Rexy & Louis interview MotoAmerica racer Bobby Fong in S5 Ep 38

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You'll listen to the Be Forever Cool podcast.
My name is Rex 45. We got Luis Ortega in the
building. What's going on, Luis?
Man, how you doing tonight? Good, good man, how you doing
this twice in one week? Man, I'm seeing you too much
now. I know, I know.
It's either good things or you got a lot of time on your hands.
I don't know. I'm not trying to keep it busy
and take advantage of opportunities when they arise.

(00:23):
No, I I agree there and and tonight is a is a special one
and and I'm glad for the opportunity as well.
And you know, let's bring our guests in with with with no
further ado because we gotta getthis thing going.
Welcome, Bobby Fong to the show.Welcome to the show.
Bobby, how you doing tonight? Thanks boys.
Thanks for having me. It's good man.
It's good. It's good to be.
It's good to be on where you guys have been watching you a

(00:44):
little bit. So it's good to get good
chatting away with you guys. Nice, nice.
Likewise, we've been watching you on the racetrack.
So not quite the same speed for us, but, you know, at least we
we're checking each other out, which is most important.
So let's. Yeah, man, let's let's get into
this thing. Louis, you want to kick it off?
And that's the first question. Well, I mean, first I'd like to

(01:04):
give a little background on Bobby.
I mean, I've known Bobby now fora long time.
I mean, there were no Gray hairson you at all when I first met
you. So you know, just a quick little
recap. I mean, obviously you've been
Rd. racing in Motor America whenit was DMG and were you racing
when it was just regular AMA Rd.racing or did you start when it

(01:27):
was DMG? Yeah, no, I started when it was
AMA. I started in O seven.
I was 15. Wow. 15 years old.
Yeah, I mean at a long damn time.
Well, you know, throughout the years, obviously you, you've
been on a lot of different equipment, you've done a lot of
different things. And you know, in the last few
years we've seen your career take like a couple of drastic

(01:50):
turns. 1 didn't look so good. And then all of a sudden, you
know, you were kind of jumping around on different bikes and
like, how'd that all happened, man?
Man, it's been, it's been a roller coaster of a career, man.
I've been on so many different teams and bikes over the years.
In 20, I've had to do it a few times actually.

(02:11):
In 20, after 2020, no, sorry, 2010 I was racing for DNA Ducati
team and we had a great, great year, won some races, got on a
podium multiple times. I thought I was going to be with
the team in 2011. Didn't end up getting a ride in
2011. Had to get a day job.

(02:33):
Basically put up commercial doors and read it.
Residential doors, any type of door.
We we put it up, install it, allthe stuff.
So I didn't get a job a few times and then got a ride again
in 2012 and then race 2012 all the way up until 20.

(02:53):
Shit, what was it, 2021? And then that was at M4.
And then in 22, I had to get a day job.
It was with Alpine Stars. No, sorry.
I I I forgot about it. I worked for Piaggio too, in
2018-2019. I totally forgot about that.
Yeah, Yeah. So I didn't have a ride in 2018

(03:15):
as well. I had to get a job with Piaggio.
I was at Northwest Sales. They called Northwest sales
manager, just a Rep. And then I wrote for John Ulrich
and Chris Ulrich for a few years.
Didn't get a ride in 22. Got a job at Alpine Stars for a
little bit doing the racer support.
And then that didn't work out solong because Gabrielli at the

(03:38):
time wanted me to just pick the job.
And I, I got a bagger ride that year too.
So I was doing some select bagger races and that progressed
the bagger stuff and it started getting really big in 22 and
Alpine Sergeant said, hey man, you can't race, you got to pick
the job or you know, pick the job or pick racing.
So I picked racing and then that's when Dainese, you helped

(04:01):
me out and got me in the job of Dainese and did the race of
support with you guys. And that kind of, you know, I
learned a lot and then I got a super bike ride while still
working with you guys, Dainese and then that progressed in the
factory ride, man, that's all. The rest is history.
So the last three years have been.
Yeah. The last three years have been

(04:23):
pretty, pretty exciting for you then.
Yeah, no, it's, it's definitely got a little job experience,
been good on the racing side, got my, my dream, you know,
factory ride that I've always wanted.
So that was that's been really cool, a good experience.
We had a great year this year. And so.
Yeah. What, what kept you motivated in

(04:43):
the early years, you know, going, you know, having a ride,
having to find a, a regular job and, and getting a ride and
stuff like that. Like what, what, what kept you
motivated? Because we, we see a lot of guys
and, and women, you know, they, they put in their retirement
papers. You know, it's, I've been racing
a motorcycle since I was four years old.

(05:03):
So it's like it's kind of the only thing that I really know
how to do, do good in my, you know, and basically it's like
when racing gets taken away, it feels like your identity, you
know, gets taken away. So it's like it feels like
there's something missing. It's as weird as that sounds.
It's just like when racing gets taken away, it's like you don't
even know who you are anymore. So all I know is racing really,

(05:25):
because that's, that's all I've ever, I've been traveling, you
know, the, the world by myself since I was 16.
So when you don't have race and it's just you, you lose a part
of your life and you know it, but it, it teaches you, you, you
got to work for what you want, obviously, and you got to give
it 100% because it could be overtomorrow.
And I know that feeling when it's over.

