 was the perfect formula. Everyone would be on a level playing field, unfamiliar with the format and that is what Tomac needed to reset his season.
In qualifying practice, Tomac appeared to pick up right where he left off from early in the opening round.
He looked exceptionally fast and aggressive while clocking the third fastest lap time off the day, just a mere one tenth of a second off the fastest time. He was ready to get main event number one out of the way. When the gate dropped in the historic, first Monster Energy Triple Crown main event, Tomac found himself in a decent spot in sixth. He was right behind his veteran teammate Josh Grant. Grant looked great and Tomac had his troubles trying to make a pass. It would take him nearly four laps to pass Grant, but he would finally be able to do so. This put him in fifth and that is where he would put together a quiet rest of the race. By the time he reached that spot, the top four were far ahead leaving him in no man’s land. Fifth place is where he would finish which is not too bad when there are still two races left to determine the over- all winner. Main event number two started off perfectly for Eli Tomac. He rocketed his Kawasaki out of the gate to secure the holeshot. He immediately started to run away putting a few seconds between him and main event one winner Cole Seely. But later in the race, that time off the bike may have started to wear
on Tomac as Seely started bringing the pressure. With just a few minutes left in the race, a pass by Seely looked inevitable but with two laps to go Seely committed a mistake giving Tomac enough cushion to bring home the victory. He was pumped to get back on the top of the box but he still had one more race to go. Tomac entered main event three in second overall behind Seely so he knew he’d need to ride his best but also still get a little bit of help. This is why he ripped yet another holeshot taking the early lead. This time, however, he received strong pressure almost immediately from point leader Jason Anderson. Anderson shadowed him for five laps before finally making an aggressive move after the finish line. He pushed Tomac back to second where he would ride all the way to the finish without much excitement. Tomac’s 5-1-2 main event scores would be good enough to earn him the overall victory on the night after Seely struggled in the final main event. It was great to see Tomac back to his winning ways so quickly after his injury and this will surely make for an interesting title chase as we wait and see if he can climb his way out of his deep hole.
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GRITMOTO • JANUARY 21, 2018