Eli Tomac needed a broom on Saturday for Round 7 of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series at the sandy Southwick track as he won his first Moto since Round 3 of last year and went on to sweep letting Ken Roczen know the season is far from over.
Tomac crossed the checkers for Moto 1 by 24 seconds looking much like the dominating force he was last year for the first five Motos before an injury at Thunder Valley ended his season. This year, he's raced well but hardly well enough to catch, or at times, keep up with the slick riding Roczen, until now.
Moto 1 started much like every other round this year as Roczen quickly worked his magic to the front passing Christophe Pourcel on the first lap with Tomac following shortly thereafter. But unlike the previous five Motos, Tomac traded the lead once with Roczen before making an inside pass and checked out for the win, officially putting to rest any argument about Roczen's bid for an undefeated season because of that Round 2 fork issue that resulted in a sure-win to fourth-place finish in Moto 1.
Eli Tomac finally had Ken Roczen in his rear view
Moto 2 wasn't much different as Justin Bogle grabbed his second Holeshot of the day but this time was grounded by Pourcel after a front-wheel swipe in a turn on the first lap ending his day. Roczen followed in second while Tomac worked his way from fourth. About eight minutes into the Moto it was Tomac and Roczen once again fighting for the lead.
Roczen said after Moto 1 that his air forks got worse in that race and the team made some adjustments for Moto 2 which seemed to work in his favor as he held off a feisty Tomac. But at the halfway mark, Tomac made a wide sweep around a turn, got past Roczen and pulled ahead. The excitement was far from over, however, as Tomac went down about five minutes later when he tucked the front in, lost the lead and inexplicably got it right back.
Tomac held on for the win and overall, often bouncing through sections on one of the roughest tracks of the year.
"That was a race or a battle of a lifetime. This is a huge relief for us, our first win of the season, our first Moto wins of the season. That was a good race," Tomac said. "One thing you do is never give up. We're just over halfway now. There's quite a few races left. It's never over till it's over. We're going to keep fighting."
Roczen finished second overall and saw his lead dip by six points but he's still holds a 47 point gap and if the remaining rounds finish the same way as Southwick he'd still win the Championship with room to spare.
Ken Roczen finished second overall and his Moto win streak ended at nine but he still has a large lead in the Championship standings
"I feel like my bike wasn't good enough for these kinds of conditions," Roczen said. "I tried to put up a fight in the second Moto, try to get a win or at least hang with him and that's what I did, so I am pretty happy with how we rebounded from that first one."
Justin Barcia got his first podium of the year taking third overall after a (6-3) day gaining a point on Marvin Musquin, who finished fourth overall and holds on to third-place in the Championship standings. After two straight podiums, Broc Tickle finished eighth overall but moved into fifth place for total points, 10 behind Barcia.
In the 250 class, Cooper Webb had little trouble managing the sand taking a wire-to-wire win in Moto 2 and his third straight overall adding to what's quickly become a commanding lead in the Championship points. Webb was 20 points behind Joey Savatgy after Round 4 at High Point but now boasts a 37 point margin.
Cooper Webb had the gas on all day at Southwick
In Moto 1, Jeremy Martin got his first win since Thunder Valley after grabbing the Holeshot, losing the lead briefly to Shane McElrath, and then getting back out front for the final 11 laps, with Webb less than two seconds behind and Arnaud Tonus taking third.
In Moto 2, Webb's primarily challenger was rookie Austin Forkner, who qualified fastest on the day and after trailing Webb for five minutes attempted the pass but Webb held his line and throttled a larger gap leaving Forkner further behind for good. Meanwhile, Martin battled his way from fifth at the start trying to get into position for the overall win and tucked his front wheel trying to pass McElrath for third and fell to 12th.
Zach Osborne fell in the same spot later trying to pass Savatgy for fifth and with time expired and three laps remaining, Savatgy went down giving fifth-place to a charging Martin, who then passed Aaron Plessinger for fourth giving him the points to take second-overall. Forkner held on to second for his best career Moto finish and first overall podium in third. Alex Martin took third in Moto 2 for fourth overall.
Jeremy Martin finished second overall
Savatgy who crashed last week ending his podium streak at three finished ninth overall and is now just a point ahead of Martin, the two-time defending Champion. Sure, Martin closed the gap on the one-time points leader but both riders continue to lose ground on the surging Webb.
Riders leave the sand behind and head to Spring Creek on Saturday in Millville, MN. Buy tickets online or at the racetrack.
2016 Southwick Motocross Results
Southwick 450 Class Results
- Eli Tomac (1-1)
- Ken Roczen (2-2)
- Justin Barcia (6-3)
- Marvin Musquin (3-7)
- Weston Peick (7-4)
- Christophe Pourcel (5-5)
- Benny Bloss (8-6)
- Broc Tickle (10-8)
- Justin Brayton (9-9)
- Andrew Short (11-11)
Southwick 250 Class Results
- Cooper Webb (2-1)
- Jeremy Martin (1-4)
- Austin Forkner (5-2)
- Alex Martin (7-3)
- Aaron Plessinger (4-5)
- Arnaud Tonus (3-8)
- Zach Osborne (8-7)
- Luke Renzland (12-9)
- Joey Savatgy (10-11)
- Martin Davalos (16-6)
2016 Motocross Season Standings
450 Class Standings
- Ken Roczen (337)
- Eli Tomac (290)
- Marvin Musquin (201)
- Justin Barcia (181)
- Broc Tickle (171)
- Christophe Pourcel (168)
- Cole Seely (151)
- Justin Bogle (136)
- Ryan Dungey (131)
- Justin Brayton (120)
250 Class Standings
- Cooper Webb (290)
- Joey Savatgy (253)
- Jeremy Martin (252)
- Alex Martin (232)
- Zach Osborne (217)
- Austin Forkner (202)
- Aaron Plessinger (186)
- Arnaud Tonus (138)
- Shane McElrath (132)
- RJ Hampshire (132)