(05:45):
It's a terrible feeling. Getting a day job and knowing
that you're not racing a motorcycle anymore is a shit
feeling. It's a shit feeling, but we all
got to do it at some point. We're not, you know, American
racers, we're not making 1,000,000 bucks multi $1,000,000
every year. So we, we at at some point we're
all going to have to get a job, right?
No. I agree there, no one likes to

(06:06):
go back and go to work. And what was that transition
like? Like and you were on the wrench
team, you ended up the number one Yamaha that year in points.
You know, was this something that was kind of pre written
that you were going to go to Yamaha or again, it was just
kind of an opportunity that presented itself?
Honestly, it was an opportunity that presented itself because

(06:28):
there is rumor. So we had a good season in 23
with the Wrench team on the R1. We had a great season, won some
races, a lot of podiums. Third in the championship or
second or third, Yeah, third I think.
And how did it work out? So basically there was a rider
leaving attack as I heard of CamPeterson was going to leave
attack or they were going to lethim go or something like that.

(06:48):
So I called Yamaha and just toldthem, Hey, I'm available, you
know, if, if the ride opens up and you know, please give me a
call. And I bugged and bugged for a
while and I definitely wasn't even on Yamaha's, you know, top
three list. Like there was a few guys ahead
of me and they turned it down because they had a different

(07:10):
deal or better deal or thought they had a better deal.
And I was third or fourth on thelist.
And I just got really lucky, believe it or not, to get the
ride. Like I wasn't going to get that
ride. But I kept bugging and calling,
calling people to see if I got the ride and try to sneak an
answer out of Richard Stamboli, but he doesn't make the final
decision. So it was very stressful a few

(07:31):
months after the season whether if I was going to get that
right, because I've been workingmy whole life to get a factory
ride and never had a factory ride before.
So I was stressed out every day because I, you know, then I
heard that they were going to sign Cambodia and then he turned
it down and then it was going tobe SDK and then he had something
else going on at the time. So really I just got really

(07:51):
lucky. I mean, yes, I felt like I
earned the ride for sure for my results in 23.
I felt like I that was the rightthing that Yamam could do is
give me since I was a top Yamam 23.
But I really just got lucky to be completely honest and I made
the best of it. Well, I try to make the best of
it. You know, like we got.
We fell a few short this year. Is it normal for riders to reach

(08:15):
out to teams for ride and stuff like that?
Is that or is it just that at the point you just this is how
the grind is for you? No, man fuck, that's normal
thing. Every year is a dude.
You're always making those phonecalls, you're stressed out, you
don't know if you have a ride and then even if you even if you
think you have a contract, if a team goes bankrupt, what are you
going to do? You know, like it's such a

(08:36):
stressful career. I've never had a two year deal
ever in my career. I've never had a team that they
signed AI signed a contract thatit was a two year deal.
So every year I'm on a high stress alert.
This deal is a little different.Like I, yeah, my contract now is
like a, if I get top three in the championship, it's an
automatic renewal. So it my my option obviously.

(09:01):
But so it's kind of like a two year deal, but not really.
You know, it's still, I could still say no, but that's the
closest thing I've ever got to atwo year deal.
But so, yeah, every year you're on high fucking up like the
weather, if you're going to get a ride, you're just making phone
calls to everybody in the industry and trying to get
something. But everybody, it's like high
school. Everybody always talks like, you

(09:21):
know, it's small world, you knowwhat I mean?
So everybody kind of knows everybody's business, but
everybody always says something different, you know, So you just
don't know what what's the truth?
But yeah, it's very stressful inoffseason.
So between the phone call and the time you got the
confirmation, what was life likefor you?

(09:41):
Man, it was when I found out I got the ride because you, you
still have to train to the offseason, right?
Like because you, no matter whatyou got to, you still got to
train. So like every day you're just
training. You're like, fuck, what am I
doing this for? I could just be sitting on the
couch, you know? So you still got to have that
motivation like whether you get a phone call or not.
So I was, I was on a bike ride when I finally got the phone

(10:02):
call was like, hey, you know, they're going to send you the
contract. And I was literally on the phone
at Richard Stamboli on my bicycle and stopped to look at
my e-mail and sent, they sent the contractor, which was, it
was like amazing. And then all my training
sessions got a little bit betterbecause we had a little bit more
motivation to do do better, you know.
So that was, I think that was inNovember, December last year,

(10:26):
yeah. Or this year.
Sorry, no, last year, yeah, November, December, I found out.
So they. Still had a month or two.
Yeah. So they, but they stretch it out
quite a while because the end ofthe season is September.
So that's a few months of stressand for sure.
No, it was dude. It's so, I mean, it's, you know,
I've aged just in that little period of time.
It's brutal. And your first year on the

(10:48):
factory Yamaha team, you know, did you expect to have the
success that you had coming off of the wrench team, or did you
expect to maybe be the second rider?
Because obviously Jake's been there a long time and he knows
the bike better than anyone. Like what did?
What was your expectation when you first arrived at the team?
Well, attack and 23 didn't do sohot, like for whatever reason, I

(11:11):
don't know, bike setup or riders, I'm not really sure, but
the the results weren't as greatas years past.
So and then everybody is, you know, saying that the Yamaha
was, you know, updated and you know, and then, you know, Ducati
and the BMW came in right away and just started doing really
good. You know, so going into attack,

