Eli Tomac on Oakland Win | Vital MX Interview

Eli Tomac discusses yet another clutch performance in Oakland, plus much more.

There were countless questions asked of Eli Tomac, after that bizarre rider in Tampa where he was a distant fifth, and that would have undoubtedly infuriated him. It was crucial for him to rebound in Oakland in order to silence the critics and that is exactly what he did. Tomac talks about another clutch performance in this Vital MX interview, which was conducted by Michael Lindsay, as well as some other hot topics. This interview is available in audio, written and video form thanks to support from DeCal Works.

Vital MX: We knew from the heat race in Tampa that you did not have it, but tonight was very different. Was it feeling good from the first gate drop?

Eli Tomac: It was, it was. I would just like to forget about last week. I have got to be better in those conditions when it shows up again, at the same time. It was good this week. Oakland played out to have really soft dirt with big ruts, as usual, and they built the track really steep this year. It made it a little bit gnarlier, but maybe it was good for me? That was a big deal for us to come back and maintain the points lead. The motorcycle was working well all day.

You went 3-3-3 in the rhythm lane before the corner doubles. The transition on the second three was really weird, because you kept landing into that and going long on the third triple. Was that pretty tough to time?

It was tough. The landing against the wall there was very steep in general. It was so steep that it was hard to keep your front end down on it and tough to time. I got pretty close to the bales once, but kept it together. It was so steep, like I said, that we would go after the second set of whoops and do three, on then off. That next transition was pretty violent. For me, it was faster to just go double and then on/off versus triple and then quad. Anyway, tough conditions and a tough track. It was good for us to get back out front.

 

After the parade lap, looking at that first step of whoops, were you like, "Damn, we are in for jumpers tonight."

I was afraid of that happening, because I was so much faster than the guys there in the heat race. I wanted them to stay skimmers and they pretty much did, but I did not have the advantage that I did in the heat. The jump line was kind of there. I mean, it totally was there. I was basically blowing it away in the heat race. Thankfully, the skim stayed there. I went back and forth with it. I started with skim, went to jumping to save some energy and then went back to the skim. That was a good part of the track for me.

There were a lot of guys who diverted to the jump line, but your line was really solid every lap. The rear end would step out a little bit, but it looked like you were really in control in that section.

The second set got really, really tough. My rear end would dance around a little bit. I felt like I had the first set and the dragon's back covered all night.

I hate to say it, but when Chase [Sexton] made the mistake… It has happened a couple of times this year. When you see it, do you sigh a little?

Yeah, I was surprised to see it. He was creeping away from me. It felt like half a second a lap or whatever it was. He was doing a little bit of a different rhythm combo, maybe it was a little bit there? Once I went to jumping then I felt like I was losing more ground, so I went back to skimming and he crashed. I was a little surprised to see that. This track was so gnarly, so I expected one of us to make a mistake at least. I mean, I did! I shot off the track on the last lap…

We always talk about [Cooper] Webb as someone who you do not want close to you on the last lap. Even after you made the mistake, did you feel like you had a comfortable gap or did the heart rate spike?

The heart rate spiked, but I was pinning it. I had more in the tank and gave it all I had. Thankfully, I had enough room there to stay in front.

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