Cycle News

SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4 / JANUARY 27, 2017 UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX STADIUM / GLENDALE, ARIZONA P58 iii My Own Race: 3 ELI TOMAC 1ST 450SX Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac is officially on the warpath after nabbing his second win in a row. "Starts were a big push for us this week and I was happy to get out front," said Tomac. "I was hitting every line today and the guys were still right on me, so I knew it was going to be a long race. I am really happy that we were able to run a clean race with as few mistakes as possible and take home the win. We have worked really hard to get as healthy as possible and I'm feeling really good about where we're at." 94 KEN ROCZEN 3RD 450SX Ken Roczen had another solid outing. Although he didn't get the win, he's happy with another podium and his steady riding. "We found ourselves on the podium again tonight with a third place, which is awe- some," the Honda HRC Team rider said. "We had a good heat race, but I really need to work on improving my starts. I have the speed and fitness, but I just need to put myself up front in the beginning. I was in sixth off the start, made some passes, and got myself into third. I rode some solid laps and was inching up on Justin [Barcia], but unfortunately, we ran out of time. All in all, I'm happy with tonight's racing. Obviously, we want to win, but after last weekend it was important to me to come out here and ride how I did. It was a big confidence booster. The team and everyone has been putting in a lot of work each week. I'm having a lot of fun right now and loving where we're at, so we'll keep building from here." 14 COLE SEELY 12TH 450SX After such a strong performance the week before at Anaheim II (Triple Crown), Honda HRC's Cole Seely struggled hard in Arizona and didn't break the top 10. "I'm really disappointed with tonight," he said. "I didn't have a great gate pick and somehow my boot got snagged on the metal start grate so I got a terrible start in the main. I worked my way forward a bit, but I almost went over the bars coming out of the sand and it kind of knocked the wind out of me. Mentally, I couldn't regroup after that. I wasn't tired physically, but after that I struggled to focus on hitting my marks." 10 JUSTIN BRAYTON 7TH 450SX Motoconcepts/SmarTop Honda's Justin Brayton absolutely dominated his heat race, leading every lap while never really being challenged by heavy hitters Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac or Marvin Musquin. But in the main event, his start did him in. "The heat [race] was awesome," Brayton said. "It's where I believe I belong, so it's not like I was super-surprised about that ride, but I knew I wanted to do it in the main, and I didn't quite do it. I was right in the middle of that pack with [Josh] Grant and [Jason] Anderson and all those guys, and that's what made it tough, because you want to pass guys, but as you're trying to do that, there are guys doing it to you, and it's easy to leave a door open. You had to be really defensive. It was a dogfight. Cooper [Webb] was on me, too, and then late in the race, I finally got Grant and Seely, but it was busy out there." 33 JOSH GRANT 10TH 450SX Monster Energy Kawasaki's Josh Grant had good speed in Arizona, and in the main event, despite a midpack start, he worked his way up past Jason Anderson, Justin Brayton and was working on Weston Peick for fifth when he got tight late in the race. Then a crash knocked him back to 10th. "The whole race was pretty intense," Grant said. "I didn't get the greatest

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