(11:32):
I didn't really know. Of course I I knew we're going
to be battling up front, but I didn't know it was going to be
as consistent as what we have been.
The team has done a good job to elevate that Yamaha for sure,
but just because of the Ducati and the BMW were new bikes.
You know, the Yamaha is an oldermodel bike.
So I didn't really think that. I mean, I didn't know like we're
going to be out on that front, but I didn't think it was as

(11:53):
consistent as we were for sure. Like there was some races where
I was like, you know, it was really close with the Ducatis
and BMW's at tracks that, you know, that I shouldn't have been
up there with them So. But like I said, I knew it was
going to be battling up front, but not not as good as what I
thought. When did you think you had that,

(12:14):
that moment, that epiphany that it's like, hey, wait a second,
I'm I'm actually really fast on this bike.
Like is there because I know forme, I know exactly when I was
like, oh man, Bobby's not supposed to be doing that.
Why is he doing that? And it's like.
So being aware, so I'm trying tothink of the season, dude, it's

(12:35):
weird. Like I try to look back at the
season. There's not many races.
I remember it was like this year, like I it's so weird.
It's this is like the first year, like I'm so in this like
little bubble. So like I can't even think of
it's kind of bad and good because I would get off, let's
just say if I won the race on Sunday.

(12:56):
It's like I don't even remember the feeling.
It's hard for me to enjoy it because all I'm thinking about
was how to be better the next day or I'm going to do it again
the next day or the next race orsomething like that.
So it's, it's weird. Like when I think about the
season, I it's a lot. It's a blur.
But I knew like during testing in the winter, like we always
tested this podium club. I knew like I was pretty really

(13:16):
consistent doing some fast lap times for that place and I knew
I was like, man, this, it could be a really good year.
You know, just the consistency and each time we tested it was,
I've never experienced it. Each time we tested, we got
faster and faster. The bike got better and better.
So it was like the team had the drive to make the bike better
each time we went on track, which is really like, that's
super cool of Stanbow and like, you know, that dude is going to

(13:39):
work every day, even during the season to try to make that bike
better. And it did and it did.
And it got even better from the beginning of the year to the end
of the year as well. Right, so how does the factory
team compared to the non factoryteam from previous years as far
as just the the bike itself? So one of the things that being

(14:02):
being a factory rider is the testing.
The testing is like man, the testing is key for you know, to,
to get the bike developed aroundyou and to try different parts
and stuff like that. Most private tier teams test
once or twice before the season.We tested like 552 day tests
before the season. And then just the constant

(14:24):
development on the bike. You know, he's always trying to
get something from Europe, whichEurope I don't think helped out
too much last year. It was more just all in house.
Richard Stambolanius crew there.But it was just the constant
development of the bike. Every, you know, one weekend we
have a different swing on it or one weekend we try a different
tank. You know, it was, you know,
different motor spec, a few different motor specs.

(14:45):
So that's like the perks of being on a factory team.
They're always developing and they have, you know, the budget
to do so. You know, when you're on private
tier team, like they're doing their best they can, but you're
not going to test a lot. And the bike is basically the
bike for the year usually, you know what I mean?
They're just scraping the funds to get it to the track, you
know, So that's the little different thing about factory

(15:07):
team is you're always developing, you're always trying
to improve. And then they have the budget to
do so. And we even did like during the
middle of the year, we even tested at middle high because
the Yamaha's middle high becausethe Yamaha's struggle, they're
really bad in 23. And we're like Yamaha's like,
well, we need to test there. So we ended up testing there,
which is it's just all these little perks like that which are

(15:28):
super cool. Was that an easy transition for
you to change your mindset from having a bike that you don't
have to change all year to, you know, every day it could be a
different thing you might be trying?
The mindset was, you know, I wasalways excited.
I like to try. I like testing like most people

(15:49):
don't like testing. I love testing because I like to
see like a little improvements in what like makes a bike better
or not. Now it was from transitioning
from my ADR bike to the factory bike.
It was a pretty easy transition even though the bike, the
characteristics of the motorcycle was all still there.
So I knew that already, but the everything was different on it,

(16:11):
you know, different swing arm, different motor spec, different
gearbox, the ergonomics a littlebit the seating position was a
little bit different on the factory bike, some positive,
some negative. But yeah, the mindset was always
I was always excited to ride thethings he never knew, like I
mean, and going into race weekends, you know, they have so
much data. You know, they already knew the

(16:32):
key ring to the racetrack. They already knew like semi what
spring rate we want to run just from years of development in
that bike. So that was that was key as
well. Another thing that I noticed
from you this year is riding in the rain.
You're usually not known as a wet weather rider, but the
couple of the rain races this year you actually did really,

(16:52):
really well. Like what was it about the team
or the bike that gave you the confidence to go out there and
ride? Honestly dude I didn't really
believe it. I thought it was Nikola for a
while when Richard was always talks about on his little
podcast he does about how good of a rain bike he makes, you
know, for the rider. And I didn't believe it until I
actually at Barber this this year for race 2, it was soaking

(17:16):
wet, but for morning warm up, I mean it was just pissing down
rain and that was like the proper first day I got on his
bike in the wet and I'm like andI was like P2 and warm up behind
Jake. I'm like, holy shit, this setup
is so good. Like it just, it made me, it
just made you feel comfortable. It was as much as like most
people just like soften up and, you know, turn down the power of

