Image: Octopi Media.

After finishing fifth in the second round of the Supercross residency at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Eli Tomac made last-minute changes to the bike before Saturday’s 450SX main event that helped propel him to a podium finish.

The rollercoaster that is Tomac’s 2021 Monster Energy Supercross season continued in Atlanta. After winning the first round, it looked like he would do what many thought he would, sweep the residency that featured tracks similar to Daytona Motor Speedway where he’s been so dominant.

Unfortunately, the final ‘Super Tuesday’ of the season didn’t go to plan, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider ending the night in fifth. After a bit of struggle early on in Saturday’s round, Tomac turned it around for the main, eventually finding himself on the podium.

“Yeah tonight I made a change before the main and it was better, just period,” Tomac explained. “That was a little frustrating knowing I left something on the table on Tuesday and this afternoon.

“But at least we made the change for tonight at main event time. You know it was for me, better riding, it was still third place but at least I had [the leaders] in sight right, as to where Tuesday I felt like I was getting left in the dust.”

All three tracks at Atlanta Motor Speedway proved to be quite a challenge for everyone, something that showed in results as this was the first residency since the opening rounds in Houston that we didn’t see a sweep of wins from one rider.

The challenge was something Tomac welcomed, stating how difficult it was to find a setup that felt comfortable throughout the week.

“It’s really hard to hit the nail on the head setting-wise,” he continued, “just because you’ve got different obstacles going on [between] big whoops and high-speed [sections]. It makes it good though, it makes it technical and keeps everyone really scratching their head and I enjoy something different.”

The series now heads to Salt Lake City for the final two rounds of the 2021 Championship, starting this Saturday, 24 April.