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Confidence Is Building For SX Points Leader Hahn And The GEICO Honda Team
Now that GEICO Honda rider Wil Hahn has won two Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX races in a row and taken over the points lead, fans are now wondering if he make it three in a row.
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That question will be on the minds of many fans when the East Series turns to famed Daytona International Speedway for Saturday's Daytona Supercross presented by Honda.
"Why not?" Hahn said of a possible SX hat trick. "But I'm not putting that pressure on myself. I'll just put myself in the positions I've been putting myself in and we'll go from there."
Hahn has led the last 30 laps of the 250SX East main events, winning wire-to-wire in both Atlanta and St. Louis. He leads the standings by one point over Dean Wilson, with whom he battled for the win in St. Louis last weekend.
So what's been the difference for the emergence of the 23-year-old rider?
"I think it's the repetition of being on my bike and being healthy," Hahn said. "I've always strived at being a hard worker. The work ethic has always been there. Now I think it's a matter of being on the bike consistently.
"I can't stress how much the (2012) outdoor season meant to me. Being there for all 24 motos, that made me very strong. Having a complete offseason with these guys and working our tails off leading up to this season helped, too. It's seat time and work ethic."
Hahn hopes to keep the momentum going at Daytona, where the Supercross course is outdoors, built into the tri-oval of Daytona's 2.5-mile superspeedway.
"It's amazing," Hahn said. "The race is presented by Honda, so that makes it extra special for us. We get to go in early and check the track out. Everything about that race is cool. It's an outdoor race in the middle of one of the most famous NASCAR tracks in the world. For me, that's an all-around good feeling. I'm ready to go there and tackle it and keep the momentum we've got and roll with it."
GEICO Honda 450 rider Eli Tomac hopes to change his momentum following a tough outing in St. Louis. After battling a stomach flu earlier in the week, Tomac slipped to 17th in the main event, admitting he had little energy to push for the front.
The extraordinarily fit Tomac hopes to bounce back at Daytona, which will be his third race aboard GEICO Honda's No. 17 450 bike.
"The way it's showing in my results, it's been pretty tough," Tomac said of his temporary move to the 450. "But it's good experience to figure out how to ride a 450 and how the bike works and all that. I'm still learning every time I go out and every lap I make."
Daytona will present its own unique challenges to Tomac and the other Supercross riders.
"Daytona's cool because it's a totally unique Supercross track," Tomac said. "It's really sandy, open and long, and it gets rutted and bumpy. But then there are also jumps, too, so it's like a hybrid of both motocross and Supercross."
Rookie Zach Bell will see Daytona for the first time as he continues to build his resume on the 250cc bike.
"It's all a new experience for me, and it's something I'll never forget," Bell said. "I just want to go in healthy like I did in St. Louis and make it through the night. It's kind of like an outdoor race, so you have to pick your lines and do really well."
Bell finished ninth in St. Louis, building momentum after a crash that tweaked his wrist in Dallas two races ago.
"It's still kind of sore," Bell said, "but I just want to build off these recent finishes and finish out this season strong."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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