Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac is turning the 2017 AMA Supercross 450SX championship into a riveting contest. #3 was exceptional in front of more than 60,000 fans to take his third win in a row and the sixth of the season to close the gap to Ryan Dungey at the top of the standings to just 12 points with six rounds remaining. The Lucas Oil stadium at Indianapolis was again a wonderful stage for supercross and the packed crowd were animated when Tomac and title rival Dungey moved into first and second positions early in the Main Event.
Tomac rolled his form and confidence from Toronto and Daytona into defending his lead and after Dungey made a slight mistake (and even lost a position to teammate Marvin Musquin) ‘ET’ was free to build a margin of almost six seconds by the chequered flag.
Not only is Tomac the ‘winningest’ athlete in Monster Energy Supercross this year but has now created a gripping showdown with reigning number one Dungey with meetings in Detroit, St Louis, Seattle, Salt Lake City, New Jersey and Las Vegas to go.
“This [season] is everything you could ever dream of, other than winning the championship,” said Tomac, who ended Dungey’s streak of three-in-a-row at Indianapolis. “Right now we’re winning races, so it’s pretty cool. I don’t know what to say, we’re rolling right now. This is good for us. We’re doing what we need to do, but we’ve got to keep doing it.”
Yamaha’s Chad Reed filled seventh place while JGR Suzuki’s Justin Barcia grabbed another top ten slot on his path back to form and confidence after injury with tenth spot behind Jason Anderson.
In the fifth round of the 250SX East series, points leader Zach Osborne may have triumphed again but the veteran knew he was in a hard chase with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy pressuring the former MXGP man right up to the chequered flag. The KX250F rider made the running on the Lucas Oil floor until a robust challenge from Osborne midway through the race. Just two seconds split the pair as the flames rocketed from the finish line bridge and just 9 points divide the rivals in the standings with two meetings and the Vegas East-West shootout to come. Daytona winner Adam Cianciarulo came home fifth.
“We made some progress tonight, but I didn’t feel like I got into my groove until later in the race,” said Savatgy. “I got a little tight and after Zach (Osborne) went by, I got into a better rhythm and did my best to find an opportunity. We still have three big races left in the season and I’m ready to push until the end.”
With little respite, Monster Energy Supercross rockets across to Ford Field in Detroit next Saturday.