Monster Energy AMA Supercross in San Francisco saw the skies open up, to gave us one of the worst mud races we have seen in years. The main event saw riders rolling the jumps and most commented that it was strictly survival, both for themselves and their machines. That sometimes open the door for those who need a boost, and the privateer team Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha saw their riders Garrett Marchbanks and Phil Nicoletti battling for a podium position on the last lap. Marchbanks sat down with the media in the post-race press conference, while our Kellen Brauer caught up with Nicoletti after the race to hear about their nights.
Garrett Marchbanks | 3rd
Garrett, I think it's your first podium since 2021 with your first ride with the team. You had some health issues last year, the arm, you had some sweat gland issues at the end of 2021. Did you ever think you'd get back to this position on the podium? Talk about your struggles and if you ever doubted yourself or the chance of getting back up here.
Garrett Marchbanks: Yeah, it's definitely a hard couple of years, I didn't know if I was ever gonna get back on the podium and with the health issues and the injuries I had, it's definitely been a long time coming. So, the one moto podium in the outdoors I had this [past] year. It definitely made me believe I could do it again. The work we put in this off-season was a lot. We did a lot of bike stuff, with suspension and off the bike stuff. So, I definitely believed this year coming in, we're gonna get another podium. It's just when. And, obviously, I'd like to do it in the dry conditions, but in a mud race condition, you know, it's fun to do it.
We've seen you kind of jump up and back down between a 450 class and 250 class. Do you feel like you have something to prove in the 250 class and that's why you're back here and just talk about that decision to race the 250 this year?
Yeah, honestly, last year, I felt the best I've ever been in a long time. [Then] I broke my wrist, so I missed all of last year on the lites bike. We definitely talked about going 450 full time just for my size and how big I am. And we just wanted to see how things would go the first few months on the 250 and in Supercross and it was going really well. So, we just decided to stick it out and give it a try and obviously, it's been a good one, so far.
Take us through those last laps, battling with your teammate on a mud-soaked track. You sort of get that fear of coming together. So, you got that part of it of trying to preserve the motorcycle, you're going around a lot of bikes on the track that are expiring. You've got to keep pushing but try and keep that clutch cool, keep that engine cool.
Yeah, I was definitely not taking it easy on the bike, midway through the race, I was definitely trying to push super hard. I honestly didn't know what position I was in the whole race. I think the first lap I fell over, and it was basically dead last. So, I was just covered in mud and didn't know what was going on. I just pushed the whole way through and saw Phil on the last lap and didn't know what position we were in. So, I was like, “You know, maybe I'll just try to get another guy, to keep myself in the points.” And yeah, once I went over the finish line, I saw I got third and pushed Phil right out of it. So, I was pretty happy for the third and I was excited.
What will Phil complain to you more about this week, taking away his podium or the money out of his pocket that you took?
[Laughs] I don't know, that's a tough question. Probably the money out of his pocket because I know he's pretty stingy about it.
Phil Nicoletti | 4th
Racer X: All right, Phil Nicoletti fourth on the night. Did you know you were in third? Like, did you know Marchie was coming for a podium?
Phil Nicoletti: Well, I knew G-Money was coming for a podium, but I crossed the white flag and I had eight, ten seconds on him and then I had a lapper, [Cole] Thompson went down and took up two or three ruts that I was kind of like going in. I couldn't panic and try and wheelie out. I just sat there, and I just saw G just coming and I'm sitting there and I'm f&%^ing freaking out on Thompson like, “Pick up your bike, man!” Yeah, it allowed G to get right on me and then that was it. So, I tried really hard. Just, kill or be killed. I got killed tonight. So that's the way it is.
Main event difference. Was it just a start in the main that you felt better with or what was it?
No, obviously I've been around the game for a while and a fifth in the heat race does nothing compared to a seventh for me. So, it's just get in and be okay. Don't go to the LCQ and be a dumb ass. And then I knew for the main event I had to hustle through the first couple of corners. That's a do or die for me. Salvage, manage main event, hustle, try and kill yourself the first couple of laps and then kind of set into a pace. I had [RJ] Hampshire go by me and maybe Mumford and I'm like, “Dude, have at it fellas” and then three, four corners [later] it's just like, “Alright, bye.” [They both crashed.] So, it is I guess a little bit of experience, I guess maybe trying to find the limits of how the track can be ridden, but it was good. It just sucks. I'm not gonna get many more of those chances. I probably won't ever get that chance again. And it's a heartbreak.
With all the rain coming, like all day we knew it was gonna fall really hard right before the main event. Was it as bad as you expected ?
It was actually all right, as far as the rain or the track, like how much the rain maybe changed the track in the main event. The main event was a yard sale. You can't even explain how bad it is. The straightaways are the easiest point. But when you're going through the rhythms and the ruts are literally two and half feet deep and they're going every which way to Sunday. I don't know how guys can ride them with their feet on the pegs. I'd be ass over teakettle in no time. So, I sit down, and I go skiing, you know, that's just the way it is. So, yeah, it was a nightmare of a day though for sure.
They changed the track after qualifying. They took some stuff out and in the main, they took the whoops out. Did you like the changes they were making throughout the day?
I get Feld's deal of not doing those track changes before because they're hoping the rain is not going to be as bad. But this morning they easily could have been like, “Alright, we're screwed. We got to make some changes.” Or just ask the riders like, “Hey, do you want us to mellow the track out?” and then we'll just come to a vote and be like, “Yeah, we'll be okay.” And I think we all would have been ok to be like, “Yeah, mellow it out” because dude, to try and get a fast lap how it was with one practice, it's like you're seeing God out there one too many times trying to make those Supercross triples. So, I'm glad they made those changes and then they changed the whoops, which they kind of did that in Seattle in 2018. They left them for the heat race and then the main, they took them out. Which was kind of smart because the whoops are actually the hardest part in the heat race.
Let's wipe A1 off the table. Is it nice to start the season with a fourth then?
Yeah, I mean, I still feel like if I was at A1, I would say I would have been seventh or eighth, you know, around in there. But it's good. I mean, it's good for the team, obviously we're a privateer effort. So, everyone knows that obviously. And to destroy our bikes to go 3-4 makes it a hell of a lot more worth it than going 13-14. So, we can justify it today.
