Eli Tomac saved team USA’s presence at the MXoN and then led them to the podium! Eli brought his A game to Matterley Basin and ran up front all weekend long with a stellar holeshot in the final and most stacked moto, maybe in MXoN history. Tomac got ran down and passed by Gajser and Jett Lawrence, but he held off Hunter and a charging Herlings late, to go 2-3 on the day and lead the USA to a strong second overall with just two weeks notice that he was even doing the event.
Star Yamaha team manager Jeremy Coker told us he could tell Eli was in for a good final moto just by the way he walked out of the semi – and Eli did just that delivering for USA when it mattered.
Tomac said in the press conference: “We gave it our best effort obviously and came up that bit short, super proud of Cooper and Aaron. What a track, and the conditions, it was a very tough track. Proud to stay consistent and put in some good results. Of course we wanted more, it was a good effort.”
Then, in convesation with Swapmoto, Eli said: “We all stepped up and tried our hearts out. It was a gnarly track, these GP tracks, the ruts were pretty insane, very technical riding but at the same time it was really cool for racing with how technical it was. Man, it was close, very close in points. Second doesn’t sit well but it is what it is.
“I felt a little bit behind on the first day with just the way things flowed. With it being the first day, I was able to adapt pretty well, learned some things in that qualifying race. Other than that, all three of us adapted well.”
“Each moto had each own challenges. Moto one, I lost my goggles around halfway and I was really close to coming in but I was like I am going to be blind before pulling in, because of how gnarly the roost is here, it had some serious rock in the soil, that was one thing I was concerned about. It was a tough call, thankfully I did stay on the track and got that second.
“Moto two I ripped a huge holeshot, did some battling with Prado early, he passed me and got him back, led quite a few laps there then Tim caught me and Jett. Did what I could, they might have had a couple of better lines, that didn’t sit well, both those guys sneaking away from me but did what I could.
“The experience is bar none, there is nothing like it. It is really fun coming together with the guys and working as a team. It is a neat feeling that way and the fans are like no other. There are points on the sight lap you can’t see, they are throwing smoke bombs on the track, it’s wild, good time.”