(17:39):
the motorcycle. And at TC it's a lot more than
that for attack. You know, they change geometry,
they change a whole bunch of shit.
I don't know what they change, but it makes you feel
comfortable. So yeah, it was something
because usually I'm scared to death as you know, you could
spit on the track and I'm, you know, putting on the brakes, you
know, so but not the bike made the bike and the team, how

(18:02):
they're they're set up, made theworld of a difference.
And so now you get through the season.
I mean, for me, it felt like Laguna Seca was a big turning
point because you like killed that weekend.
Like you just showed up and nobody really thought you were
going to do much that weekend, but you really like took it to
the two guys that everybody thought was going to just walk
away with the entire series. And that was like the turning

(18:25):
point for me. And then from there on out,
there's a point where you obviously became the points
leader. What was it like?
You know, your first time being the points leader in Super Bike?
Well, it was so the Ridge was before Laguna and the Ridge I, I

(18:45):
really struggled there. We, we struggled as a team
there. But after going home from the
Ridge, I ended up going to, I ended up going to my, my wife's
family place in Canada for the week.
It was a week before Laguna and I was just man, I couldn't even
sleep. I was just like, that weekend
really woke me up. I'm just like, man, I got to

(19:07):
good. We got to get our shit together,
you know, because the Ridge was like a real struggle.
And I'm really hard on myself more than the average person to
like an unhealthy way, you know.So going in Laguna, I'm like, I
can't have this feeling anymore.Like the feeling of like getting
your ass kicked that bad at, at the Ridge.
I was like, I, you know, I can'thave this feeling anymore.

(19:28):
It was terrible. It was like somebody killed my
dog. So we got to Laguna a little
extra motivated and I usually struggle at that place.
So I was, we actually, we, we did our homework and I'm just
like, I never want to feel that feeling again.
So we just went out and did as many laps as I could, but used
tires, you know, and just put myhead down every single lap and

(19:49):
made it count in practice. And it it paid off for the
races. And then we end up getting the
points lead not long after that.And dude, that was super cool.
But you try not to think about the pressure about the points
lead, You know, you always try to say like in your mind, like,
I'm not going to worry about, you know, the championship, take
it race by race. But it's always in the back of
your head, like, man, I want to keep this lead.

(20:09):
You know what I mean? It is it is added pressure for
sure. Like but we all have to deal
with it. But it is added pressure.
What was your mindset like at, you know, from a, a spectator
and, and talking to folks, it's you know, you know, we had
tracks where they'll say it's Ducati or BMW track and stuff
like that and tracks where they they said the Yamaha is the

(20:31):
bike, the tracks where it seemedlike Ducati or BMW was supposed
to do well, you were able to come and, you know, say steal so
and get some points there. What was that mindset like?
You know, we talked to Reese. He didn't give us much or we
talked to him to try to get an idea.
What is the motivation like for you guys?
You know, just based on past history of what bikes have done

(20:53):
at the track prior. There was 2 tracks this year
that we knew for sure going intoit like OK we might be you know,
battling for 3rd year. You know, one was Rd.
America and Koda Rd. America in practice in
qualifying, the BMW and the Ducati was literally a second

(21:13):
lap fast, probably more than a second lap faster in qualifying
than I was going. But in the race we're actually
pretty damn close, which after Rd.
America I'm like, if I stayed this close and you know, at
least in race one I was close. If I stayed this close at this
track, I mean, we're going to besitting good, you know, going to
Dakota, because we knew those are the 2 like long straights,

(21:36):
you know, where those those bikes going to open up?
And it's crazy. The in world super bike those
they have restrictions on the bikes here in America.
They're full till so it they're they're full gas.
So like the speed of those things are unreal.
And then going to Coda this year, it really surprised myself
because I didn't think like at least what Bubi's qualifying

(21:58):
lap, you know, I was like, fuck,he's going to be a race of his
own, you know, and then we are, you know, we are to keep him on
his toes, you know, for race 2. So it was more than expected for
sure to get a second and third out of there.
I thought for sure we'd just be bound for 3rd.
But we kept it close and it was super cool and it gave us more
motivation going into New Jersey, which was a lot tighter

(22:21):
track for us. And obviously Jersey was like
the end of the season. There were three races that
weekend. Again, the points were pretty
close between you and Cambo BA. Like, it wasn't, you didn't go
in there with a massive lead that you could just, you know,
kind of sit back and relax and expect to win the championship.
And the first race on Sunday, you won and you won pretty

(22:43):
handedly. Like you, once you got past the
traffic and you were able to just put down your old laps,
like you, you really did show that you had extra pace that
nobody else had. Like, what was that like on on
that Saturday? Yeah.
Saturday, so that was we always kind of know all year long.
I'm always once it gets like 10 laps in, like I'm always I've

(23:03):
been this kind of way my whole career, though, not just the
bike. Always at the end of these
races. I find an extra gear or I could
just stay the same pace. You know what I mean, where some
risers drop off pace and we knewthat weekend for sure.
Like once tires go away, I'm I'msitting pretty good.
Like, you know, I have the confidence at at the end of
these races, like I have some pace.

