Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac’s departure from Monster Energy Kawasaki ended on a high note as he grabbed the win in his final moto with the team at the 2021 Pro Motocross finale.

Tomac opened the day with incredible pace, charging to the front in moto one and looking like he’d be able to overtake the lead duo of Ken Roczen and Dylan Ferrandis to grab the opening moto win.

A crash eventually saw him finish fourth, but it looked as though he was going to end his six-year tenure with Kawasaki by taking home three overall victories in a row as he led moto two as Ferrandis was mired outside of the top 30 off the start.

A late moto charge by the Frenchman put a halt to that opportunity, but Tomac was happy with his performance as he reflected on his last day with the team.

“In the first moto I was starting to get into a flow, I found some good lines, and I had a solid pace going until I crashed in the off-camber corner at the bottom of the hill,” Tomac explained. “I tweaked my thumb in the crash but regrouped to still finish fourth in that moto and reset for the second one.

“In Moto 2, I got off to a strong start and worked my way up to the lead which I was able to maintain until the end. I would have loved to come away with the overall win today, but with that small crash in the first moto, it just wasn’t in the cards. I’m happy to finish the season with a moto win.”

After the race, Tomac said it was an emotional day as he leaves the team he collected four championships and 62 wins with from the beginning of 2016.

“I’m pretty emotional today, I’ve been up and down that way,” he continued. “We had so much success with Kawasaki and with my mechanic Brian Kranz, so that’s what’s hard to swallow.

“You kind of become family as a team, you know, we didn’t end, speaking about Kawasaki now, on any bad terms that way. You know, where you’re not speaking to each other, you’re not working with each other.

“We worked totally on good terms throughout this motocross season and that was it. So it was tough that way today leaving the track. But it’s a life goes on kind of thing and that’s all you can do.”

It’s now suspected that Tomac will join the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team, putting him alongside newly-crowned champion Ferrandis aboard what has to be considered one of the best bikes in the paddock for 2022 and beyond.