INTERVIEW I 2022 CYCLE NEWS RIDER OF THE YEAR : ELI TOMAC
P80
that point, I had an excellent race
setting and didn't have to change
much. We basically ran what we
had through the rest of the year.
All of that was so crucial.
We had a great, great motor-
cycle and we were able to make
changes and be willing to take
that risk right away. You have
to figure it all out early, or else
whoever is running strong at
that point will just run away with
the points lead. Everything has
to go right, you know? In our
sport, there are so many things
that can get you. As everyone
watches and sees, this is such
a physical sport that if you are
off two-percent it can totally
affect you, right? There is not
really much hiding you can do in
our sport, injury-wise, so being
healthy is by far the number-one
thing to do. The second thing
would be if you can adapt and
make changes during the sea-
son to stay on top.
You defeated Monster En-
ergy Kawasaki's Jason Ander-
son by nine points to win the
Supercross title. He was quite
formidable this year, as were
Malcolm Stewart, Marvin Mus-
quin, Justin Barcia and Chase
Sexton. What was your take
on the competition you faced
in the stadiums over the 2022
season?
Yeah, Jason was my biggest
competitor. I mean he was strong.
He was there and he definitely
came on strong in the middle of
the season and then all the way to
the end. Yeah, I would say Jason
was my number-one competitor
from Supercross last year.
(Above) Tomac isn't really the type to get a big head after winning three
titles in one year. But his fans wouldn't mind it even if he did. (Left) This
year's 450cc MX title was especially sweet for Tomac because the title
fight came down to the very last moto at Fox Raceway in Pala, California.
