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ELI TOMAC
450 MX / 1ST
IMAGE / CAVAZOS WORDS / ROEWER DESIGN / WILSON
>> After a tough break at the end of the Supercross season, Eli Tomac is more serious than ever heading into the outdoor season. Through the years, he has really excelled at outdoors putting forward some good rides, but fighting through injuries has held him back. Qualifying first for the day at round one of Outdoors, Tomac was putting himself out front early on. As the gate dropped for moto one Tomac had a weak jump leav-
ing him back around 10th through the first turn. He quickly pulled the trigger and was up to 4th before the first lap was even over. Railing the outside of a turn he flies by Cooper Webb into 3rd place just a couple minutes into the race. The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider wasted no time moving into second right behind the leader of Marvin Musquin. Not even ten minutes into the race he steals the lead from the KTM rider and immediately pulls away. Charging hard to distance himself from the other riders, Tomac was laying down some fast laps even with the brutal track conditions. As the moto neared its end, the Kawasaki rider had a solid 20 second lead but stuffed his front tire into a rut that caused him to go down cutting his lead short by 10 seconds. Tomac was so far ahead of Musquin that he didn’t notice the mistake. Making sure
his bike didn’t stall Tomac was up and moving in no time maintaining his strong lead through to the finish. Grabbing himself the first moto win of the season, Tomac was looking dominant off the get go. After a nice break from the heat, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider was lined up and ready to go for moto two. Unable to get the jump he needed Tomac was sitting outside the top ten through the first turn. Dealing with the heavy traffic ahead he had his work cut out for him and it wasn’t going to be easy. Just a few laps into the race Tomac was already up to fifth chasing down Dean Wilson. Slowly moving forward, he was up to 3rd in no time and chasing down Josh Grant who was not making it easy for his teammate. After he stole the position he began reeling in Musquin for 1st place. Brewing up quite a battle Musquin was not handing over his spot without a fight. Tomac made several attempts, but each time the KTM rider had the upper edge keeping his front spot. Never giving up, Tomac kept charging at him until he was able to hold onto a pass. Now in first and with only two laps left of the race he was charging to get to that finish. Going 1-1 for the first round of the season it’s looking to be a good year for Tomac.
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GRITMOTO • MAY 21, 2017