Eli Tomac Drop-Off

I just hope it's something that can be solved...

What I wrote in the qualifying thread: Hope he doesn't just mail it in now.. Maybe my memory is bad but when he DNFd in 2020 and was basically out of the championship specially due to a short series he looked like a different guy.. Absolutey no disrespect to AC and Zacho, they ripped that season, but that wasn't the same Tomac after the DNF.

He looked good and fired up though for the first couple of laps, but then..

He looked fine the first few rounds, but looks completely different now. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Wonder how KTM is feeling at the moment. Hopefully he doesn’t pull an MC and signs with KTM but pulls out before the season begins. 

Hunter just beat him by over a minute. There’s definitely something off.

He’s past his prime. It’s as simple as that. I’m glad he’s sticking around for another season, but we’ll never see the Eli of a few years ago again. It’s happened to all the greats if they stayed in it long enough. 

Eli has had a mid-season slump many times before. Nothing new.

Even the best get to a point in their career when they just aren’t good enough.  Eli has endured well past the time most champions hang it up.  Lets not forget he was going to retire three years ago; those three years haven’t gone smoothly.

He's close to as good as ever but the Lawrence boys and Honda have changed the game. That said and seeing things like today I have to wonder if he might retire after the MXoN.

He hasn’t gelled with the bike at all during MX. Star engines blowing up left and right then it finally happens to him. I don’t think he trusts the bike right now. 

Regardless of what he’s dealing with, having Jett blow by him going up Mt Martin has got to hurt.

I’m as much of a Tomac fan boy as anyone else here, but I think we just haven’t seen Tomac race someone like Jett before. Jett is moving past these dudes like they’re standing still. To be honest I don’t think Tomac back in his prime would have anything for present day Jett

Looking for a reason not to get selected for mxon so he does not get flack for bowing out and gives him the extra time on the ktm. 

Tough to speculate when it comes to Eli, but seems to me the only guy who can handle getting his ass spanked by Jett every week and keep pushing forward is Hunter, probably because he's so used to it. 

Hopefully he hasn’t put himself in a tough position with KTM.  Committed to a two year contract but knowing he just isn’t at the top of his game anymore.

He’s ridden this way with the #1 plate on his bike. It’s just one of those years. 

Best example is how everyone said Sexton wasn't the same guy in 2023 but Sexton himself said in interviews that they were going even faster in 2023 than in 2022 and he had absolutely nothing for Jett. 

But that doesn't change the fact that Tomac doesn't look like in the the first couple of races and there is no way he would get passed by RJ and a banged up Jcoop. He definitely isn't riding at his best right now. 

But at Hangtown he wasn’t past his prime? This discussion is not whether this is peak Tomac…..there’s a clear drop off from the beginning of the season 

Hopefully saving it for next year. 

His bike looks like absolute crap and those Hondas look like be best handling machines out there. Which is especially odd considering I’d say the exact opposite about both bikes off the showroom floor. Whatever Honda and the Lawrence’s are doing with their bikes, I don’t think they could have them any more dialed in while Eli and Yamaha are doing whatever they can to make that #3 Yamaha look like the worst bike out there. 

I think the factory Kawi is the worst lol 

I’m giving George Prado(thanks JS7) a bit of a pass on his bike because of the big difference between the GP’s and here. 

How many times we gonna lie to ourselves 

I really wish he was still battling. I feel like for him, it’s win or nothing amd it’s really hard to watch. I don’t think it’s just Jett besting him, I think it’s more than that. I think it’s a combination of lack of pace, age and the issues with this being his last season on the Yami. I think he had confidence coming in and it’s gone now.

As many times as needed lol

Drops a 2:01 next lap a 2:04

Father time is undefeated...(and I love Eli, he's a legend) but he's going to have to be the best version of Eli Tomac we've ever seen to beat Jett and I just don't see him getting faster at this age. I don't think it gets better on a KTM either. 

I think the championship being taken away with DNF fucked him mentally and emotionally. Fighting so hard for 3rd in points must be hard for a guy that is only used to fighting for championships.

I doubt the difference between 5th and 3rd in points means much to a champion. 

its not hard to figure out tht maybe ( I said in multiple times in my podcast in the ufc with these older fighters from the 2014 & 2016 era fighting the new 2024 & 2025 generation fighters ) the sport passed Eli by , Eli is still talented enuff to give u short spurts of brilliance but this new gen crop is too much for Eli , plus the injuries is starting to add in more mileage on the body as he getting older , ain’t nothing wrong with tht 🤷🏾‍♂️ but its just the way it is 

People saying it’s time caught up with him, everyone is faster etc did you not watch the first two rounds ? 

there is clearly something going on 

there is nothing going on , errybody just on cope mode…. like honestly if the bike didn’t break at redbud then nobody wouldn’t be freaking out like this , take the fanboy ism out of the equation & just look at the shit for wht it is 

he did the same thing in 2020 and 2021 when his kawi shit itself and he was out of contention.