Cycle News

INTERVIEW P148 250 AMA MOTOCROSS CHAMPION ELI TOMAC A 450 Supercross Championship is next on Tomac's to-do list. >>THE NEW K-DUB I can't get through whoops. It was frustrating." But Tomac's setup improved quite a bit after Supercross. He made a breakthrough in testing. "I think this year a big change for me, even after Supercross, was just learning my bike and how to set it up," Tomac said. "I think that helped me a lot for outdoors, just actually learning my motorcycle. Because I swear I used to be one of the worst testers out there and now I'm like one of the most sensitive guys on the track. Now, I can literally feel like a click or two of rebound or compression, or a millimeter of sag." This is another situation that can be a blessing or a curse. Some racers are so sensitive to setup that if the bike isn't perfect, they struggle. They can't overcome a less-than-ideal setup. Tomac's former teammate Kevin Windham was a guy like that. Ryan Dungey can be like that. But then there are guys like Ricky Carmichael or Ryan Villopoto who definitely have a feeling that they want, but if they don't get it, they often end up yelling at their team about their terrible settings right after they hand their firstplace trophy to their trainer to carry back to the rig. "Well, when I get to the race, I try to make it as close as I can and just deal with it," Tomac says. "It's crazy how different the bike feels between your home track and the race track. You think you have it totally dialed in when you're at home and then you show up to the race and you're like, 'Man, this thing feels like black and white. Totally different.' So you've got to be able to make changes that day to get it as close as you can and then just deal with it." Kevin Windham was the guy on the GEICO Honda team who had access to factory suspension and other unobtainable stuff. After he retired, it created a perfect situation for Tomac to settle right into that spot. For Tomac, it's the best of both worlds, as he has access to everything the factory Honda guys have, but he's still surrounded by the same, familiar team that he's spent his entire pro career with. In 2014, the GEICO Honda team will have separate semis for the 250cc and 450cc racers. "It's a works bike, but then we can obviously tweak it ourselves," Tomac says. "I felt like, if it was possible, it's sometimes the best of both worlds to be on a satellite team and be able to get works equipment. It was just easier for me to stay on Factory Connection just because I know the whole crew, and then to be able to have the factory Honda is pretty awesome." It's a good thing he's so much better at testing now, because setting up a 450 for Supercross is nothing to scoff at. "I feel like the 450 setup is a lot more important than on a 250,"

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