Weston Peick, Toyota/JGR Yamaha, 12-11-3-3 for Sixth Overall
Congratulations, you get my most improved award, from the first practice on Saturday through the main events to now. Today you rode great, got third. It’s something to build on.
Definitely. Saturday was pretty much an embarrassment out there, me riding. I was all over the place, had a bunch of crashes in both races, and just wasn’t getting the best of starts. Definitely pulled around for Sunday. Got off to really good starts. I ended up third the first race and went into the second race as well with a decent start, about fifth, sixth start. I caught my way up to third place and just had a good race. Had a battle with a few French guys, a little crazy.
He wanted a piece of you.
He wanted a piece of me, but I just laughed because every time they try to run into me I just lean over, and they just fall over. I’m stoked on the night tonight. I think I might have ended up with a fifth or fourth overall on the weekend. It is what it is. It kind of sucks. I was bummed on my Saturday night—kind of screwed over my overall—but other than that I’m stoked and move on from here.
What changed from Saturday to Sunday? Was there something that you can pinpoint?
Nothing changed.
Just more comfy?
Just comfortable. I was super tight on Saturday—just arm pump and stuff like that. I haven’t done an overseas race in a while. I had to get used to that. It’s super tight racing.
You were telling me on Saturday those guys get in and out of the turns; they’re so tight.
They’re such high turns. It’s like they’ve just got it down over here where I’m used to more bowl turns. You’ve got to kind of transition over to that style of riding. It kind of took me a little while to get into it, but I ended up getting into it and came out all right.
Do you think the PulpMX sticker I put on your helmet today had anything to do with your improvement?
We’re just going to leave no comment.
You threw that helmet away though?
Yeah, I had to throw it away. I felt like tonight’s good enough, and then it’s gone.
It’s early, but so far on the new team, on the new Yamaha—you’re certainly not a stranger to the bike; you’ve ridden a Yamaha before—but how’s the adaption going? Do you feel like you still have more to test and more to learn as we approach Anaheim?
The adaption going into it on this new bike has been going very well. We’ve had a lot of testing and stuff like that, and the bike is awesome. I couldn't be happier with the whole setup and the whole team. It’s been amazing being able to have this opportunity with the team and the equipment, and everything they have to offer is awesome. I think we have a few more things to test here and there before A1. Other than that we’re pretty solid, and I’m looking forward to starting the season off right.
Just a matter of starting to pound laps for yourself, right?
Yeah, exactly. Just starting to get down to crunch time right now and get full speed into it. I’m looking forward to it.
Prediction for JT [Jason Thomas] in Finland?
I think he’s been slacking on the couch a lot. I think he’s going to pull a top-five, but I don’t see a win in JT at all. Top five both nights. I think some Finnish riders are just going to fully put it to him, and it’s going to be pretty embarrassing, but for him it’s all right because I guess he is retired, so he doesn’t have anything to lose. He doesn’t have to sit out there and be like, “I got to do good.”
Super pole and elimination races, really not Weston Peick’s specialty. You did all right—don’t get me wrong.
I did all right, but me and one-lap heaters, I don’t do that. That’s for girls that can only go fast for one lap. But I was stoked on it. It is what it is. It’s a little fun thing to do, but other than that it is what it is.
Do you enjoy coming overseas?
It’s a 50-50. I enjoy it, and I don’t enjoy it. You enjoy the money and stuff like that, but it’s definitely a different style of racing. It could go so up, and it can go so down, just like what happened to me. I had a bad day, and you can have a really good day. So it’s all just about getting your sh-- right every single day and being prepared and always getting good starts.
Justin Barcia, Toyota/JGR Yamaha, 8-3-2-2 for Second Overall
You got better. You made some bike changes that definitely seemed to suit you. A couple of seconds today, not what you want. I’m sure you’re angry, but you got better.
I got better pretty much every time I rode the bike. Just was off the pace a little bit, but that’s pretty much it. I knew where I was losing. It was corners pretty much. Eli [Tomac] has a good flow through that stuff right now. Looks pretty comfortable. I felt good, but just off the pace a little bit. I don’t want to say it’s kind of expected, but it is what it is. Pretty new bike still, and just trying to get familiar with it. We did make some good changes, though, and learned a lot, so that’s always good. It’s better to learn it here than in Anaheim.
Some of us were wondering after the Monster Cup that maybe physically you weren’t 100 percent. Your ankle surgery was a pretty big one, and maybe you weren’t feeling it physically. How was it here, and how are you that way?
I can agree with that. I thought I was more ready than I was at Monster Cup, but clearly not. Obviously, I went home and kept working, and I’m building. It’s a building thing. I wasn’t perfect there—that’s for sure. I feel pretty good here. The ankle’s no problem, and fitness, I’ve never really felt better. My fitness is really good right now. Just speed really. I just need to pick up some speed and I’ll be good.
