Tomac finishes fourth at Unadilla, still leads Musquin in series

Saturday, Aug 10, 2019 8:54 PM

Rider from Cortez is off the podium for first time this season

Eli Tomac finishes fourth overall Saturday at the Unadilla National in New Berlin, New York.

Kawasaki Racing

Eli Tomac finished off the podium Saturday at the Unadilla National, but his fourth-place finish in New Berlin, New York, was good enough to keep his big lead in the season standings.

It was the first time this season Tomac did not finish on the 450 Class podium. Has won eight of 20 motos and four of 10 overall races.

In the first moto, Tomac and Justin Bogle exited the first turn side by side, with Zach Osborne, Ken Roczen and privateer Coty Schock following them to the second turn. Roczen got by both Osborne and Bogle and immediately challenged Tomac for the lead, passing him before the end of the first lap. As Roczen stretched out a 12-second lead in Lap 6, Musquin also passed Tomac, moving into second.

Tomac, lacking the fire of his previous outing in Washougal, Washington, then began to drop farther back, falling to fourth place behind Justin Barcia in the 10th of 15 laps. He then gave way to Osborne in Lap 11, to Jason Anderson in Lap 12 and to Joey Savatgy in Lap 15. He finished seventh.

The Moto 1 podium went to Roczen, Musquin and Barcia. Osborne and Anderson rounded out the top five.

In the second moto, Musquin won the holeshot and led Osborne by 2.761 seconds after the first lap. Roczen was third, and Savatgy and Tomac rounded out the first five. Tomac challenged early in the race but midway through the race remained in fourth. He passed Osborne for third place in Lap 10 and remained there for the rest of the 15-lap race.

Roczen went on to victory and a sweep of the dayâ€™s motos. Musquin was second, and Osborne and Anderson rounded out the top five.

With seventh- and third-place finishes in the two motos, Tomac was fourth overall, behind Roczen. Musquin and Osborne. Anderson was fifth. Tomac picked up 34 points for the day, cutting his series lead to 40 points over Musquin.

Earlier Saturday, Tomac was the sixth-fastest qualifier, with a best lap of 2 minutes, 15.839 seconds. Roczen was first, at 2:11.482.

The Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross next goes to Budds Creek Motocross Park in Mechanicsville, Maryland, for the 11th of 12 races in the series.