MOTOCROSS
LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 9 / JULY 23, 2016
WASHOUGAL, WASHINGTON / WASHOUGAL MX PARK
P52
450MX
It seemed all Monster Energy
Kawasaki's Eli Tomac needed
in order to give Soaring Eagle
Casino/Jimmy John's Suzuki's
Ken Roczen a run for his money
at Washougal was to get a good
start. But he didn't. Instead, it
was AutoTrader.com/Monster
Energy/JGR Yamaha's Phil
Nicoletti who snatched the
holeshot over BTOSports/KTM's
Andrew Short, Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Christophe Pour-
cel, Roczen and Short's rookie
teammate Benny Bloss in moto
one. Tomac started near the tail
end of the top 10, and Roczen
went to work right away. First, he
went by Pourcel heading into the
Washougal S-turn, then by Short
for second a couple of turns
later. About five turns after that,
Roczen blitzed the Washougal
whoops to pass Nicoletti for the
lead just before they crossed the
line to complete lap one.
Tomac finished the opening
lap in sixth, just behind the lead
group.
It took Tomac only two laps to
pass his way into third, but once
he got there, he ran into Pour-
cel, who was very much game in
the opening moto. Tomac wasn't
feeling it.
"I was a little bit off, and I was
tight for the first half of the race,"
Tomac said later. "But it came
around the second half."
Tomac chased Pourcel for
almost 10 laps before finally
making a pass stick, and within
100 yards of the pass, Pourcel—
