Eli Tomac of Cortez led start to finish Saturday in the second race at the Florida National and seized the lead in the 450 Class of the AMA Pro Motocross series.
Tomac and Ken Roczen entered Jacksonville, Florida, tied in points, but Tomac was on top of the standings with four moto wins to Roczen’s three. Tomac also appeared to have the momentum in the series after a win last week at High Point Raceway in Pennsylvania.
Still, he needed a fast start to overcome a disappointing finish in the first moto.
In the first moto, Cooper Webb won the holeshot, but Roczen was right behind him. During an intensely competitive start, Roczen overtook Webb in the second lap and ran out to a three-second lead. Marvin Musquin was in third.
Tomac finished the first lap in the middle of the field, in 18th place. He made up some ground on the sandy track in the second lap, moving into 12th, then battled with Fredrik Noren for six laps before gaining the upper hand in the ninth lap and a seventh-place finish after 16 laps.
Meanwhile, Musquin raced from third place to a victory over Roczen with a pass in the seventh lap and an easy seven-second victory. Jason Anderson, Webb and Zach Osborne rounded out the top five.
In the second moto, Tomac won the holeshot and raced to a 2.407-second lead over Anderson by the end of the first lap. Anderson chased Tomac until the 10th lap, when he began to fade. Moto 1 winner Musquin took up the slack and began to challenge Tomac for the lead until he himself was passed by Osborne in the 14th of 16 laps.
With a win in the first moto and a third in the second moto, Musquin (1-3) got the overall win at WW Ranch Motocross Park. Tomac (7-1) was second with 39 points for the day’s racing, and Osborne (5-2) was a close third with 38 points.
Roczen (2-10) finished 10th in the second moto and sixth overall, with 33 points.
Tomac now leads Roczen in the series standings, 215-209.
He attributed his turnaround in Moto 2 to a better start.
“I just didn’t go anywhere in the sand,” Tomac said about the first moto. “Made a few changes (in the second moto) and just got a better feel. That was a good test for me.”
After two qualifying rounds Saturday, Tomac posted the third-fastest lap, at 2 minutes and 9.237 seconds. Anderson was the top qualifier for the second consecutive week, with a best lap of 2:08.178. Roczen was second, at 2:08.910, and Osborne and Justin Barcia rounded out the top five.
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series nest goes to Southwick (Massachusetts) National for the sixth of 12 races on Saturday, June 29.