(23:23):
So we won it on Saturday, but again, dude, like I don't even
remember the race. I can't even tell you how I felt
on the podium because all I was thinking about, I had so much
pressure behind me. Like I said, the pressure was
normal, especially for a championship weekend, but I had
so much pressure around me for the championship from all
different directions. I just like was such a bubble.
I don't even remember like I goton the podium and all I was

(23:46):
thinking about was like fuck, I got to do 2 more races on
Sunday, you know, two more races, which fuck going back I
was, it's such a stressful week.It's stressful. 2 race weekends,
CODA and New Jersey because it'slike damn, we have a lot of
racing left. So obviously it felt good.
I was like, OK, we got a little more points gap for Sunday, but

(24:08):
I I still have to be good. And then Sunday all hell broke
loose and we all seen what happened in Race 2.
And that put me, in fact, that put me on the back foot in Race
3. And I don't, I don't regret
anything as in like how hard I was riding, you know, like I in
race 3 ended up crashing, but I had to, I had to win no matter

(24:31):
what. Like I was just trying to win.
And but it wasn't going to make any difference really in the
championship because you know, Cam ended up winning it anyways.
He would have got, if he would have got second, I wouldn't have
won it. You know he get third so no
matter what I don't regret crashing like you know in race
3, like I was just trying hard race 2.

(24:51):
Obviously I wish that didn't happen on the last lap but shit
happens. And give it a go next year again
all. Right, how does that from and
again, from the outside looking in it, you know, it seems like
the well, it seemed like the build up was real and it all
came came out at Jersey. But it from from the outside
looking and it kind of seemed like, you know, the you know,

(25:15):
things were happening that were kind of, you know, not
necessarily say it shouldn't happen on a racetrack, but it
wasn't as smooth as, you know, the rounds before and stuff like
that. Do you feel like it was
something that was building up and it just kind of happened at
Jersey? And do you think that you, you
know, I guess in hindsight, you probably would look at things

(25:36):
and handle things a little bit differently.
So like on Saturday night, what was your Saturday night like?
As far as like you know, you know, how do you prepare for the
next day? Do you chilling and be by
yourself? Are you, are you kind of working
with the team to, to try to findsome more, you know, pace?
I'm always trying to find pace. Like even after the race on
Saturday, I was just staring at my my rear tire.

(25:59):
I'm like, man. And I stare at the rear tire on
the podium, Cameron and Josh's, and I'm like, man, my tire looks
like shit. You know, like we got to, even
though I had pace at the end of this race, I'm like, man, we got
to figure out like my entire life has actually gone to hell.
Like we got to figure this out, you know, So we're always
continuing like to work. And then, you know, after the
race on Saturday on racing, likeon race weekends this year, it's

(26:21):
like, I want to get the hell outof the track.
Like I just want to go back and everybody knows me.
I'm like, I'll eat a cook dinnerat my Airbnb or I'll just go to
Chipotle, do something fast and easy and go back to the room and
just watch, watch a movie to tryto get my mind off racing or
whatever. You know, cuz I just want to, I
don't want to overthink it as well.
And then and Saturday it's hard to have a plan or sorry, Sunday

(26:43):
it's hard to have a plan and a race, you know, when you're
battling with other people, especially if you don't know
what they're going to do or how they're going to ride.
Or you know, I just try to race as hard as you can and race
forward. Like that's always one thing for
me is I try to race forward. Racers would know that meaning
by racing forward. You know, you just want to go as
fast as you can. I don't have any strategy to

(27:03):
slow up the pace. I don't have any.
I just want to go as fast as I can at all times and keep my
roll speed and that's it. That's kind of how I've done my
whole life. So I don't, it's hard to have a
strategy when you're battling with other people, but you just
want to get out in front and just go.
So obviously we went down, you know, I at the end of the day,

(27:25):
it was my fault because I shouldhave been more aware.
You know, I'm this guy behind. So obviously the guy it's, you
know, behind need to be more aware of what's going on around
him or around others. And I was just trying to do my
normal, my normal turn, my normal speed and shit happened
and I'm going down hitting Josh.And yeah, it was, it was a

(27:46):
bummer. And then obviously we saw what
happened after that. You know, my emotions got the
best of me. But, you know, people need to
realize it was a lot of money onthe line.
It's a championship, you know, like people get emotional out
there and can I do, I wish I could take it back, you know?

(28:07):
Yeah, for sure. You know, I wish that whole race
didn't happen, you know, but butit did.
And I didn't mean anything hurtful by it, but my emotions
got the best of me. And you know, like I said, there
was hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line and I just,
I worked my whole life for this one moment.
My whole life just kind of came crashing down in one crash.

(28:27):
So it was. It was very frustrating on my
end for sure. So now do you, you know, how
are, how are you going to now that you've kind of experienced
this first hand, being in the position you're in going into
next season, having another opportunity because obviously
you're going to be with the attack team again next year.
You know, do you have a plan fornext year other than just go out

(28:47):
and ride your ass off and try todo as good as you can in every
single event? Yeah, I have.
I've been thinking a lot about that, You know how to be, but
you always try to be better, youknow, try to be.
How are you going to race faster?
What are you going to do in the offseason to be better?
I felt like this. I always, people who know me
always put it. I always put in hard work
training wise and all that stuff, Eating, diet, all that

(29:08):
stuff that's always going to be the same.
There's a few turns like that I always struggle with and it's
always, it's on different tracks, but it's, it's right
turns that lead to a like a 180 left, you know, and it's like in
New Jersey, you know, you have the wheelie heel.
And you have the right and the left.
Yeah, yeah, for whatever. Reason I'm it's just me, I need

