DIRT NEWS
en route to a dominant victory . In the main event , he took over the lead on Lap 3 , but unfortunately , before the halfway point , he crashed on the tunnel jump and was shuffled to 6th . The reigning champ put on a masterclass performance , making his way back to the front in the final laps to score his first Anaheim 1 victory at the debut race for the all-new YZ450F . “ It was an amazing Anaheim 1 !” Tomac explains . “ It ’ s pretty special for us to do this at round one with a new platform , and for me , it ’ s been 10 years that I ’ ve been in the 450 class , so it feels good to get this win . We ’ re off to the right start .” His teammate Ferrandis also enjoyed a great start to the new season . The Frenchman qualified sixth and took a runner-up spot in the heat race , giving the team a stellar 1-2 finish . He got off to a solid start in the main event and made his way from 9th to 5th by the halfway point . With his eyes set on a podium , he kept charging but , unfortunately , made a mistake in the challenging conditions and ended up just shy of the final podium spot in 4th . “ It was a phenomenal day !” says Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager , Jeremy Coker . “ It couldn ’ t have gone any better , especially for the debut of a new bike . Dylan and Eli were happy all day . They had a good practice , good qualifying , an awesome heat race with a 1-2 finish , and good starts all night . That was the key to this race and this weekend – to have good starts , lead some laps and be up front . The main event was awesome . Eli was off to a good start and led a lot of laps . Unfortunately , he went down , but he kept his head focused . He knew , and we knew that he could still win , and he kept the pressure on and pulled off a phenomenal win . Dylan also rode an amazing main event and has made a big turnaround from last season ; it ’ s pretty awesome . We ’ ll just keep pushing forward .”
KIWI RIDER 17