Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac put in a championship ride to score a runner-up finish yesterday in grueling conditions at Oracle Park, Round 2 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross in San Francisco, California. The multi-time champion’s second-place finish strengthened his position in the 450SX title chase and moved him up to a tie for third place. Cooper Webb battled in the challenging conditions and salvaged points with an 11th-place finish. His teammate Justin Cooper also struggled in the worsening conditions at Oracle Park and did not make the main after a crash in the LCQ took him out of a qualifying position.
Riders and the teams were presented with a challenging second round of the championship, with rain leading up to the event and also on race day. With an abbreviated schedule and only one session on track before the night show, Tomac had a solid qualifying result in 10th and was fourth in the first 450 heat race of the evening. From there, he got a flying start in the main event and was just shy of a holeshot. Tomac rode a superb race to finish second and leaves Round 2 tied for third in the point standings. It was a great comeback after a tough first round at Anaheim 1, and the Colorado rider heads to Snapdragon Stadium, where he won last season, trailing the leader by 10 points.
Webb got the day off to a solid start with a top-five finish and went on to finish second in his heat race. The North Carolina rider didn’t get the start he was looking for in the main event and found himself seventh. As rain deluged Oracle Park, Webb continued to battle in the worsening conditions but was ultimately shuffled back to 11th.
It was also a tough day for their teammate Cooper, who found himself qualifying 21st with just one session for the rookie to find a fast time in the challenging conditions. From there, it was an uphill battle with a less-than-ideal gate pick in his heat race. He fought his way back to 14th but had to go to the LCQ. Cooper was in a position to make the transfer but unfortunately crashed in the tricky conditions and did not make the main event.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads back south to San Diego, California, for Round 3 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the SuperMotocross World Series at Snapdragon Stadium on January 20.
Jeremy Coker – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager
“It was a tough one tonight, but Eli once again rode phenomenal in some of the worst mud conditions we’ve seen in a long time. It was a great comeback from last weekend and has us back in the title fight. Unfortunately, both Cooper and Justin struggled tonight, but overall, it was a good day and just one of those races with a lot of unknowns. Our team did a great job despite the conditions and limited track time. We’re going go back to work this week and look to get all three guys on the podium.”
Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #3
“We got off to a great start last night and almost had the holeshot. The conditions were so treacherous; honestly it was one of the toughest mud races I’ve raced. Some of the ruts were so deep you could completely get stuck if you took the wrong lines! I’m grateful for our crew. They had their work cut out for them the whole day and kept the bike running in top shape.”
Cooper Webb – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #2
“It was a pretty tough day in San Francisco. The conditions were definitely difficult. Qualifying went pretty well. I ended up in the top five and then finished second in the heat race, which was great. In the main event, I didn’t get the start we needed to get, and I rode around with the guys and just got passed. I had a little bit of goggle issues, but overall, it was a tough night in really tough conditions. It was not the result we were looking for, but we will come back swinging at San Diego and hopefully get some dry conditions to show them what we’ve got.”
Justin Cooper – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #32
“I really struggled with the tough conditions all day and night. With crashes in both qualifying races, it made it even tougher on me, and I wasn’t able to find a flow. It’s the first main I’ve missed in my career, so it’s a tough pill to swallow, but we will just have to put it behind us and build off how we rode at A1.”