(29:30):
to work on being patient more. I always make turns too much.
Why should I say it? Make it too much like AV
sometimes in some of those caseswhere I'm rushing things too
much, like I'm very impatient, even when I open the throttle,
like I create too much slide toosoon.
Sometimes I'm going to roll off.So that was one of the things I
learned in World Super Bike was how butter smooth everything is

(29:55):
over there. Like what?
They're the riders around me. Everything is you would think it
is, man. You would think like those guys,
how are they doing? A lot of time like they're doing
being that smooth and patient with the throttle with
Pirelli's, you know. But yeah, that's one thing I got
to work on for next year. And I feel like if I clean up

(30:16):
just me being patient a little bit smoother in some areas, I'd
be a good chunk better in some areas because there was some
turns, even a World Super Bike, like when I did World Super bike
with Pirelli's and that's a whole another can of worms.
Obviously there was and on both tracks there was like 2 turns
that were nearly the same turn, like same style turn that I was

(30:39):
losing so much fucking time at and I couldn't wrap my head
around it because you would think like oh man, I'm going to
put on Pirelli's or we all thought, we all knew it was
going to be a big task on a world super bike.
Sorry I'm jumping around a little bit.
But since I was a super bike thing, we all thought like it
was going to be a big task, right?
Like we all knew I didn't know the tracks, I didn't know the
tires, everything like that. And we thought like, you know,

(31:01):
we did one test at podium club. We do on Pirellis and like, oh,
we're second and a half fast or lap suite.
We're good. No, we go there.
It's like the easiest way I can put it is imagine riding a
particular where your whole entire life on a set of tires
and then everything you do on, you know how to go fast.

(31:21):
You can't do that. It's wrong.
It's wrong. It's like they're they're like,
so as a team and myself and the whole package, we all struggled
really bad. I mean, but we knew we were
going to struggle, right? Like we knew we weren't going to
light the world on fire just because of all the factors are
going. But it was it was more advanced

(31:42):
than what we thought for sure. Like there are in America.
I'm going to give you just like an example.
In America, you don't use that much bar brake pressure because
the tires, the Dunlops, literally you could tuck them
straight up and down. Like that's just how much grip
we have in the front. So you use a little bit of or at
least how I ride, you grab the brakes, but not that much
pressure. You release them and then you
just roll right and then you could crack the throttle

(32:04):
immediately, at least me and start a slide and I can
manipulate the slide and drive forward right there.
In order for those guys, cuz I got all the Johnny Ray's data,
Locatelli's data like every session.
I could see every session from those guys or we can they brake
as hardly had bigger. They had bigger brakes too on
their bikes. They brake as hard as you can,

(32:27):
as hard as you could Fucking grab that lever.
You grab it as hard as you can, but they don't do it too much
lean angle, so they grab it all.They make up all the time on the
brakes and very short amount of distance.
You release the brakes and you throw it on its side as fast as
you can. But when you want to pick up the
throttle, don't wait, wait and wait.

(32:50):
And then they're do their throttle trace is so linear, but
they do a lot of torque maps there.
So it's different than how we dothings in America.
So we had to kind of reinvent the wheel and not reinvent the
wheel, but change a lot of stuffthat I was doing and the bike.
And it's weird as once because in America I could start the

(33:11):
slide early, I could crack the throttle early and just like
kind of spin out of the tournament, drive forward there.
Once you spin on the Pirellis, you lose such a big gap.
It's weird like you can't gain that time back and like the TC
and the bike will just go with the tire friction.
It just holds you back so much and you're not driving forward.

(33:32):
So you lose like 3/10 just on opening the throttle.
At least I was because I'm trying to like get on the gas,
but then I spin and then you lose time immediately.
Well, they're just like, but their bikes like you look at the
Yamaha there, it looks like a completely different motorcycle
to ours. Like their ergonomics, the the

(33:54):
frame they have different, they have bracing on their frame.
They have a lot of different shit that, you know, we don't
have as in just like different style, like there's more than
one way to skin a cat, but different forks.
We end up trying their setting and harass, starting of harass,
which was immediately better. But then we kind of started
straying a little bit back to what we know geometry wise in

(34:18):
America, but with their fork andshock valving, which was night
and day different than what we have here.
So it was a big learning experience.
Can I take anything away other than just being a little bit
more smooth and bring it to America on the Dunlops?
No, but at least I know that I can change my style when need
be. You know, like you're always

(34:39):
learning something. You're going to use that
technique or something down the road at some point, right?
But it's night and day differentthan I could ever imagine.
So how did the opportunity to even go the World Tour bike even
happen? Like like, how'd the moons line
up for you? Because did you ever think you'd
end up racing in a World Super bike race at all?
You know. So we knew Richard Samboli done

(35:01):
a few wild cards before, right. And fuck, I'm like, I was always
like, I would do like a little like mention it in the beginning
of the season, like I'll be coolto do world super bike, be cool
to do world super bike. And you know, and he he started,
you know, getting hard on a little bit for it throughout the
throughout the season. And then in the middle of the
season, we're like, let's see ifwe can get the funds to do this

(35:23):
thing, you know, And then I was like, well, well, we should do
Estrel and heres because they'reback-to-back and they're like,
yeah, let's try to work on it. And then Pirelli, actually
Pirelli and some other key sponsors like Strac and helped
us out to make it happen. You know, once once they told me

