Monster Energy AMA Supercross hurried from Dallas and the vast U.S. Bank Stadium into another superb facility in the form of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta last weekend and while reigning champion Ryan Dungey controlled proceedings for his second victory of the season Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac recovered from a bad start to rally to second spot.
For the twenty-sixth time the Georgia Dome welcomed the fastest and gnarliest indoor off-road racing series in the world and a 60,000+ crowd filled the stands to see if Tomac could add to his tally of three ’25 pointers’ from the eight rounds or Dungey would reply in kind. After some speculation that the No.1 was struggling for race-winning form, Dungey silenced the doubters and was helped by Tomac’s poor getaway. The Kawasaki man was able to claw his way through the field and overtake Blake Baggett with several laps to go until the chequered flag. He worked on the deficit to leader Dungey and was just over a second away at the finish line.
“Tonight ended well,” said Tomac. “Obviously, we wanted the win, but I know my speed was there as I made up 8+ seconds on the leader in the main, which gives me confidence. I just need to work on my starts to make these races easier on myself. Looking forward to rebounding next weekend.”
Yamaha’s Chad Reed posted one of his better results of the campaign in seventh place. Zach Osborne recorded a long overdue first career triumph in the second round of the 250SX East contest. Dallas victor Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy was, like Tomac, hamstrung by his start and spent the duration of the Main Event pulling through to fourth place.
“We struggled a little bit today and not getting the start in the main definitely made it for a tougher race than I wanted,” said Savatgy. “We are just two points back with seven rounds still to go so there is a lot of racing left. My goal is to be on the podium every race so I’m looking to get back up there next weekend.”
The Supercross ‘train’ will next roll to a stop at the Rogers Centre in Toronto for the sole non-American visit on the 2017 slate.