Eli Tomac Makes Red Bull KTM Debut at Canadian Grand Prix

We get our first look at Eli Tomac in Red Bull KTM colors this Saturday as the FIM World Supercross Championship heads to Vancouver for the Canadian Grand Prix.

In one of the biggest moves of this off-season, Tomac moved over from the Monster Energy/Yamaha Star Racing team to the Austrian brand. And with it, comes a few changes, most notably moving to the steel frame KTM from the aluminum frame Yamaha.

“It’s my first time on a steel frame big bike, and of course it feels different,” Tomac told Racer X. “I would say for me, the first time I rode it, it kind of just feels like there’s an extra G on the bike. It’s more planted to the ground. The other positive thing I like about this motorcycle is for me, it fits me really well. Like the triangle of the bike feels good. Foot pegs, bars, seat, just that connection to the bike is very, very fitting to me. So, it’s been a nice transition to getting comfy.”

The other massive change for the brand and Tomac is the addition of a cable clutch to his KTM. For years, the 450cc KTM has come stock from the factory with a hydraulic clutch, but Tomac has been using a cable clutch on his Yamaha and KTM has given their new star what he needs: which in this case is a cable clutch.

“I’ve had a couple seasons where I’ve basically been forced to ride a hydraulic and I could never make it as good as I wanted it to, basically,” he told Racer X.

While no one is comparing WSX to Anaheim 1, it will be interesting to see how Tomac adjusts to all the changes this weekend. The defending SX1 WSX champion will also contest Round 3 of the championship in Australia, so worst case, these will be a great testing ground for the upcoming Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship which kicks off Jan 10.

Check out Tomac’s full interview with Racer X.