Eli Tomac’s time in Qualification 1 for Round 9 of the SuperMotocross World Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, left him on top of the chart.
Tomac (45.679 in Q2) was fifth in the afternoon session.
“I was trying to get a better lap in, but the first one, the track was less rutted — a little bit quicker, so I wasn’t totally panicked in that [session], sitting in fifth there,” Tomac told Peacock’s Haley Shanley. “We’ll get the first gate pick, and we’re ready to go.”
Several other riders picked up the pace, and Justin Cooper (45.456) jumped to second overall.
Hunter Lawrence was only sixth at the end of the first qualification session. He posted the second fastest time in the second session on the rougher track and wound up third overall.
Jorge Prado (45.643) improved his time in the closing laps of Q2 and landed fourth on the chart.
Cooper Webb (45.674) rounded out the top five overall.
Combined 450 Qualification Results after Q2
Qualification 1
Tomac (45.434) wants to take the red plate back this week. He entered Indy only one point behind Lawrence before setting the early pace.
The key to Tomac’s fast qualification effort was “being fast in these rutty conditions. It’s good old Indianapolis for us. The ruts are already here, and I’m sure there will be more and more as the day goes on. So, staying clean in those ruts, trying to keep your feet on the pegs when you can, and having good balance.”
Tomac was a slim 0.072 seconds faster than Cooper (45.506).
Prado (45.842) was back in action this week, and he picked up where he left off. Prado has been at his best in qualification on an unfamiliar type of track. He landed third on the chart.
Fourth-place Ken Roczen (45.874) and Webb (46.135) rounded out the top five.
Lawrence (46.138) needed to find a little more speed in the second qualification session. He was seven-tenths of a second off Tomac’s pace in Q1.
In Group B, Freddie Noren (48.823) tipped over late in the session but remounted and continued to record fast laps. Noren was second in his group to Cole Thompson (48.117) at the time.
Josh Cartwright (50.559) also hit the dirt in this session.
Group A, Qualification 1 Results
Qualification 1 Combined Results
Last Chance Qualifier
Vince Friese earned the holeshot. He held onto that position until the checkers.
Kevin Moranz finished 2.1 seconds behind Friese in and secured second.
Tristan Lane was another two seconds back in third.
Freddie Noren failed to qualify for the feature by 0.02 seconds in time trials. He got a slow start, but moved forward through the field and secured the final transfer position.
Last week in Daytona, Lawrence swept both qualification sessions. He challenged Eli Tomac every step of the way.