(35:43):
I was doing it now, I was so stoked.
When you're in that, when you're, when you're getting your
ass kicked on the weekend, it's hard to enjoy it, you know what
I mean? Like when you as a racer, you're
like, fuck, I'm 20th place rightnow, right, right, right.
Miserable. But when you leave.
The day, at least in her rez, you know, knowing that if I
would have dropped 4/10 in the race at the end of the race, I

(36:03):
could have been battling for 10th place, you know what I
mean? Like it was at my race pace at
the end was always pretty good and it was always like a really
like competitive times. But I'm still in 18th or
whatever I was, you know, it wascool when you leave the track,
you're like, man, I just did world super bike, you know, and
you can see yourself improving each session.
And Jerez was really good because Estrel was more of a

(36:25):
struggle. And that was the first weekend.
Jerez we, every time we went on track, we went faster and
faster. And that was really cool to see.
And we, we closed the gap to thefront And that was like, what
we're looking, looking for was like, I think in Estrel, one
point I was, you know, 3 secondsoff of the top guy per lap,
which is an eternity. And no matter how hard I ride

(36:46):
you, the harder I rode, the slower I went because I would
just spin more and the bike would just get sucked into the
ground. And then just I wouldn't, I
didn't really, I didn't get it as a team.
I couldn't comprehend it. And then after sitting on it for
a week, I'm like, OK, man, I need to be smooth.
I need to maximize these brakes.Like I never even, you know, I

(37:06):
was getting callous on my I don't get callous on my fingers
from breaking. I was for finger breaking, four
finger breaking and I have literally callus on my fingers
from that weekend. Like you don't do that in
America. You just don't.
So it was it was different, but it was cool.
Like when we left Perez, I'm like, fuck, we just did world
super bike. That was cool.
But when you're in it and you'regetting your ass kicked, it

(37:28):
wasn't that cool. Now you've, you've been home for
maybe a week or so now I, I wantto wrap up the jersey and, and
just the, you know, the incidentand stuff like that and, and
just your emotions as far as youknow, you, you, you, I don't
know if you mentioned when you found out infant middle season,

(37:48):
you were, you were going to get the wild cards for, for, for
world super bike, you know, but you know, there was, there was
a, there was a lot of media playon, on your gesture when you
crashed in race 2 and stuff likethat.
You know, it, it didn't turn outthe way you wanted to.
It's your first year on a, on a factory team.

(38:09):
You know, maybe at the beginningof the season, I don't know if
you thought you'd be fighting for 3rd place or for 3rd place
or even for the championship. We're fighting for the
championship, finishing third. You know, in that moment, you
know, jersey, you know, and end of race three, you know, I'm,
I'm pretty sure you didn't want to hear anything from anybody.
But what, what how were you ableto re recharge or or get

(38:32):
yourself ready for world super bike?
How did you feel? You know, towards the end, I
mean, that got a lot of play on on on social media and stuff
like that. You got sanctioned and stuff
like that. You know, you know, nobody wants
to be Dennis Rodman and unless you're at a party, so.
I'll be, I'll be real and I'll, I'll, I'll start from start from

(38:53):
the bottom. I'll tell you how it was when it
happened. So it wasn't me and Josh's first
incident, You know, I mean, me and Josh have been at Rocky Road
for years, you know, You know, at least on the track, at least
not off the track. Everything has been cool off the
track. On the track, me and him had our

(39:14):
differences a lot and so did a lot of other riders.
How should I word this? Basically, I was doing my same
line. It was also last lap and he has
a Ducati which you can really use the strengths of a Ducati,
you could break really, really deep.
And he knows that he has he has as much as power as he can,

(39:36):
which is kudos to him because heuses it to perfection.
I mean, he's, he's won a lot of races that way, you know, using
his strengths and the bike strengths to win.
And he use, he tried to use those strengths and the wrong
corner, which I wasn't expectingit, which basically means that
he, you know, I need to keep my roll speed to make a lap time.

(39:57):
And he could easily slow the pace down in the race.
You could see when he leads the pace drops like 1/2 a second or
a second, you know, and I was just trying to move forward and
I hit his rear wheel a few timesout there during the race.
And then on that lap, I wasn't expecting him not to open the
throttle or brake, whatever he did.

(40:17):
I didn't expect him to just be parked there.
And that was my bad, because I should have.
I should have been more aware. I should have been way more
aware of my surroundings and what possibly could happen
because like I said, I'm just trying to race forward.
I'm not like I it's just hard torace that way, you know, when
people try to use it, those strengths.
And after crashing, I did that gesture.

(40:39):
No, I didn't mean I was going tokill him.
Like what everybody's saying, like I that's absolutely
ridiculous. I'm no murderer, you know, I
mean, I don't care how hard, like how upset I get, I'm not
going to murder anybody at race motorcycles.
And you know, so I was just, you're through to me.
You're done to me, you know, Like, yeah, people think like,
oh man, you're the second guy. Like, how did he make you crash?

(41:03):
You know, it's like, well, shit,dude.
Like there's a lot of other things that come into play, you
know, so a lot of people don't know the real story on what
happened and everybody could have their opinions, which is
fine. I mean, that's fine.
But I definitely went off socialmedia for a while.
I did apology, I went off social.
I still, I'm still off social media.
I haven't gone on social media since.

