Toni Elías says goodbye to the competition. And this time definitely. Without prior notice and to everyone’s surprise, the Spaniard decided to say goodbye to motorcycling, in a certain way, because his life will always be anchored to two wheels. He announced it at the end of the second race of the weekend in MotoAmerica, championship that he has been in since 2016 and in which, in addition, he knows what it is to be a champion, in 2017. At 40 years old, and just getting off his Suzuki to speak to the media after his fifth place in the race, Elias was very clear: “It’s nice to end like this. Today was my last race”.
The Spaniard, who had returned to racing full-time with the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki after years of comings and goings, had to explain himself better in the surprise of his decision: “Yes, it was the last one. You have thoughts, but the time has come. I thank the team and everyone who has supported me. I was suffering, I have not been comfortable at any time. It’s time to stop.” The decision even caught the team by surprise, which, despite having dealt with the issue in recent weeks, did not expect an announcement like this, after the third round of the American tournament season. Elías hangs the monkey with his best result of the year and grateful to the team for giving him the opportunity to fight again for positions of honor, although his mentality no longer matched all the pressure that the competition requires.
“Today was my last dance, my last race. I want to thank Chris and John Ulrich, the Hammer team and everyone who supported and helped me through this stage. The return was not as expected. Thank you very much, I enjoyed the last race”, adds the Spaniard as he puts an end to the weekend of competition and, with it, to his life as a professional driver. Toni Elías says goodbye with a Moto2 and a MotoAmerica championship under his arm, although he does not say goodbye to motorcycling: he will continue to dedicate his life to the pilot school he has in California, although with more time to dedicate to his family.
