For a third weekend in a row GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac dominated the Western Regional Supercross Lites Class and carries a 22-point lead heading into San Diego.
Media Release
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Posted February 11, 2012
San Diego, CA
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 6 of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship from San Diego, CA will air LIVE on SPEED Saturday, February 11 at 10:30pm ET. #SXonSPEED
For a third weekend in a row GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac dominated the Western Regional Supercross Lites Class and carries a 22-point lead heading into San Diego.
“Going into the next race it is definitely nice having those 22 points as a cushion,” said Tomac. “I am going to try and keep getting good starts and try not to make any mistakes throughout the rest of the rounds. I am looking forward to San Diego since it is where I got my first Supercross Lites Class win and is the home to my favorite football team.”
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson sits second in points, but has his sights on nothing but the championship. After a disappointing finish in the season opener in Anaheim, Wilson came back the next weekend to win. Following last weekend second race in Anaheim, Wilson is looking to come back swinging once again.
“I worked really hard last week and didn’t have the finish to show for it, so this weekend our work should pay off,” said Wilson. “At this point I’m focused on nothing but getting the win in order to make up some ground in the points before we take a break.”
Rockstar Energy Racing’s Martin Davalos was one to watch at Anaheim. The Supercross Lites Class rider was in the hunt for his heat race and carded a third-place finish. In the main, Davalos went down at the start but rallied quickly and worked his way through the pack to finish up in 10th.
“I felt pretty good out there and got a good start,” said Davalos. “But it felt like someone hit me from behind and I went down. Then, I was coming through the pack and Jason (Anderson) lost his front end or rear end, and I went down with him, so I had to come from last to 10th. I kind of rode my own pace and there was definitely an improvement there. Now, I’m going to try and work on some starts and come back strong for San Diego.”
Rockstar Energy Racing teammate Jason Anderson had a tough weekend and struggled a bit as he was feeling remnants of his crash last weekend in Oakland. Although Anderson made it to the main event, he went down with Davalos early on and was unable to recover.
Star Valli Yamaha’s Nico Izzi rode strong in Anaheim and carded a top-five result in the Supercross Lites Class.
“This was a good race for us,” said Izzi. “We had the fastest lap in practice and I felt really strong. I finished fourth in my heat race and then, in the main, I finished fifth. I wasn’t pushing out there because the track was super-slick and I didn’t want to do anything dumb and fall, I just wanted to try and come out with a top-five finish and I ended up doing that. San Diego should be a good one, I’ll just keep on working on my weaknesses and come back fighting.”
Star Valli Yamaha teammate Ryan Sipes also impressed at Anaheim, although his final results didn’t do justice to his concentrated efforts. Sipes was lightning-fast in his heat race and came from behind to finish second. In the Supercross Lites main, he turned fast, smooth, consistent laps for most of the race before he made a few mistakes that saw him finish 11th.
“I feel like I rode really good all day,” said Sipes. “In practice I was either first or a tenth off being first. In the heat race, I came from about 16th to second, and I felt like my speed was really good. In the main event, I rode 13 really good laps. I was as fast as the leaders or faster… Then, I had a mistake in the sand and went down. I got up and had another mistake and went down again. Now, all I can do is look forward to San Diego and try to get better.”
Rounding out the Star Valli Yamaha squad in Supercross Lites Class is Gareth Swanepoel, who finished second in the LCQ. In the main, Swanepoel was running in the top 10 when a get-off resulted in him finishing 15th.
“I was going good for the first five or six laps,” said Swanepoel. “Then I made a stupid mistake and went down, and got up completely lost. But before that, I’d made some big improvements so I’m happy overall. My goal for San Diego is to get a solid top-10 result.”
Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/ Honda’s Cole Seely made his way to the podium once again at Anaheim Race two after taking the win at the season opener just a few weeks earlier.
“The day went well. I came out of practice in third which was nice because I normally struggle in qualifying but it helped boost my confidence going into the night,” said Seely. “I got a great start in the main and lead until I washed out coming onto the start straight but I was able to get up and stay in second. I always want to win but my main focus is staying consistent.”
Tune into the enhanced exclusive weekly video content from Supercross LIVE! during the entire 2012 season on SupercrossOnline.com, the Official Website of Monster Energy Supercross.
Weekly Supercross LIVE! Video Content Schedule
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