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That would be cool X infinity but I get the impression that Eli is a home body. Traveling the US circuit is about as much as he can tolerate.
Yeah, I don’t have any delusions that it’s a realistic thing and the odds are probably less than 0.1%, but a guy can still hope!
I would have loved to have spent a year or two with my children in Europe when they were small, but then again my imagined stay doesn’t include working and Eli would probably be working so hard that he wouldn’t have much time to enjoy the touristy experiences the way you’d hope.
Oh well, back to reality and it’s good to hear that Tomac may be looking for a multi year deal!
Going over Europe would be much easier if he did not have a family, I watched a video years ago about what the life was like at some of the motogp tracks, saying that some riders could not leave the track cause of the dangers out side of it, I don't know if MX has that issue or not.
2017-2020 Eli spanks this version. In speed, that is. This Eli is tougher mentally and hes a better starter on the Yamaha.
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For him to go to the TLD Ducati team , he would have to wear TLD gear and helmets right?
Last I heard, he was getting $2mill from Alpinestars and $1M from Bell per year. It was back when he was still on Kawasaki that I heard those numbers. That is a lot of money to walk away from or for TLD to put up in addition to his bonuses and whatever pay he gets from the manufacturer . They did do it with Barcia , but I don't think that Barcia cost as much as Eli would if those numbers are still close to what hes getting paid.
With Deegan , Its hard to know if he will be a Jett like rider who is a contender right away, or if he is a slow starter like RC was when he moved up. Or who knows. But I can understand Star feeling like He is more likely to be a rider that will be around and winning for a longer time than Eli. Star has done amazing with turning Yamaha around. Not too long ago , You couldn't pay a top guy enough to ride one. Now it seems like everybody wants to be on one.
I'm just glad that Eli i happy to keep racing and we get to see him race for a while longer. Hopefully . I don't see him coming back if he is unable to get a bike he likes. If he is still getting big money from his gear contracts, maybe Monster could kick in some money and He could lease some Factory Yamaha's and have Club help him with logistics and build a second team around him similar to what Roczen has with Suzuki and the Progressive side of the Pipes motorsports.
It would be cool to see him on an RMZ team mates with Kenny too though. I just hope he puts something together and is out there.
I was stationed in England for 7 years. My kids were just old enough to remember castles, fish and chips, and getting a 99 from the ice cream man.
I don't know why but I feel like Eli would murder on the RMZ. Just a feeling
I don't know, I think 2022 and early 2023 Eli was the fastest we have seen him (except for 2015 outdoors). 2023 A1 was the best SX ride we have seen from him imo
In the end it's also hard to compare.. Obviously a lot of great coming from behind rides back then, but the level now I think is also way higher, specially with Sexton and Jett elevating the game and he still shows he can find that extra speed when he needs to.
I would love to see him out there on one!
Well Yamaha factory pays for the 450 team and they have a tighter budget. TLD runs AStar for helmets/boots etc and would likely just colab on gear. But as was said PPG and a couple other sponsors are tied to Eli. Biggest thing would be being a Red Bull Athlete now
Lemme guess. 9 pages of nothing? TLDR
I'm not sure what im missing about Tomac beyond this year. He has been hurt the last 2 years of racing. Star has Webb and Deegan waiting in the wings. Cooper is very consistent top 5 guy now and would make sense to keep him as well. Maybe Tomac is asking for a boat load.
TLD runs their own helmets.
ssshhhhh 😂 keeping it real & objective analysis to the tomac fan club is non existent on this forum
I’m still a little mad he broke his leg. Not at him just that it happened. He could be leading this title fight now and racking up wins.
Tomac knows his value. Somebody will bite, guaranteed.
Webb would probably forego a part of his salary to not have Eli there. Eli and Jett would be taking his wins away.
I agree with this. Star has been stringing J Coop along for awhile now. He’s a top tier talent and deserves a decent contract.
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Webb was no where to be found outdoors and during SMX.
TLD runs Astar boots and TLD the rest. I'm not sure what a boot only deal would pay , or if Astars has a team deal for the boot contract too. Lets say its an all inclusive . I doubt that Astars is going to split the $$ for Eli and pay him $1.5 for a boot only deal. And then TLD gets to kick in $1.5 and they get his gear and helmet money covered. Would Eli walk away from companies he has been with his entire 450 career for the same money? Bell sponsored his dad so that goes back a longtime.
I'm just saying its unlikely , and its a lot of money to come up with even if their budget is a lot bigger than Factory Yamaha. Factory Yamaha doesn't have to pay Eli that $3mill that TLD/Ducati would have to come up with IN addition to whatever salary. I know that the Ducati road racing teams have a history of crazy budgets. But do they want to go out and spend a ton, have atop guy that has already won races on 3 other brands in the 450 class and risk that they are not ready for that caliber of rider and that level of racing in SX and MX their first year.
They will not have much of a base to go off of for the first year. What settings will work well at each track, its a new bike. And they will not have notes from years of racing that brand to fall back on.
I'm not saying its impossible. It seems like a lot of risk, if Eli comes out and has a bad year, the bike looks bad. If he goes out and wins a race or 6, then the bike looks like its at least as good as a Yamaha. And they may have to spend a ton of money to get him. I'm not sure if they want to go out and spend a ton to look as good as the other brands. From what I hear about the road race programs , they do not want to be as good as the other guy. They want to dominate, and appear to be a clearly better machine. The highest quality , bets performing, etc.
I think they would be better off starting out with guy that is not expected to win. That way they have a better chance of things going well and gaining momentum. They could risk becoming the new 2010 YZ450 if Eli has an off year. Look what happened when James Stewart was on the 2010 YZ450. Nobody wanted to ride it. Well none of the title contenders did until Star took the 450 over and Dylan won the outdoor title.
Eli can actually hang with sexton, doesn't need him to crash to beat him.
I agree JCoop deserves a better deal, but you get what you negotiate, not what you deserve.
I can’t imagine there being much much money left after Webb’s increased salary and Deegan. Not even including Tomac. He could be a #2 rider at another brand, but not Yamaha. At least not right now.
Tomac’s tital runs in SX have passed. He will win a few races but he is not worth Tomac money to Star.
It will be like when Canard left Honda and went to KTM. Wont work and because of that he says might as well close the door on my racing career….my opinion.
lol, you think they paid Dungey big money to race? I would be surprised if they offered more than the bike and some bonuses, it was a wish of his, not them asking him to come back
Also a thing to remember, J. Coop said he doesn’t care about the biggest paycheck and would rather be on the best bike possible. He and his wife are set for life, I don’t blame him for just wanting to be on the best bike he can. It makes sense to me!
Mistake by Star if Eli is all in on racing next year. I know it’s said every year, but coop will be struggling to get podiums next year with a full field
Eli, if your lurking right now, use this as motivation to kick everyone’s butts in outdoors, thanks, sincerely a big fan of yours.
I doubt Justin pay even puts a dent in what Eli is asking. Thought saw it mentioned Eli's base pay is around $4-5million currently.
I wonder if Star and Yamaha are rethinking the Webb signing now that sexton just put 20 seconds on him in a sx race… Not to mention, if somehow he loses this title.
Not a chance in hell that Sexton would have done that to Tomac.
I like Coop, but I just don’t see him having staying power when all the big dogs are on the gate and healthy. Not to mention for 3 more years..
I don’t and never will run a factory Mx team, but if I did… Hell would freeze over before I even thought about letting Eli Tomac walk.
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