Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2013 just kind of taught myself. I'm sure some guys do get help mentally from their trainers, but for me, I kind of do all that stuff myself. I feel like I need to just do it myself. It's different for everyone." >>THE WINNING CURSE While it may be easier in some ways to take advice on the mental side of the sport, it's never been how Eli Tomac has done it. And in some ways, this may have contributed to the struggles he's had as a professional. Tomac started his pro career off doing something only one rookie had ever done before – winning his firstever AMA National at the seasonopening Hangtown MX National. James Stewart was the first to do he hit "the wall," and Christophe Pourcel went around him for the moto win. Tomac hung on for a disappointing second place. In the second moto, Tomac again took off with the lead, but it was even more short-lived, as Dean Wilson went by for the lead before halfway. Tomac struggled home in 11th (and Wilson was so loopy from the heat that he let his teammate Tyla Rattray by on the last lap, thinking he was a lap down, then lost another spot on the final straightaway to Broc Tickle). In the final 20 motos of 2010 that followed, Tomac finished inside the top five a total of four times, and failed to finish any motos inside the top three. " THERE ARE PLENTY OF GUYS WHO CAN GO FAST FOR ONE LAP, BUT THEN DOING IT EVERY LAP AND STAYING FOCUSED IS A WHOLE OTHER DEAL. it in 2002, but the difference is that Stewart made his pro debut nearly six months earlier at the Anaheim Supercross. But for Tomac, it went pearshaped after Hangtown. Round two in 2010 was the Texas National, and it was oppressively hot. Tomac, who was flying high after his success a week earlier, took off with the moto-one lead and began to sprint away. At around halfway, " In 2011, Tomac didn't do a lot better. In 2012, though, fresh off of his first professional title (the 250cc West SX Championship), Tomac finally made a breakthrough: At the very same Texas National, round two of the series, Eli went 1-1 to score his second-career AMA National victory. His first and second AMA National wins were separated by two full years. "Winning my very first race P145 was really good and really bad," Tomac says. "It was good because, obviously, winning is awesome, and a lot of people never even do it once. To notch the first one made it seem almost easy. But then to get that second one... I mean, it literally took two years. No wins in 2011 and finally one in 2012. So, yeah, the heat was a big issue for me, but then you have to remember that I was 17 years old. At that age, I don't think you're fully [physically] matured yet. It just took time to recover from all that. Plus, I had to get stronger, and learn more about the motorcycle. It's just everything has to fall into place, and it took a while." A big part of it was simply toughness. In that second moto in Texas in 2010, Tomac couldn't handle it, mentally, when he saw the crossed flags signifying the halfway point in the moto. He was already beyond miserable, and he just didn't have it in him to push twice that long in those kinds of conditions. "Like I said, I think there's a huge difference between a 17 year old and a 20 year old," Tomac says. "It's different for everyone, too, with how they mature. For me, that was a big thing to overcome as a rider and with my body. From 17 to 20, I had to toughen up a bit." >>STICKING TO 250s After having quite a bit of success in 2012, winning the 250cc Western Regional Supercross

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