VOLUME 57 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 6, 2020 P57
Adam Cianciarulo
(9) pulled his
seventh holeshot
in a row in the first
moto at Thunder
Valley. Unfortunately
for him, he could not
parlay that into his
third overall victory
of the season.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BROWNDOG WILSON
I
n the next-to-last round of the 2020 Lucas Oil
AMA Pro Motocross Championship at the WPS /
Fly Racing Thunder Valley National in Lakewood,
Colorado, Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac
and Star Racing Yamaha's Justin Cooper each put
in their best rides of the series to date, winning the
450MX and 250MX classes overall, respectively.
But points leaders Zach Osborne (450) and Dylan
Ferrandis managed their motos well and remain
firmly out front going into the last round this Satur-
day at Fox Raceway in Pala, California.
For Tomac, the three-time-running 450 Pro
Motocross Champion, the 2020 outdoor tour
has not been his best, as he had only won a
single round before his Colorado homecoming.
In the time since he clinched his first Monster
Energy AMA Supercross Championship after
several frustrating near-misses, Tomac has
not shown much of his beast-mode self on the
outdoor tour. But at Thunder Valley he seemed
motivated by the partisan fans who cheered him
on throughout the two motos.
"I'm thankful we were able to get back out to
Lakewood for one of the nine races we're hav-
ing this year," Tomac said after his 3-1 tally for
first overall. "I finally had a race where I felt like
myself. I was a little bit farther up on the start,
within touch. The first moto, I was out of reach
too early on. I felt like I rode the same both
motos, but in the second, I put myself in a better
position. It was a really good day for us, we've
been needing something. We've been in a rough
place; I've been kind of searching lately. It's
good to be back."
Tomac's younger teammate Cianciarulo had
led the first lap of each of the past six motos,
picking up the first two 450 wins of his career
along the way. He made it seven holeshots in a
row with a blistering first-moto start.
"I feel probably the most confident and com-
fortable I've been on the starting gate since I
can remember, probably ever," Cianciarulo said
after taking the checkers. "I'm really enjoying
that, and obviously the Kawasaki bike is abso-
lutely ripping, and that helps. I've been in that
position a lot lately and I kind of just picture it
SET
