Eli Tomac of Cortez charged to the front of the pack at High Point Raceway to win his first moto of 2021 and finish third overall in the premier 450cc motocross in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania.
After two motos Saturday, Dylan Ferrandis of Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha was first overall, with second-place finishes in both motos. Adam Cianciarulo, Tomac’s teammate on Monster Energy Kawasaki, was second overall with a win and fourth-place finish. Roczen was fourth, with two third-place finishes.
With his best race of the series so far – sixth- and first-place finishes –Tomac jumped into seventh place in the series. He entered the race in 10th place overall, with a season-best finish of eighth place in the opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California, on May 29.
Ferrandis regained his series points lead over Roczen, 45-40.
Next week, the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross goes to RedBud National Raceway in Buchanan, Michigan, for the fourth of 12 races in the championship series.
Cianciarulo won the holeshot and went on to win the first moto start to finish.
Chase Sexton followed Cianciarulo for 14 laps before crashing in the 15th of 17 laps. Ferrandis, who overtook Roczen for third place in Lap 8, filled Sexton’s position in Lap 15 and captured his fifth podium finish in five attempts. Roczen, Sexton and Aaron Plessinger filled out the top five.
Tomac was in eighth place after one lap in the first moto and and moved into sixth place after three laps. After a duel with Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger, he dropped into seventh, then was passed by Cooper Webb in Lap 8. He battled back into sixth place in Lap 10, and held on to the finish, 28.412 seconds off Cianciarulo’s pace.
Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates Cianciarulo and Tomac went to the lead in the first lap in the second motocross, but Tomac briefly gave way to holeshot winner Aaron Plessinger of Yamaha.
Tomac battled back into second in Lap 2, and with his fastest lap in the young race, closed in on Cianciarulo for the lead, just 3 seconds ahead.
Ferrandis, in fourth place after one lap, moved into third in Lap 3. Roczen, ninth at the start, charged into fourth in Lap 4.
The race began to look like a friendly Kawasaki run to the finish line, but Tomac, after posting a blazing-fast lap of 2 minutes, 3.580 seconds in Lap 4, surged forward with triple jumps and passed him for the lead in Lap 6.
With an open course in front of him, Tomac built a nearly 4-second lead over Cianciarulo in Lap 9, and a 5-second lead in Lap 10.
Ferrandis and Roczen continued their charge to the front and got by Cianciarulo in Lap 12 to finish second and third, respectively. Cianciarulo finished fourth, ahead of Sexton.
Earlier Saturday, Tomac qualified sixth in timed practice runs, with a fastest lap of 2 minutes, 2.363 seconds. Roczen, fastest at 1:59.440, was followed by Cianciarulo, Sexton, Ferrandis and Joseph Savatgy.
