3 On 3: Noren, Harlan, Marsalisi

Do you feel like you have learned a few things this year, technique wise, as far as recovery, rest and relaxation that you are hoping to use for next year?
Yeah, there were definitely a few weekends, like the break from Washougal to Unadilla I didn’t take that week off. I was trying to figure out a few things on the bike, like even for the second moto we went back to what I was on at Washougal. So, it's a big learning year for sure. On top of the success, we learned a lot. So, hopefully we can find some time to really recover, let the body recover and find some room to improve for next year. Because if all of the World’s [supercross rounds] run the way they should, I don’t know what is going on with that, but I would have like a month maybe to get ready for Anaheim 1. And there’s not a whole lot of time to rest for that. So, hopefully we can find some time somewhere.

You say this week you are going to find some time to rest. Do you still feel comfortable if you don’t have too much testing for SMX? You’re going to be okay for that?
Yeah I think, my setting for supercross is on the softer side so I am pretty much going to throw that on and rip with that. I know we don’t have any whoops but with the jump sections and the high speed I think the setting we have will be good for that. So, hopefully we will be good.

Are you going to run the settings you used for supercross this year or are you going to use what you had for WSX?
The stuff I had for supercross, because the stuff I had for WSX was actually Enzo. I  have been with Merge now for the American stuff so completely different.

I think you said Rock River is the plan for next year. Talk a little about that.
Yeah, so after the great year we had, Rock River wanted to hold onto me. They helped me out a ton. We will have some improvements for next year, on the financial side for me which is nice. Everything this year has been out of pocket with parts, bikes, entries, travel. On top of the success, it's been tough with that side of it.

With the plan being new bike as well?
Yeah so, I will get some bikes, parts covered, so that will be nice. I'm pretty stoked on it!

Freddie Noren | 22-10 for 13^th overall

Racer X: Alight, Freddie Noren, let’s go back to the first moto, take us through that crash.
Freddie Noren: Yeah, so coming off of the first big hill, off of the start, or first lap, I got tangled up with another guy, I’m not really sure who it was actually, some Yamaha guy, and went down. I didn’t get run over or anything like that, but my bike did. I took Colt Nichols down with me and I think [Justin] Barcia was in it as well. I bent my bars really bad, so my throttle side was sticking up in the air. At that point I was like, “It's going to be hard to ride” but I am not the type of guy to just give up and roll over, I guess. So, I did my best, I got back up to 22^nd but at that point it was like, “I need to at least set myself up for a better gate pick for the second moto since it's based off of the first moto." So, not ideal to put it that way, and certainly not what I was expecting. I had a good season this year, my worst overall has been 12^th. So, I have been really consistent, I finished eighth in the standings, so I'm really happy about that. So, going down like that and knowing I am not going to take a point, I tried but I was like, “Dude this is not how I wanted to finish off.” But second moto was a lot better, much better start. Rode in eighth place most of the moto. Me and Shane McElrath battled for a while and then I got by him about midway or so. Did the best I could, unfortunately Garrett Marchbanks and Dylan Wright got me at the end, and I ended up finishing tenth. My overall for the day was 13^th still. So, kind of crazy that just getting a tenth-place finish will get me a 13^th overall. So, considering that, all in all it's been a good year, I’m really in one piece, my elbow is a little banged up from Unadilla, but in general it's good.

When you have the bars bent like that during the first moto, do you kind of weight out the risks a little bit like, “This might be a little sketchy to do 30 minutes with the bars like this, maybe I should pull in?” Are you thinking risk versus reward? 
Of course it's risk verses reward. So, the first few laps I am just trying to figure it out, trying to give it gas all funky and turning. So, the first couple of laps it's just trying to figure out the bike and how it acts when I put pressure on the bike the way I had to put it on. But I didn’t really push it enough that I would put myself at a big risk, it was more just trying to pick some guys off. Rather than having 38^th or 40^th gate pick trying to have something better at least. Fortunately, this place has a pretty even grid so even if you don’t have the greatest gate pick, like I was 22^nd that second moto, and I think I started around seventh, eighth. So, considering I didn’t have the greatest pick I still could start pretty good.

Did you work any different muscles having to ride the bike differently in that first moto?
I guess we will see tomorrow what is sore. But probably because I rode like this [*demonstrates riding with bars seriously tweaked but throttle still pinned*] the whole time, but we will see.

Just reflecting on the season as a whole, like you said eighth in the standings, pretty good year as a whole, was a little rocky at times but you were able to smooth it out by the end it seems.
For sure, it definitely wasn’t a perfect season by any means but it is a career best, I've never taken this many points between supercross and motocross so that’s really good. And I tied, I've been eighth overall in the championship once before, so I’ve tied my best overall. So, looking at it like that, I am happy with that, obviously you always want to do better. And then the motos that haven’t been great. I always try to salvage, I think up until today my worst moto has been like a 15^th. Considering having start crashes and issues like that I have always been able to salvage some good points and just try to ride solid. It's been a lot of fun riding for the HEP Twisted Tea Suzuki team this summer. I got on the bike and rode it like four times before Pala. They've done a great job, I really enjoyed the bike as well, it's been really good. 

Luca Marsalisi | 29-32 for 33^rd overall

Alright Luca Marsalisi, the second moto wasn’t ideal for you but just take us through your whole day.
Yeah, rough qualifying like usual, I'm not a very good qualifier. I kind of hurt my shoulder at ‘Dilla, was keeping it kind of low key because it doesn’t really matter to be honest, but I've just been struggling with that in the second half of the motos, which is usually my strong suit. I rode okay, just had a tip over the first lap of the second moto so that hurt me a little bit. It is what it is, I am healthy-ish, and I had a pretty good season, so I am happy with it and it was a pretty big step for me compared to my rookie year last year.