Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac took over the points lead in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Championship with a runner-up finish last night in San Diego, California. Dylan Ferrandis finished third to cap off a great night for the team with a double podium at Petco Park.
Tomac showed strength with his charge towards the front in his heat race, taking the runner-up spot in the final moments. In the main event, he got a good start and quickly moved to third and then advanced to second on Lap 5. Although he was passed after the halfway mark, he kept riding his own race and reclaimed the position after the rider ahead had an issue. From there, he put in some solid laps to cross the line second. His debut podium with the team puts the red plate on his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing YZ450F as he heads into the next round with a one-point advantage.
Ferrandis also got the day off to a good start, narrowly missing the top spot in qualifying. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the start he was hoping for in his heat race and had to fight his way back from 13th to fifth. The Frenchman bounced back with a much better start in the main event and was sixth. A couple of laps later, he was shuffled to seventh but kept pushing, and then on Lap 12, he took advantage of a pair of riders that came together and slotted into fourth. Ferrandis gained another position five laps later and then kept cool under pressure with the competition on his heels to finish third and join his teammate on the podium.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads back to Angel Stadium of Anaheim for Round 4 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship on Saturday, January 29.
Jeremy Coker
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“What a night! My guys executed their starts, and it paid off. The team has worked very hard, so it’s great to see that all the work paid off. A double podium in the 450 class is hard to come by. We will keep our heads down and work even harder and will come out swinging next week to try and take the top spot.”
Eli Tomac
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a solid night. We have been improving every weekend, and we put ourselves in the game tonight with that start. It’s so nice when your work during the week pays off. I executed a good start in the main and was riding well; I was just consistent tonight and felt solid everywhere. It’s really cool how we’ve been improving every week, and now we’re on the podium and leave with the red plate. We are going to keep improving, keep getting better, and with a little bit of fine-tuning, we’ll be there. Consistency is going to be key this season, and we’re going to try and keep it going.”
Dylan Ferrandis
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“To finish on the box is great, so it was a good night for sure. We had some ups and downs, though. The practice was really good. I felt great on the bike and almost had the fastest lap, but in the heat race I got a bad start and didn’t finish up front, so I had a bad gate pick for the main event. I still managed to get a decent start, which was a lot of help, then I just charged my best to the front. I’m happy to get my first podium of the season, and to be on the box with my teammate is really cool. I think all the work that we did with the team and on the bike is paying off. We know what we need to work on, and if we can improve a little bit where our weaknesses are, I think we have a shot at the win at the next race.”
Words and pic: Yamaha
