450MX MOTO 1 – Glen Helen
There wasn’t much of a contest between Eli Tomac and Ryan Dungey last week, but today’s first moto at Glen Helen delivered plenty of action between the two.
Once again though, you can chalk the win up to Tomac.
Right off the start, it was two JGR Yamahas up front, with Justin Barcia earning the MotoSport.com Holeshot and Phil Nicoletti behind him. (This was a common theme last year, too: remember, Josh Grant turned a holeshot into a moto win aboard a JGR Yamaha last year at this track.)
Nicoletti briefly grabbed the race lead from his teammate, but Barcia would reassume it on the next lap. Behind them, Dungey and Tomac were coming though.
Dungey got off to a better start than Tomac, so the Red Bull KTM rider was the first to work his way to the front of the field, passing Barcia on lap 3 to take the lead. It was only a matter of time before Tomac made his way into second and set up a showdown between the two.
Dungey spent several laps defending the lead from a fierce challenge by Tomac. A few times, Tomac nearly got him on the hills, but Dungey held him off. The battle came to an abrupt end though when Dungey’s bike stalled rounding a corner. Tomac went by him and had smooth sailing to the checkered flag for the rest of the race.
That wouldn’t be the end of Dungey’s bike problems – he stalled once again, this time on the final lap of the race, in the same spot on the track and dropped back to sixth place, losing valuable points in the process.
While they couldn’t match the speed of Dungey or Tomac, it was still a great moto for JGR Yamaha. Earlier in the week, Barcia told us that he still had a lot of improvements to make, but he expected himself to return to the ranks of the top three. He was in the top three all throughout this race and ended up finishing second. Nicoletti joined him on the podium with a third-place finish, and the third member of team – Weston Peick – finished inside the top five.
In the opening stages of the race, Ken Roczen experienced a setback after coming together with Jason Anderson. Once he got his bike untangled and back up to speed, Roczen would spend the rest of the moto working his way back up through the field. He finished eighth but certainly came into this moto looking for a better result after posting the fastest lap time in practice.
450MX MOTO 2 – Glen Helen
Eli Tomac proved that last week’s domination was no fluke. He won his fourth straight moto to start the season and remains undefeated heading into Thunder Valley.
The key to this moto for Tomac was his start – he got the MotoSport.com Holeshot, and without needing to battle any other riders, he was able to check out.
Dungey was right behind Tomac at the start but once again had no answer for the GEICO Honda rider and had to settle for second place. Despite his bike trouble in Moto 1, Dungey’s 6-2 moto scores were enough to land him on the podium in third overall.
Running behind Dungey throughout the moto was Ken Roczen. Roczen’s first moto was rough, but he rebounded well in this one en route to a third-place finish.
Justin Barcia secured second overall on the day with a fourth-place moto finish, as he held off Jason Anderson in the final laps for the position. Anderson rounded out the top five in Moto 2.
With today’s sweep, coupled with Dungey’s bike problems in Moto 1, Tomac extended his points lead to 19 over the two-time 450MX champion.
GLEN HELEN 450 MOTO 1 RESULTS
1. Eli Tomac
2. Justin Barcia
3. Phil Nicoletti
4. Chad Reed
5. Weston Peick
6. Ryan Dungey
7. Blake Baggett
8. Ken Roczen
9. Christophe Pourcel
10. Justin Brayton
11. Wil Hahn
12. Broc Tickle
13. Fredrik Noren
14. Cole Seely
15. Tommy Hahn
16. Kyle Cunningham
17. Matt Lemoine
18. Vince Friese
19. Kyle Chisholm
20. Tony Archer
GLEN HELEN 450 MOTO 2 RESULTS
1. Eli Tomac
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Ken Roczen
4. Justin Barcia
5. Jason Anderson
6. Weston Peick
7. Blake Baggett
8. Chad Reed
9. Cole Seely
10. Christophe Pourcel
11. Brett Metcalfe
12. Josh Grant
13. Fredrik Noren
14. Tommy Hahn
15. Broc Tickle
16. Kyle Chisholm
17. Kyle Cunningham
18. Wil Hahn
19. Vince Friese
20. Jesse Wentland
GLEN HELEN 450 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Eli Tomac (1-1)
2. Justin Barcia (2-4)
3. Ryan Dungey (6-2)
4. Ken Roczen (8-3)
5. Weston Peick (5-6)
6. Chad Reed (4-8)
7. Blake Baggett (7-7)
8. Christophe Pourcel (9-10)
9. Phil Nicoletti (3-21)
10. Cole Seely (14-9)