Photo by: Hoppenworld
With Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac contesting both the USGP’s in Charlotte and Glen Helen, there have been some questions on whether or not he would accept an invite to race the 2016 Motcoross of Nations in Maggiora, Italy for Team USA. It’s a tough schedule even without the GP’s and especially hard with events like the Monster Cup, Red Bull Straight Rhythm and more one-off events popping up daily, but with Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey out injured, we were all holding our breath hoping the #3 would accept the invite.
At the Washougal National, we asked Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac if he would accept the invite to represent Team USA at the Motocross of Nations, and Eli said, “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.”
Today, though, we just got word that Eli will opt of of the event for 2016. “This was not an easy decision to make,” said Eli Tomac in a press release today. “I have raced the Motocross of Nations twice now, and it has always been an honor to be chosen for this prestigious event. This year, due to the race schedule being so full and the commitments I have made for the month of September, the team and I will not have the time and preparation needed to compete in a race as big as the Motocross of Nations. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to represent the U.S. again in the future. I wish Team USA 2016 the best as they compete against the world in Italy and look forward to seeing us back on top of the box where we belong.”
This is an unfortunate turn of events for Team USA—which has not won the event since 2011. We are hearing that the team will now most likely consist of Justin Barcia and Cooper Webb on the 450’s and Alex Martin taking the reigns in MX2. It’s not the best possible team we could assemble but a team that is still very capable of bringing the Chamberlain Trophy home. We will update you more when the official announcements are made at Unadilla this weekend.
