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IMAGE/ANDYCAVAZOS
As luck would have it, 2016 version of Glen Helen didn’t quite turn out to be what it had been the year before but it was still a solid round for Tomac and the Kawasaki camp. Coming off of a solid opening round, Eli used some solid starts to continue the success he saw in the qualifying sessions where he earned the top qualifier honor. Once the gate dropped, Eli was in the hunt
for the front spot when he almost threw it all away in turn two. Settling the swap, Eli recalibrated himself just outside the top five behind Cole Seely. Battling Barcia before the #51 faded to the back of the pack, Eli took his time getting around the Yamaha rider but made the move early on
in the race. Following Seely’s lead, Tomac moves with Cole past Musquin in the tricky rhythm before the start straight which got him into 4th as the race began to unravel. Before long, Seely would make a mistake and drop to 5th behind Canard who
made a run on Tomac for 3rd but fell short with Eli showing some confidence on the hills. For moto two, Eli got off to a much more unfavorable start near 18th before making quick work into 13th within the first few minutes. Less than a lap later, Tomac was in 9th. By the end of the first ten minutes, Tomac inch of the Talladega turn to get around Barcia and the Josh Grant a few laps later for 7th. By the halfway mark, Tomac had picked up two more spots to get into 5th before while Anderson began making mistakes dropping to 4th and allowing Tomac by before the big uphell of Mt. Saint Helen. A few minutes later, after gaining ground on the 3rd place of Seely, Tomac scrubbed across the finish line and stretches past Cole as the field headed into the final ten minutes of the race. From there the two leaders were too far gone but Tomac had made up enough ground in the first 20 minutes that there is no question his storm is beginning to form. He rode with confidence, heart and the type of speed that seems to have more to offer. Up next this upcoming Saturday is a race on the Colorado Cowboy’s home turf, putting the #3 of Tomac right into the mix with Dungey and Roczen for the overall in Thunder Valley.
words/BRENTECKERT
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