Starts have never been a strength of Eli Tomac, which is why a few big holeshots for the now-living-legend from Colorado really stood out this year. When Eli pulls a big one, you notice, and that’s what defined his day at the RedBud National earlier this summer. Eli came within inches of holeshotting both motos in July, which briefly had everyone talking about starts being one of his best assets going forward.
Nah. A week later at Southwick Eli started moto one in about eighth, waited a few laps, then unleashed a charge that no one could stop, raging all the way to the front. Beast Mode will always define Eli. He’s gotten better starts on his new Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine this year, but make no mistake, he’s a finisher not a starter.
Well, unless you’re racing at RedBud. Tomac tried something unique this year at the national back in July, when he chose to line up in a middle gate near the starters box. RedBud’s tight first turn, revamped back in 2018 for the Motocross of Nations, generally favors the inside gates, just like the Budds Creek start, which was also revamped for a Motocross of Nations back in 2007.
This year, though, Eli went to the middle and pulled a huge first moto holeshot, and nearly grabbed it again in moto two, just getting edged out.
“I lined myself up more outside, and I assumed the better guys down on the inside would kind of pile up. I took a gamble and it worked,” said Tomac to our Steve Matthes after the race. “I think the dirt was a little better out there, too. That was it man, good starts, got out front, did my thing.”
Tomac’s love for the middle gate would end up lending a huge advantage to Team USA at this year’s Monster Energy Motocross of Nations. MXoN gates are designed to favor that inside, and teams must play the strategy game and decide which rider gets the better gate and which has to move outside. Team USA topped Saturday’s qualifying race results, giving it first gate choice, and picks #1 and #21. The decision for moto 1 was easy. Justin Cooper got the inside gate on his 250, and Tomac would go exactly where he likes to go, anyway: to the middle and gate #21.
“To be straight up, I was hoping to get that doghouse gate,” said Tomac after the race. “I started there back in July, right? That was important to us to get that good gate pick from Saturday. I was totally okay with it (giving up the inside gate) and I was happy to get a better start than I did in the qualifying race on Saturday. I was a bit asleep on the gate in that one. In Moto 1, I looked right, and I couldn’t believe how big of a gap I had. So yeah, Moto 1 start was key.”
Tomac’s huge holeshot in moto 1 set the tone for the day. The rain and mud had provided too many eerie memories of 2018, when the Americans never got going. Eli’s holeshot in 2022 showed that this day would be different, and while Tomac didn’t nail as good a start in his second moto, it wasn’t needed. Team USA had already built a big points lead and merely needed to manage moto 3 to take it home.
As teams continue to focus on the process of winning the FIM Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, the strategy starts to lay bare. This race is no longer won merely by having three fast riders, but through a team becoming even greater than the sum of its parts. Team France has really proven this through the years, as the nation built a five-year winning streak at the event through various assembled parts. While an on-form Tomac and Sexton might have the speed to outright rule the races this year, the rain and mud turned Sunday into a battle in the margins. Strategy, consistency and starts would rule the day more than outright pace. No one was going to rip through the pack and win a moto this year, no matter how fast. To win, one had to nail the starts. Tomac holeshotting from Team USA’s second-best gate set the whole day in motion, and the rest is history.
