One of the bigger storylines through the first month of the 2022 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship has circled around starts for Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing teammates Eli Tomac and Dylan Ferrandis. Both riders have consistently been right at the top of qualifying at each round and their only kryptonite appears to be getting good starts.
That issue has slowly been coming around for both riders, but particularly so for Tomac. The current points leader has won the last two rounds at Anaheim and Glendale and was put in a great position to do so courtesy of his starts improving. Going back to Anaheim 1, Tomac came through the first corner in 13th before crossing the line at the end of lap one in 11th. Since then, it’s been steady improvement of eighth, third, and fifth at the following rounds when the green flag waved at the end of lap one.
Last weekend at the Glendale Triple Crown, Tomac pulled two rare holeshots out of the three main events and used that early advantage in the first two main events to sneak away and win convincingly. Speaking with teammate Ferrandis prior to round two in Oakland, the trouble seemed to lie in keeping the front tire down off the jump without losing all drive over the gate. When we caught up to Tomac prior to round four in Anaheim, he admitted that he’s just been looking for a more consistent feel.
“Everyone’s always working to be better [on starts] and I just needed consistency,” said Tomac. “That’s one thing I struggle with is consistency on starts, consistency on the jump and everything. We’ll just keep working on it.”
Well Glendale was proof that he’s found at least some level of consistency. Throughout Tomac’s career, he’s never been a particularly great starter. Some will point to the bike as the difference for Tomac this year jumping from Kawasaki to Yamaha, but even new Kawasaki recruit Jason Anderson has been having some of his best starts of his career as well. It really boils down to comfort and consistency with the platform each rider is on.
Now there is a small caveat that needs to be discussed from Glendale. The unique track featured an over-under bridge that jumped over the starting gate which meant the gates were split further apart and the usual doghouse that the starter sits in was not there. This left the AMA official who actually kicks his foot downward to drop the gate very visible to anyone who could see inside of the tunnel jump. Though you couldn’t actually see the starters foot, the kicking movement was noticeable.
Tomac lined up in the first gate to the outside of the tunnel for all three main events and his jumps off the line in the first two might have been the best of Tomac’s career. He may not have been reacting to the AMA starter moving, but our own Jason Thomas believes the proof is rather obvious.
It's not even close. I'm not sure what you're seeing. He moves before everyone for a reason. Not his fault, should never have been possible to see it.
— Jason Thomas (@Jason66Thomas) February 7, 2022
Conspiracy theory aside, Tomac’s starts have been noticeably better each week. His heat race start at Anaheim 2 nearly resulted in a holeshot as well. In the past, one of the things that really helped title rivals like Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen in their fight against Tomac was their ability to consistently start ahead of him. If that advantage is now out of the window, it could be worrisome for the rest of the field.
