After Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac‘s dominant 1-1 in the sand of Southwick, a lot of people were holding out to see how the #3 did the next weekend at Spring Creek to say whether or not Eli had actually closed the speed gap on RCH / Soaring Eagle / Suzuki’s Ken Roczen. Well, one week later, Kenny worked over Eli at Spring Creek with two very dominant motos that sent Eli, his team and Eli’s fans back to the drawing board. To some people, it looked like Eli’s performance in the sand was a one-off performance on a one-off sand circuit, and at the time that loomed as a plausible argument.
One week later at the 2016 Washougal National, though, Eli went out on a circuit that is the polar opposite of the sandy Southwick circuit and notched his second overall win of the season on the hard pack. In moto one on Saturday, Kenny once again got the best of Eli with a three-second win, but the Kawasaki rider went out in moto two and reeled in the #94 from behind. After a brief battle, Eli went by Kenny and sprinted away to a decisive 16-second win in moto two. Eli not only wanted to win, he wanted to silence anyone that was convinced Southwick was a fluke.
After the race, Eli sat down in the post race conference and addressed that subject and a lot more inside the Washougal press tent.
Eli, you went 2-1 today to tie Ken Roczen but took the overall with the better second moto. Congratulations, Eli!
Thank you, it was a good day, and it was no fluke. No sand this time. (laughs) I guess you could call it a real track. The first moto was a little bit funky. I was just a little bit off. I was tight in the first half of the race. I came around in the second half and got a second. It wasn’t as good of a start either in that first moto. I started the second moto with a better start. I got to the front pretty quick, and then when I made the pass on Kenny, he actually gave it to me. He pretty much did after the finish line there. I went to the inside—he was on the outside—and he just let off. At that point, I took it and just laid it down after that.
Kind of late in the race—you already had an 8-second lead—you laid down the fastest lap of the race, 2:11 or something. Was that something that you were aware of? Were you pushing to keep the lead or were you just in a rhythm?
I was just in a good rhythm, you know. The last thing you really want to do is change up the rhythm or think about being safe. There are times where you are pushing a little bit too much, but you’re better off staying in the groove than doing anything different.
I don’t think Kenny has ever beaten you at Washougal. Is that something you think about coming into a race like this?
Yeah, I’ve had a good past here. I wasn’t here last year, but in 2014, I was second. And then ’13, I won here. I’ve had a good past year, and it’s a track that I love.
You talked about this not being fluke thing and people saying that when you won Daytona that was a one-off race. And then when you won Southwick, they talked about it being in the sand. Is that something that bugs you and today is like the monkey off the back?
It did bug me a little bit because I’m not only a sand rider, you know. I haven’t gotten to where I’ve gotten only being a sand rider. We only have one sand race a year, and that’s at Southwick, so it’s good to get this win.
Everyone else has been talking about the deterioration of the track in the second moto, but you seemed to actually excel in the second moto.
Yeah, the track ended up drying out a little bit more. It seemed like there was a few lines I changed on the outside that I wasn’t doing in the first moto, but I also kept some of the same lines from the first moto. It did break down, but this track doesn’t really get crazy, crazy rough. It’s just more slick and you have to have more throttle control here and there. It’s not like huge bumps everywhere. There’s a few on the hills but nothing out of this world.
Considering it rained yesterday, where you actually surprised how dry it was?
I was. It seems like it was one of the hardest Washougal’s I have ridden. From what I heard, I was surprised it didn’t get deeper taller ruts.
You’re starts have been way better. What’s the difference?
I don’t know, a couple bike changes that make it more consistent for me to get off the gate. Makes it easier.
We were just talking to Kenny about Motocross of Nations. Are you in for Team USA? Have the talked to you at all? Where are we at on that?
I actually haven’t had any talks with anyone for the team. Yeah, no comment really.
If they did ask you, would you do it?
Would I do it?
Yeah, if they asked you?
I think so. I mean, it’s not something everyone’s totally looking forward to, just because of how packed our schedule’s getting with how many races we’re racing now, and then there’s Monster Cup and two GPs before that. The race schedule is getting pretty wild, but hey, if it’s for the country, we’ll go over there and fight and do what we can.
What are you doing during the break?
I’ll take a few days off, not a whole lot. Go back to Colorado and also see my brother in the meantime too.
Can you give us a little bit of insight now that we’re this far into the season on how you think your communication with the team and the adjustments you made with the team have gone. You’ve gelled with the team and with the bike. They’re trying to exploit your riding talents and the motorcycle’s riding talents, but how is that coming together with the results we’re starting to see now?
I mean, yeah, it’s always a building process when you go from one team to another team. Everyone speaks a different language that you have to learn. This is our first outdoor season together, and we’re definitely coming around. We picked up our second win. Shoot, I felt really good today in that second moto.
Are you happy at this point of the season with what’s happened so far?
If I were to have gotten through this weekend again like I did last weekend, I wouldn’t be content, but now that we’ve made another step forward and we got another win, I think we’re making good progress. I gave a little bit too much away in the beginning, but I don’t think either of us could have expected too much out of each other. It’s a process, and at least we’re getting rolling now.
