Image: Octopi Media.

The Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing pairing of Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper have jumped to the top of the qualifying charts at the eighth round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Washougal.

New 450MX series leader, Eli Tomac ensured he’d have first pick of the start gate by charging to the fastest qualifying time.

Tomac was the only racer to drop below the 2m11s mark by posting a 2m10.926s lap in the first session.

Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton did his best to keep Tomac honest in the same outing, finishing second-fastest with a lap-time of 2m11.301s.

Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Jason Anderson put in a last-lap charge in the final session to finish third-quickest, as Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) and Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing) rounded out the top five times.

Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM), Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), Joey Savatgy (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Shane McElrath (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) finished P6-P10.

Savatgy pulled out shortly after posting his top time with a suspected leg injury.

Image: Octopi Media.

Justin Cooper put in a searing qualifying time to ensure he was top of the timing sheets in the 250MX class.

Cooper’s time of 2m11.386s in the first session was almost two seconds quicker than that of Jett Lawrence’s (Team Honda HRC) 2m13.054s, who posted the fastest lap of the second outing.

Jett’s Team Honda HRC team-mate and older sibling, Hunter Lawrence, was the third-fastest in both sessions to round out the top three, while Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing) completed the top five.

The remaining top 10 positions were filled by Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM) and Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas).

Detailed results