How’s O Show?
O Show’s good. He’s gnarly. A lot of work on the bike and off the bike. Definitely wasn’t lacking any fitness this weekend—that’s for sure. I felt really good on that, just a little speed.
I was disappointed because there were no Bam-Bam moments. You had a little bit that [Dylan] Ferrandis just told me that you got him pretty good.
I got him good. I got a few Kawis. It was pretty much just Kawis. Anyone on a Kawi was in the death zone this weekend because those guys were all over the place.
I didn’t see any good ones though.
There were two decent ones. No one ever crashed, so I guess you’ve got to look at it that way. They weren’t great if they didn’t crash?
I guess you’ve got to tip your visor to Eli. He was on it; he rode great. Overall it’s a good weekend. You got second overall.
Yeah, it was a good weekend for me and the bike for sure. Just learning the bike. He rode good. Still got next weekend at Italy. We’re both going to be there, and I can’t let him go home with a win in everything, so hopefully I can get him there.
Josh Hill, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, 6-7-7-8 for Fifth Overall
You didn’t have a lot of fun this weekend, but consistent results. It was all right.
I came in and felt a little bit flat from all the traveling. I just didn’t have the fire in me this weekend, and I couldn't really get off the gate. I just wasn’t feeling it. The real sticky, tight, the track was a bit arenacross-y. The turns weren’t banked up, and they’re really rutted. I just couldn't get into a groove.
Does it remind you at all of the old Bercy? It’s been a few years since you’ve been there. Was it worse than that?
The old Bercy seemed to be a lot more banked up and steep. It was tight, but then it would get broken up when you’d go into the tunnels, and you’d get opened up. This track I felt really just sluggish, really slow. I couldn't really get anything. I don’t think having a stock engine was really helping me either. I felt flat energy-wise from all the traveling, and my bike just felt a bit flat with just being a stock engine.
I think there were six or seven of you in the same second yesterday, and if you don’t get off the gate, which you’re saying you’re struggling, what are you going to do?
I got through the weekend good, safe, and healthy. I had no big crashes. I had one little one in the second moto yesterday. I hit a few Tuff Blocks and had a few close calls. I think the first night kind of spooked me, and I just wanted to get through this weekend nice, safe, and healthy, and look forward to the future.
What about the super pole and the elimination races? Are those all gimmicks? Are they all right? Did you enjoy doing them?
The super pole to me was fun because you sit around and get to watch everybody. There’s a big crowd just seeing who’s going to throw down that one heater. It’s kind of like when I’m watching the Lites practice in supercross. I’m sitting there watching, seeing who’s going to throw down a heater. I think it’s fun. I like that. The elimination races, not so much. The thing with them is they didn’t really count for anything besides gate pick. We were just calling them the arm pump races all weekend because they really didn’t mean anything besides wearing yourself out for the main.
Tomac was on another level from everybody this week; he was on it.
Tomac just looked good, he obviously looked fit, and his bike looked extremely dialed in. He just looked at one with it. But you’ve got to look back at the supercrosses too. Every time the track’s real sticky, like over-the-top sticky, like Indy, St. Louis, New York this year, he was on the box every single one of those races. I can even think back to Oakland on Lites bikes when it was a little bit rainy and sticky. He rides this type of track amazingly well. I wasn’t really surprised, but I think I was surprised at his starts and consistency. I’d be looking, thinking I could see the leader, and it would be Malcolm [Stewart] or [Justin] Barcia or something, and then I’d turn another corner and Tomac would be coming the other way. He was on the gas.
Is Josh Hill’s world tour over?
I don’t know. Now I’m talking about going to Geneva. I think I’m just really trying to keep myself occupied. If I go to Geneva I get to go home for two weeks. Hopefully get some things for January ironed out, and we’ll see where we go from there.
All this racing you told me before, the last time you did this you came out kicking it at Anaheim. I don’t think there’s anybody been doing as much as you this off-season, so maybe this will be a good thing for you come A1.
I really do think so. Whether or not I go to Geneva, I still have a good month and a half or month after Geneva to just settle down and get into a solid routine, which I was on a pretty good routine before I went on this little tour, so now I’ll just get back in the gym every single day with [Johnny] Louch [Hill’s trainer] and get on the test tracks and get that hard-pack laps in and get ready for Anaheim.
Which is exactly the opposite of what you raced this weekend.
Exactly the opposite. Your tires are like Velcro. I’m running Golden tires this weekend, and even those things, which I’ve never ran and I have nothing bad to say about them—I’ve just never even heard of them—even those things are like Velcro out there.
