2013 AMA Pro Motocross Champion
GEICO Motorcycle Honda’s Eli Tomac clinched the AMA Pro Motocross Championship 250cc class title on Saturday at the Built Ford Tough Utah National by sweeping both motos in his fourth straight event.
It’s Tomac’s first outdoor title as a pro and his second professional championship overall. He won the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Lites West title, which he also clinched in Utah.
Eli Tomac (GEICO Honda CRF250R Motocross) says: “When I woke up this morning, I didn’t know if it would happen here or not. To do it here is kind of crazy. It’s like a dream. The whole team has been great all year, and the way the bike has been all year has been amazing.”
Tomac has not finished off the podium all motocross season long and has won 13 of 22 motos this year, including eight in a row and 11 of the last 13. He nearly went into next week’s season finale just one point short of clinching, but a last-lap pass of Ken Roczen by Blake Baggett for second place in Moto 2 gave Tomac enough of a lead to clinch.
Eli Tomac says: “I was kind of peeking behind me on the last lap wondering where they were at. I thought I saw Blake go across the finish line first or they might have tied – I had no idea.”
It’s GEICO Motorcycle Honda’s first 250cc outdoor title since Trey Canard made a late-season surge of his own to win the 2010 motocross championship.
The team’s other riders also turned in solid finishes on the man-made Miller Motorsports Park course, which was tricky and, toward the end of the day, extremely dusty.
Justin Bogle finished fifth overall with moto finishes of ninth and fourth. He won the holeshot in Moto 2 and led for much of the first part of the moto.
Justin Bogle (GEICO Honda CRF250R Motocross) says: “The holeshot was good; in fact, both starts were good. I led the second moto for about six laps, which I haven’t been out front for that long in a while. You couldn’t see very much at all for a good portion of the race, but everybody was in the same conditions, so you just deal with it.”
Zach Osborne finished ninth overall after finishes of sixth and 10th. He got out to the early lead in the first moto before being cautious in Moto 2.
Zach Osbourne (GEICO Honda CRF250R Motocross) says: “I got a good start in the first moto and set myself up for a good run. I just rode a little bit too tight at the end of that one. The second moto, I was a little bit sketched out by the wind and just played it safe there. The dust got really bad, so I decided to keep my cool and stay on two wheels.”
Although Wil Hahn didn’t collect a holeshot on Saturday, his starts were still solid and he finished 11th overall with moto finishes of 12th and 13th.
Wil Hahn (GEICO Honda CRF250R Motocross) says: “I just felt off all day. It seemed like the harder I tried, the more I went backwards. The wind really picked up in the second moto, which made it even tougher to race through.”
Rookie Matt Bisceglia finished 20th in his second pro race with finishes of 20th and 17th.
Up next for the GEICO Motorcycle Honda riders is the Aug. 24 Red Bull Lake Elsinore National, the AMA Pro Motocross Championship season finale.
