Results: Atlanta 1 supercross – Tomac and Thrasher on top as Roczen struggles
Eli Tomac took the win in Atlanta in dramatic fashion when race leader Chase Sexton got held up by a back marker with a lap to go when on the cusp of his first ever 450 supercross win! Sexton had inherited the lead from long time leader Aaron Plessinger after he went down just as Sexton and Webb started closing the gap to under four seconds.
Tomac was then the man putting the pressure on once both had disposed of Webb but Sexton had about a second lead when Cade Clason blocked the line and Sexton couldn’t do a double with the Honda rider forced to watch Eli literally fly by with only a lap to go.
Tomac said: “I came in here with a good mindset. I thought his track would suit me and it did.”
In the championship it was Cooper Webb who has taken complete control. Webb nailed the start as Roczen got caught in a first turn pile-up in a devastating contrast of fortunes for the Honda rider. From there Webb rode to third managing the championship as Roczen came back to ninth but he was caught and passed by Dylan Ferrandis who also had to come from the back of the pack. Roczen is now 22 points behind Webb with four to go.
Webb said: “We leave happy but I wasn’t pumped on that ride. I got the lead but didn’t execute. To gain points is always good on your bad days.”
It was a bad day for the Brits with Dean Wilson not qualifying and Max Anstie riding great early in the main around the top five only to clash with Vince Friese forcing both to DNF and Anstie in a lot of pain just as he was riding the best 450 main so far.
Nate Thrasher took a surprise but glorious win at Atlanta despite qualifying through the LCQ! The rookie got the start and checked out after McAdoo fell and showed just why Star Racing Yamaha fought hard to sign him for 2021. Justin Cooper suffered a bad start but came through to second with McAdoo third after Marchbanks threw away second place with a couple of laps to go to all but end his title chances.
The race being shortened by two minutes hurt Hunter Lawrence who got nudged to the ground by Justin Cooper in a tight first turn, the HRC Honda man coming back to seventh but had he two more laps, fifth was in reach.
Report: Jonathan McCready
