Sorry, a little late, but thanks to Moto Playground for this great interview...

Things got kicked off for Factory Connection racing back in 1997 with Mike LaRocco, a Fun Mover and a dream.  Now, over the past decade the team has evolved into one of the most respected teams on the professional circuit.  More recently the team has taken a vested interest in amateur racing, in turn cultivating some of the nations top young talent.  Now with the 2009 season on the brink, Factory Connection/ Honda has signed on yet another high-profile amateur racer.  Colorado’s Eli Tomac is the latest addition to the team and will make his debut later this month at the Amateur Open of Motocross.  We talked with Rick Zielfelder of Factory Connection to find out more.


Why did Factory Connection decide to make Eli Tomac their next project? 
Well, it had nothing to do with what brand motorcycle he was riding, Eli could have been riding KTM's, he could have been riding Honda's, he could have been riding for Kawi…it didn’t matter. The reason we picked Eli was purely because of Eli. He has a history of rising to the top of whatever class he's in, whether it's the 7-11 class going back a few years, the 12-13 class or the 14-16 Supermini’s. He just has that uncanny knack of finding himself at the front of whatever class he's in and it doesn't matter if it's an event in Texas, it doesn't matter if it's something in California, or the Florida Mini Olympics. Whatever the track condition is, he’s a front runner and that is what caught our eye. It really has nothing to do with any particular brand it was just all about Eli. Beyond that, just getting to know Eli over the last few years, he has a really strong support system around him too, which Is hugely important in continuing to rise through the ranks.


What is the tentative plan for Eli and when can we expect him to make his professional debut?
We have it set up where he's got the ability to ride for two more years as an amateur. We never want to rush these kids. Part of what we do with a ride like this is that we want to give them the security that they've got their pro deal locked up, that way they don't have to worry about that part of it. They can just focus on riding and getting better and getting faster. For certain kids there's a lot of pressure on them when they go to that last race at Loretta's as an A or a Pro Sport rider and they're trying to impress people to land that ride. We hired Justin Barcia and we hired Trey Canard in the past because of everything that they had done in the past and it's the same thing with Eli.

What are your expectations for Eli next season?  He’s not only adapting to the larger motorcycles but a new brand as well.
I think the only expectations or pressure on Eli will be what he puts on himself. Eli doesn't race a lot compared to most of his competitor’s out there. They tend to do a handful of smaller races and then all of the big races. With Eli, I don't see that changing, he's going to continue to do the same schedule. He spends a lot of his time on his motorcycle at home doing what he feels like he needs to do to perform at the bigger races, so I don’t see that changing. We don't have any expectations, there's no, "You need to focus on this because we want you to accomplish this." What we want him to do is to continue to do the things that he feels, or the family feels he needs to do to make sure that he's ready when he does line up to that first pro race.


How does Eli fit in with your last group of kids like Trey Canard, Blake Wharton and Justin Barcia?
The differences are in their individual personalities and how they go about preparing, but ultimately they all have kind of a similar track record at the bigger amateur event over the years. I'm not looking at race results here in front of me, but I would guess that maybe Blake Wharton has the most star-studded resume, whereas Trey tended to be a bit of a late bloomer. He was always good, he was always in there, but those last couple of years he really but his head down and focused on what he wanted to do and it's paid him positive dividends since he made that commitment. I think Eli is very similar. He has the skills and he has the desire, but there is no guarantee. There is no absolute this is what he is going to be doing, but I think he has a shot to be as successful as his predecessors.

You guys seem to have found and perfected the formula for successfully transforming amateur potential into professional results.  What’s the secret?
Well, number one, there are no secrets. I have looked at what Suzuki amateur support has been doing, Cole Gress in particular. Also Team Green over the years and even KTM in recent years has had success and I have always enjoyed working with Bill Savino, Dave Thomforde and now Keith Dowdle and Gary Martini at American Honda and you just have to look at what they've done with certain kids over the years to know that there is success to be had there.  However, don’t have the resources that Cole Gress and Suzuki has or Dave Gowland at Team Green, now Ryan Holiday. So, what we've decided to do is to grab one, sometimes two and not spread ourselves too thin by trying to do more riders. We grab one, sometimes two and try to do a really good job with those riders. By doing a good job what we want to do is we want to provide a level of equipment that will get the job done for them at the races they are attending, but support them also with technical support to personalize their motorcycle to their personal needs and to provide that performance so they're not trying to work and test on building a better motorcycle.  We want to make sure that they have the equipment at their disposal all of the time so they're not chasing a down motor or something broken and it should allow them to focus on their riding and their technique and what they need to do to get better. No secret, but it's just a real focused effort on one or two kids at a time. I believe you need to walk before you run and we're trying to do a good job with the kids we have.

It appears Eli will continue wearing Troy Lee Designs gear.
Correct. We don't try to lock them up top to bottom and control every part of them. They're free to do the goggles, the helmet, the gear, all that sort of thing. The motorcycle, we provide, and we provide that support. For example we're a Pro Circuit team, so it wouldn't make sense to put a different exhaust pipe on the amateur bike when all of our engine development is done down the Pro Circuit avenue. There's certain things that we kind of need to work together on, but all the personal stuff they are free to continue to do their own deals until they line up behind the gate as a professional and then it's all a team deal.

Any riders in particular that the team has in their sights for next season?
We've just put together the package for Eli, we have Trey still in our professional program, also we have Blake and Justin there for a couple of years. We have Eli coming, so right now I’m focused on what we're doing with our current guys. I haven't really given much thought to who's next. I may not do one next year, I may do another one…I don’t know yet. There isn't a definite concrete plan in place for who's next. That being said, I'm always looking. Factory Connection is at all of the big amateur races supporting our riders and providing suspension services to those who may need help at those races. While I'm there, while I have staff there, we're always looking, and we're always looking at results. I truly believe that each year for the most part, the talent gets better and better. These kids are exposed to things earlier than kids were ten years ago, there's more dedication, and there's more seriousness in all of their efforts. I think all of these kids are definitely worth being looked at for sure.

Anything else you’d like to add about your newest team member?
As far as Eli, one thing I would like to say that is very attractive is that the Tomac’s aren't in a rush. They are doing what needs to be done according to that time frame, and there's no rush. An awful lot of families are really trying to hurry the whole thing and do everything they can do to get to the pros as fast as they can.  Every kid matures at different times and I just want people to realize that it’s okay to take a year longer than the guy before you did, or sometimes two years. Being mentally prepared is most important I think.  Secondly I’d like to reiterate that our decision to go with Eli had nothing to do with what brand motorcycle he had ridden but had everything to do with what he's done so far and what he looks to be doing next. That being said, I really, really respect Cole Gress.  I believed in Eli too and I think Cole Gress and American Suzuki did a tremendous job with Eli. I really respect Cole as a person and he's very passionate about what he does and my hats off to him with what a good job he does with several kids, not just Eli.  Lastly I just want to throw some props out to American Honda. They're looking really hard at amateur racing right now and I think they see the value in these kids.  They're changing things up a bit on their side which in turn I think is going to be received really well in amateur racing. I really, really want to thank those guys for working with me and giving me the ability to take a chance on Trey Canard, take a chance on Blake Wharton, Justin Barcia, and Eli Tomac. I think over the next couple of years on the pro side of things we're going to see that those chances we took are going to start to bear some fruit.