The Monster Energy® Kawasaki team of Eli Tomac and Tyler Bowers arrived in Washougal, Washington for Round 9 of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season prepared to race for the podium. Tomac started the day off on the right foot, riding his KX™450F to the top of the field in qualifying. On the first lap of 450 Moto 1 Tomac crossed the line in sixth with teammate Bowers in 13th. Tomac immediately began working towards the front and on the second lap was able to make the pass for fifth and follow it up with another pass for fourth. Within the next five minutes Tomac made yet another pass for third while Bowers raced his No. 53 KX450F into 12th. Tomac would remain third until the closing minutes of the moto, when he was able to race the No. 3 Monster Energy Kawasaki into second, where he would remain until the checkers while teammate Bowers crossed the line in 12th.
At the start of the second 450 moto, Tomac exited Turn 1 in fourth, immediately zeroing in on the leaders and within a few corners had taken third. On Lap 2, Tomac blew by second place, around the outside of a turn, inheriting the position and now focusing on the leader. Meanwhile teammate Bowers fought for position inside the top ten. Eight minutes into the moto, Tomac caught up to the leader, made a clean pass and took the lead, immediately gapping the field. With five minutes remaining in the moto Tomac continued to set the pace at the front with an 8.7 second gap to second place, with Bowers racing in 13th. At the checkers it would be Tomac placing the Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450F first, finishing 2-1 and winning the overall, with Bowers finishing 12-12 for 11th overall.
“Today felt great to finally win on a real track,” said Tomac. “It took me a while to get going in the first moto and by the time I got my grove and was in second, the leader had checked out. Second moto was all around better, I believe. I got off to a better start, charged to the front quicker and made the pass for the lead relatively early. It feels great to win on a normal track and continue to move forward with the team.”
“Today went really well,” said Bowers. “The Kawasaki boys and I got some great work done during the week and came into this weekend feeling good. From the first practice to the last lap of the second moto I felt way better on the bike and I believed it showed as I went 12-12 for 11th overall. I’m really looking forward to breaking into the top-10.”
The four rider team of Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rolled into Washougal MX park looking to own the podium with Joey Savatgy, Austin Forkner, Arnaud Tonus, and Adam Cianciarulo. At the gate drop for 250 Moto 1, Savatgy rounded the first turn in third with Tonus and Cianciarulo in 10th and 13th respectively with Forkner in 22nd. Five minutes into the moto Tonus and Cianciarulo had raced their KX™250F motorcycles towards the front with Tonus seventh and Cianciarulo breaking into the top ten. After another five minutes the No. 44 of Cianciarulo had climbed into sixth, while Tonus sat eighth and Forkner raced his way up into 13th. With ten minutes remaining Savatgy continued to battle for the lead while Forkner continued to push forward, now in 11th. When the two-lap board was displayed, Savatgy crossed the line in second, with Cianciarulo sixth followed closely by Tonus in seventh and Forkner in 10th. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team would remain in that order until the checkers.
At the start of Moto 2 Savatgy came out of Turn 1 in second with Forkner close behind. Savatgy immediately attempted an aggressive pass for the lead, allowing the rookie Forkner to sneak by into the lead leaving Savatgy in second while Cianciarulo raced for position in fifth. Moments later Savatgy would tangle with another rider and stall his motorcycle, pushing Cianciarulo off the track in the process and allowing Forkner a breakaway lead as one of the few riders not slowed down by the incident. At the end of Lap 1 Forkner crossed the line in first, Cianciarulo in seventh, Tonus 14th and Savatgy 23rd. With five minutes of the moto in the rear view mirror, the No. 214 of Forkner remained out front with the rest of his teammates moving forward, Cianciarulo now in fifth, Tonus 11th and Savatgy 21st. At the halfway mark, Forkner remained the race leader in first with Cianciarulo and Tonus eighth and ninth respectively and Savatgy in 15th. When the two-lap board was shown, Forkner had stretched his lead up to over eight seconds with Cianciarulo and Tonus up to sixth and eighth respectively and Savatgy crossing the line in 11th. At the checkered flag, the rookie Forkner earned the first Pro Motocross moto win of his career, finishing 10-1 on the day for second overall. Savatgy’s 2-11 earned fourth overall with Cianciarulo’s 6-7 earning sixth overall and Tonus’ 7-8 earning eight overall on the day.
“Today was awesome,” said Forkner. “I spun off the start in Moto 1 which hurt us going into the first turn, but I did what I could and climbed my way back up inside the top-10. I knew my speed was there in Moto 1, but I just needed a start. So I adjusted a few things for the second moto and got off to a much better start. When my teammate left the door open for me to pass him and the leader, I took it and the next thing I knew I couldn’t hear anyone behind me, so I began to sprint as hard as I could to get away. I basically just rode as smooth and consistent as I could to maintain my lead and sure enough it worked and came home with the win. I was so happy that I was screaming in my helmet the entire last lap.”
“Today was good,” said Cianciarulo. “I was really gelling with the track all day and the team had the bike working awesome. Overall, today was by far my best ride of the year so far, which feels great going into the two week break.”
“Today wasn’t bad,” said Tonus. “Besides my poor starts, I made a lot of strong passes all day and my intensity was high all moto which is an improvement for me, which feels nice. I just need to keep building on each weekend.”
“Today started off really well,” said Savatgy. “After practice I felt the most confident on the bike I’ve felt all season. The first moto was good, even though I should have made the pass for the lead a few times but didn’t want to take the risk in falling down. I got off to another great start in the second moto until I tangled with another rider. Unfortunately, the incident bent a lot of parts on the bike in which hurt my overall performance. I’m stoked to leave in one piece and looking forward in having a nice long break.”
