OAKLAND, Calif. — The racing was fierce and physical at round five of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship inside Oakland Coliseum.
Taking home the win in front of 46,884 fans was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac. The Kawasaki rider started up near the front, but it was Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen who was in the lead coming out of the first turn.
Tomac’s teammate Adam Cianciarulo was also in the mix early, as was defending champion Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb.
Seven minutes into the 20-minute plus one lap main event, Webb had dropped back but the top three remained within 1.6 seconds of each other.
On the eighth lap Tomac got around his teammate, and on the 11th lap he moved past Roczen and into the lead. Tomac pulled out some breathing room, but a big mistake on lap 15 sent him over a berm and Roczen was once again in front.
Three laps later, Tomac made the same pass on the Honda rider to get back into the top spot and remained mistake free until the checkered flag.
On the final lap while running in third place, Webb put in a burst of speed and moved up to Roczen; in the final turn Webb cut under and nabbed the position — a last-corner pass reminiscent of the Arlington finish between the two riders in 2019.
In the Western Regional 250SX Class the racing produced series points changes for the top four positions. Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis found himself in third place just after the holeshot.
Ten minutes into the race Ferrandis put a move on race leader Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner in a 180 degree turn; Forkner ran wide and off the track, reentering in second position where he remained until the finish.
The points leader heading into this round, Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper nearly grabbed the holeshot but got shuffled back early, then made his way back to a podium position.
The race results impacted the series points standings; Ferrandis now leads, Cooper dropped to second, and Forkner moved up to third.
Both classes are close, with only fifteen points separating the top three 450SX Class racers, and just ten separating the top three in the Western Regional 250SX Class as the series heads to PETCO Park in San Diego next weekend.