Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac earned his third straight win and the fifth of the season as the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship made its return to Ford Field last night in Detroit. After a three-year hiatus, the fans were back to witness a wild night of racing, with Tomac putting in a come-from-behind ride to extend his lead in the 450SX Championship to a healthy 42 points. Dylan Ferrandis had a great night going but had a hard landing short of a jump and withdrew from the race.
The day started out decent for Tomac, who qualified fourth overall in the afternoon practice sessions. The track was challenging and provided a lot more grip than the riders have been used to the last few weeks. He found his form in the heat race and took the win. In the main event, he got a nice jump out of the gate but found himself mid-pack after the first turn. Tomac used the first 10 minutes of the main event to pick off riders one by one, making it into the lead by halfway. He kept his focus and ran his own race, crossing the finish line with his fifth win of the season. The challenging track conditions caught out many riders, including his closest competition in the championship, giving Tomac a comfortable 42-point lead with seven rounds to go.
Ferrandis put in a solid lap during qualifying to end up just behind his teammate in fifth. His heat race was challenging as he had a moment early in the race and was forced to come back from ninth to finish sixth. Similar to Tomac, Ferrandis’ start in the main event pushed him outside the top 10, but the Frenchman was showing solid speed as he moved forward. He had made it up to fifth, but with seven laps remaining, he came up short on a jump and unfortunately had to withdraw with a sore wrist.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team will head to the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, March 19, for Round 11 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“Eli put in another championship ride tonight. It was tough out there, but he fought his way to the front and made some big gains in the points. Dylan was riding well all day, and everything was going good, but unfortunately, he came up short on a jump and jammed his wrist. He was evaluated by the Alpinestars’ Mobile Medical unit and everything looked okay, but we are going to take it day by day.”
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“It was a wild night of racing overall and a great result for us. I had a good start down the first straight away but then got bumped in turn one and was shuffled back. From there I had to go to work. I had a good line on the right side of the whoops, which is where I was making the majority of my passes. I just felt good, and the motorcycle was great for how technical the track was. Once I got to the lead, I just kept pushing. After the halfway point, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – some of the best guys were down on the track, and it was a bummer to see. At that point, I just kept doing my thing and kept my focus, and that was it. It was a good night for the championship and another race win; we’ll keep pushing.”
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing
“I felt good coming into the weekend, and the day was going well. I had a moment during my heat race but was able to come back to sixth. In the main event, I didn’t get a great start but kept pushing and was fifth, then, unfortunately, went short on the quad and was unable to finish. It’s very frustrating to have another bad night, but we will go back this week and work to recover and come back next week.”
