GEICO Honda pro Hahn extends points lead with second-place finish

GEICO Honda pro Hahn extends
points lead with second-place finish

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - RIS - GEICO Honda rider Wil Hahn continued his torrid run in the AMA Supercross 250SX East Series with a second-place finish Saturday night at the Daytona Supercross by Honda at Daytona International Speedway.

Hahn's teammate, Eli Tomac, scored his best career finish in the 450 SX class with a fourth-place run.

The winner of the last two Supercross races, Hahn extended his points lead to five over second-ranked Dean Wilson, who finished fourth in this event. Hahn has finished on the podium at all four East Series races, winning twice, finishing second once and third once.

"Today I'll be satisfied with second," Hahn said. "It's crazy; you win two races in a row and you get that feeling and you want it over and over. I wanted to win but by the time I got up to second Marvin (Musquin) was gone. I'm happy for him. It's his first win and that's special."

Hahn had a quick start to the night, getting the holeshot in his heat and pulling away to an easy win. He was fourth after the opening lap of the main before going to third on the second lap. He passed Wilson with six laps remaining to grab second place.

"I was really pumped to win my heat race because that gave me a big mental boost going into the main." Hahn said. "I took the inside gate pick and just wanted to get through that first turn. Wilson was out there and I just kept telling myself to be patient. It was a long, long race and he started making mistakes. I caught him and just wanted to get around him as quickly as possible because I knew he'd ride defensively, as he should because we're in a really big points battle.

"I guess he fell back to fourth so we gained four more points. That's good. It's awesome to have that red plate on my bike and it's cool that we'll have it for another week."

Tomac had his strongest race on the bigger 450 bike, moving steadily through the field after standing ninth on the first lap. Tomac, who finished fourth in his heat to qualify for the main, moved to eighth on lap four, seventh on lap five, sixth on lap nine, fifth on lap 11 and fourth on lap 12.

"I finally rode like I know how to ride and I finally felt comfortable on the bike for the first time," Tomac said. "We all kind of got sandwiched on the start and I had to fight through that. I fell into like eighth or ninth place and then just told myself to relax and let the race come to me.

"One by one I was making passes and we got up to fourth place. I'm really pleased with that. This time on the 450 is going really well for me. I'm learning a lot and I definitely know what it takes to ride at this level. I guess the next step is get up on the box now."

Rookie Zach Bell finished second to Hahn in their 250 heat, but Bell slipped twice in the 15-lap main event to finish 18th overall.

Bell had a fast start, slotting second in the main event after the start. But he fell after contact with Wilson and slipped to 17th on the second lap. Bell continued to charge, working his way back up to eighth with five laps remaining, but another fall cost him everything he'd gained.

"The main didn't really go as well I wanted to," Bell said. "I got a really good start but me and Dean got into each other. I thought he was going to the outside. I was riding my own race and holding my line, and he ended up hitting me, and I fell down. The bike shut off, and I couldn't get it re-fired.

"I came all the way through the pack up into eighth but made a little bobble and just fell over. The bike was on top of me and they would not get it off for nothing. I had to wait for everybody to go around me and I got lapped."

The fifth found of the AMA Supercross East Series is next Saturday at Indy.