WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 54 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 10, 2017 P53
I just tried to play it cool and put my laps
in, no mistakes, gauge where I was at
and see where Marvin was at."
Dungey would end up finishing over 16
seconds behind Roczen, while Musquin
finished third, just over another second
back. But it wasn't over for Tomac.
Only five laps later, Tomac found him-
self struggling to keep Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna's Jason Anderson behind
him, and Anderson made the pass up
the inside as the pair crossed the start
straightaway. And in the last few laps, it
was all Tomac could do to hold off Roc-
zen's teammate Cole Seely for fifth. He
just managed to do so, finishing
just in front of Seely, Butler Broth-
ers KTM's Davi Millsaps, Monster
Energy JGR Suzuki's Weston
Peick, Tomac's teammate Josh
Grant, Monster Energy Yamalube
Factory Yamaha's Cooper Webb,
track down a little bit more," Roczen said.
"But I think it was a good idea because
obviously during practice, the transitions
were really soft, so it made it difficult on
us no matter what."
Defending champion Ryan Dungey
soon caught Musquin for third, and the
battle between the two KTM teammates
and training partners moved them up to
Tomac's rear wheel before Dungey got
the pass made, and then Tomac fell into
the clutches of the KTM duo. Unable to
hold on, Tomac couldn't keep the KTMs
behind him, and they relegated him to
fourth place.
"[By then, Roczen] had a
decent-sized lead, but for me,
I was just more focused on not
making a crazy mistake," Dungey
said. "The track was pretty tough
tonight. It would reach out and
bite you if you tried too hard. So
Dungey (1)
puts the move
on a fading
Eli Tomac for
second place
on the ninth lap.
