P132
CN
III FRIENDLY FIRE
BY STEVE BAUER
A
few weeks ago, I wrote a
column and talked about
how difficult it is for riders
who reach the very pinnacle of
motocross to ever get back to
that previous level, following a
major injury and subsequent
lengthy rehabilitation. There are
plenty of reasons why only a
handful have done it. Besides
getting the injury fixed and
rehabilitated, the rider has to
train, even while hurt, to maintain
his base level of fitness. Then
he/she has to get out and put
in serious seat time, often on a
bike that feels very different than
the one he got hurt on…or, in Eli
Tomac's case, a totally different
brand and color.
I will admit it, I had my doubts
that Tomac would be able to rep-
licate with Kawasaki the synergy
that he had with those Hondas
last year, but his performance on
Saturday in Southwick, Massa-
chusetts went a long way toward
convincing me that he is very
close to his pre-injury speed.
In case you missed it, Eli won
both motos in the brutal South-
wick sand, passing Ken Roc-
zen's Suzuki each time. Tomac
was on fire in the first moto,
blowing by Roczen and seem-
ingly never shutting off as he
carved and careened from one
berm to another on his way to
winning by 25 seconds.
Eli had to be pumped, espe-
cially since Roczen has pretty
much had his way with him all
season long. In fact, after the
drubbing that Ken dished up in
the second moto at RedBud, I
would have never guessed that
Eli would be returning the favor
one week later. The second
moto was much closer, with
Roczen doing his best to keep
Tomac in sight all the way to the
checkered flag. Tomac was not
to be denied and even a quick
tip-over barely slowed him down.
BACK UP TO SPEED?
Eli Tomac
chases down
Ken Roczen—
this time
successfully.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
ROB
KOY
