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Eli Tomac picked up right where he left off before getting injured last season by setting the fastest
lap time of the class by a half a second in practice. We saw him absolutely dominate Hangtown last
year with 1-1 moto scores and he looked to be ready to repeat that performance.
Unfortunately Tomac’s bid at another perfect Hangtown took a hit immediately when he rounded lap one of moto one outside the top ten. He picked up a few spots moving into ninth in the first ten minutes but he was only warming up. At about that twenty-minute mark, he dropped the hammer. He started slicing through the field at a blistering pace. He looked like the Tomac we saw last season and next thing you know it was the halfway point and he was already into fifth place. He picked off Musquin for fourth shortly after and set his sights on Cole Seely in third. It was a pretty sizable gap to close but he chipped away at it each lap until he was on his rear wheel with three laps to go. Once he was there, he made quick work of him but then let his guard down when Baggett snuck right on by putting Tomac back into fourth. Tomac may not have known but Baggett stayed hitched to him for nearly the entire moto stalking him until the very end where he would make the pass. Nonetheless a fourth place was still a great result considering his poor start.
Moto two saw Tomac get off to a decent start, much better than the first moto. He rounded lap one in sixth place and looked to start moving up. But he just didn’t seem to have that same mojo he had in the previous moto as it took him eight minutes to reel in and pass Josh Grant for fifth. He latched onto Jason Anderson and the two made their own passes one Justin Barcia putting Tomac into fourth. Barcia would retaliate momentarily but Tomac would be able to withstand the pressure. From there Tomac tried to reel in Anderson but just couldn’t close the distance. Anderson was putting down some heaters and Tomac would have to settle for fourth making it 4-4 on the day. It would be good enough for third overall on the day and although it wasn’t that start to the season he had last year, it was a great way to get rolling.
words/SETHHARNISHFEGER
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