Yamaha man Shane McElrath moved to within seven points of series leader Chase Sexton by taking the win in the re-start of the East Coast Supercross at Salt Lake City in Utah.

McElrath blasted his Yamaha into the lead from the start, from series leader Chase Sexton, Jeremy Martin and Garret Marchbanks. Colt Nichols and Jo Shimoda pitted in the opening lap for repairs after they clashed, and both rejoined the race but their bids for glory had gone.

McElrath soon pulled out a couple of seconds over Honda ace Sexton, with Marchbanks third after smashing Martin out of the way. Marchbanks lost ground as it became a two-man race for the win by the middle of the race as Honda ace Martin faded back to a safe fourth.

The pair matched each other lap-for-lap as the track got drier and more dusty under the mid-afternoon heat of Utah, making passing very difficult. McElrath started to get caught up in lapped traffic, but Sexton couldn’t get close enough to make a pass as the duo left Marchbanks in their wake, more than 20 seconds back.

McElrath held on to take the win, as he did when the East Coast series actually kicked off months ago in Tampa. Sexton took second, losing three points off his series lead to the Yamaha man. Daytiona winner, Pro Circuit Kawasaki man Marchbanks was a distant third from Jeremy Martin and Pierce Brown.

McElrath said: “This is what we worked to do. It was a big learning curve four me in the first four rounds. Now I’ve gotten to spend 85 days on the bike and working with the team, and it’s been a time of growing mentally, physically and spiritually.”

Sexton said: “I caught him and we yo-yo’d. Lappers were bad as the lap was 40 seconds and we were lapping up to fifth. I feel like I was better but I couldn’t make it happen.”

Marchbanks said: “I’m never happy unless I win but to come here in the high elevation, I’m happy with a podium place.”