Don’t look at the point standings if you want an indication of how Weston Peick is riding this year. The Motosport.com backed privateer has ridden very, very well. Now, a lot of times when you’re talking privateers, we’re talking grinders who put in their laps, stay strong to the end, and grab a decent, but quiet, finish. But Weston has gone beyond that—this year he’s been straight up fast. Really, really fast! But, he also hasn’t been finishing races, although that’s not entirely his fault.
At Anaheim 1, Peick was running tenth before bike problems set in and led to a DNF. But he did record the sixth (!) fastest lap time of anyone in the race. In Phoenix, he crashed super hard and did not finish. He battled to a seventh last weekend at Anaheim 2. This weekend he looked good again, qualifying out of his heat race and then moving up to seventh at the halfway mark of the main event. Then, bike problems struck again, and he was out.
“My front rotor broke,” he told Racer X’s Chase Stallo via text yesterday. “It’s a bummer.”
That’s three out of four races that Peick hasn’t finished, so he sits a lowly 21st in 450SX points. He’s been riding much, much better than that, and his 22nd in Oakland—after bike problems while running seventh—was a heart breaker. It does make the math easy for us, though. If you’re looking for the rider who had the best ride that didn’t really show up in the results, it’s Weston Peick, and that’s why he’s this week’s Unsung Hero.
