Another Heroic Ride for Monster Energy® Kawasaki Rider Eli Tomac at Budds Creek

Tomac started the day by showing his competition that he is willing to do anything to defend this championship by setting the fastest lap time in qualifying with a 2:04.6 to open Round 11 of the 2018 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. After a top 10 start in Moto 1, Tomac charged the rolling hills aboard his KX™450F making his way up to seventh place by the end of the first lap. From there, Tomac would spend the next 30 minutes slicing and dicing his way through the field and was able to move into third place on Lap 12, which is where he would finish the moto.

With a championship at stake and the temperatures rising, the stage was set for an incredible race in Moto 2.  Tomac would put in a heroic ride in the last moto of the day after finding himself in sixth place by the end of lap one. Tomac quickly started picking off his competitors one-by-one. After passing his way into third place on lap seven, Tomac set his sights on the two front-runners and charged his way to the front by averaging lap times, almost two full seconds faster than his competitors. By Lap 10, Tomac had moved into second place and wasn’t going to settle for anything less than the top spot of the podium and by the end of lap 11 he had achieved just that. Tomac rounded out the day with a 3-1 score, which was enough to take first place overall and extend his championship points lead to 20 with only one round remaining.

As the gate dropped for Moto 1, it was Forkner who immediately jumped out to a third-place start and avoided some turn one carnage. Forkner was able to ride a clean race the whole moto and rode his KX™ to third place. Savatgy struggled to find a rhythm in Moto 1 and ultimately came across the finish line in 11th.

In Moto 2, the story was almost identical to Moto 1 for the teammates, as both of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki machines rocketed out of the gate to start inside the top 10. Forkner once again was able to start in third place, while Savatgy found himself in a four-rider battle for the vast majority of the race. Forkner, who had been battling a cold during the week, ultimately succumbed to the high heat and humid temperatures and crossed the finish line in seventh place, giving him a fifth overall (3-7). Savatgy would end up finishing in 16th place in Moto 2, which earned him a 14th overall on the day (11-16).