Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac secured a top-five finish despite challenging conditions last night at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. With the big picture in mind, the reigning 450SX Champion rode smart to keep it on two wheels and leave the fifth round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and SuperMotocross World Championship Series with the red plate still in his grasp.
“It was a bit of an off day for my riding. I struggled with finding a comfort zone during the night show, with the conditions being on the edge of slick and decent traction. Overall we learned a lot about those conditions for the future, and I’m happy to still have the points lead.”
Tomac got the day off to a good start and was third on the combined timesheets, but it was a completely different track for the night show as it started raining after qualifying. It looked like the rain was done for the day, but the skies opened up again during the second heat race of the 250 class, making for tricky conditions. Tomac finished third in his heat race and then found himself seventh after the first lap of the main event. Undeterred, he advanced to fifth, where he would finish to salvage points and leave with a two-point advantage in the championship.
Jeremy Coker the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager felt that the result in Tampa didn’t change a lot as his rider is ready to battle for the major points on every occasion.
“It was a good day, overall, even though the results don’t show it. The track was tough with the sand, and then obviously, there was an extra element with the rain before the night show. It just added a little trickiness to it, and Eli wasn’t super comfortable with the soil out there. It’s just one of those nights where it was better not to risk it and bring it home where we did and keep the points lead. So, we’ll go to work this week and make some changes to the bike to get him a little more comfortable and come back swinging for Oakland.”
Now onto the west coast again where Tomac will try and get another victory at the Oakland track, the venue that was washed out last month. Just a few points ahead of Chase Sexton and a few more from Cooper Webb, the pressure is now on, and for my money, it might get tough in the coming weeks for all three riders.