(41:23):
It's honestly been nice. But I've been that way a few,
few times in my career. Just kind of a Instagram,
Instagram, Facebook, whatever, cleanse, you know?
But yeah, so after that and thenthe, you know, Race 3 crash,
like, I don't regret Race 3 likethat.
That shit happens. You know, I was just actually
trying to ride as hard as I can.And Richard told me too.

(41:43):
It's like, you need to win this thing or crash, you know?
And that was it. And then what also upset me was
before Race 3, Heron was tellingpeople and it got back to me
that no matter what, he wasn't going to pass Cameron because he
knew he knew that if he passed Cameron, I would win the

(42:06):
championship, right? So he was actually he, that
actually literally got brought to my attention before race
three, you know, so there was nothing I can do.
And you could see that he was holding the pace up for from SDK
or whatever. And then he did a search forward
like, so that actually really upset me more than me hitting

(42:28):
him, you know, in Race 2, you know, of him saying that.
So that was a big bummer. I don't know how true it was,
but I had heard it from a few different sources or said it to
the media and got to the wrong person.
Whatever, it got back to me. Yeah.
I mean, at the end of the day, Iwas the second guy in line and I
should have been more aware. But moving forward to the week

(42:52):
leading up to World Super Bike, obviously I didn't have social
media. So that really helped.
But here and there I would talk to people on the phone.
It's like, oh man, your, your thing's really blowing up.
And then, you know, then I get the call from Moto America and I
got sanctioned $3000 for that. So, you know, they had to do
something. And I think Josh got sanctioned

(43:14):
too for flipping off SDK as well.
Right after there's a photo of Josh flipping off SDK.
I thought in my mind that doing this gesture was a lot better
than flipping somebody off on live television.
But people read into this a lot deeper than I could ever
imagine. So, but yeah, leading them to
World Super Bike, I had to really figure out like, I had to

(43:36):
really not think about Jersey, right?
So I had to like just think about World Super Bike and I
went straight back to my training program and then what
Super Bike hit And then, you know, I I wanted to personally
do better than I did. I should be happy what I've
accomplished there, even though the result wasn't good.
But I think this week is barely starting to hit me like all the

(43:58):
weekends that I really haven't really processed, you know, like
this week is like the first weekwhere I'm like, I lost a
championship because I couldn't really process it throughout the
week leading up to World Super Bike.
So this week has been, you know,just.
Been a bummer. It's finally hitting you.
You. Know now is it?
Is it weird? Weird might not be the right

(44:21):
word because you know, when you came into the season, you were
hoping for top three, top four and you and you were fighting
for the championship towards theend and the last round and stuff
like that. You know, you, you, I heard you
say you're hard on yourself withtraining and just in general as
far as racing and stuff like that.

(44:41):
And maybe still too soon becauseworld super bike just happened.
But do you, you know, pat yourself on the back?
Do you sit here and, and, and you know, if you watch F1 race,
you don't even, you know, drink champagne if you win a
championship. But have you taken a moment to
say, Yo, I, I really did a lot this year, really incredible.
I might not have ended the way Iwanted to, but it's pretty dope

(45:03):
what you did from me looking on outside.
I appreciate, I appreciate that for me and I'm going to just
keep it real. I'm a glass.
What is it, half full? Half empty.
Half empty, sorry, half empty. That's always kind of been my
personality a lot like which is really negative, but I have

(45:24):
tried. I really do always try to like
think back like, I mean, we've succeeded, you know, a lot this
year, but you know, sometimes I let the dark days get get over
me more than more than it should, you know, doom gloom
sometimes, but I like I think that's what keeps me going still
like me being that hard on myself, which is like I said,

(45:46):
it's not healthy because you know, like even after World
super bike, I'm just like, fuck,well, what can I do?
You know, next year if I'm on the team, you know, it's just
like it's hard for me to processthings like that and really
think back like, oh man, we had a good year.
I tell myself we had a good year, but I don't completely
feel it, you know, because I didn't achieve the end goal.

(46:09):
You know, that's like the big thing for me, but I really am
trying to be more positive. Well, see, that's one of the big
things when we look at racers from our point of view,
obviously your point of view, you're looking at as this is
your job, this is what you do. You want to succeed.
You want to do the best possiblelike any one of us, any of us do
with our own work and with our own lives.
You want to do the best we can. But then we look at it as fans,

(46:31):
we look at you and we look at first like you came in this year
and you were probably in the best shape that I've seen you in
in a long time, man. Like you were lean, like you
were ready to go. Like there was something in your
swagger at the beginning of the year that you were like, this
might be my only opportunity. I'm going to give it 150%.
Like I'm going to come in as sharp as I can to do whatever I

(46:51):
can. Because like you said at the
beginning, nothing's guaranteed.You know, there's no guarantee
that that you'll be there unlessyou perform a certain amount or
you do this or do that. So you do have to kind of as
much as as hard as you are in yourself.
Like, there are some positives in what happened this season
that, you know, you got to look at.
I mean, again, dude, you got, you got, you were the third

(47:12):
person in line to get a ride. No, that's that's that does bum
me out. Say that.
You were the first chick they let go.
You were the second chick. You were the You were the torta
that was left when the lights turned.
Yeah, that still does bum me outquite a bit, you know,
especially what I, I felt like Idid in 23 on a Yamaha.

(47:34):
But yeah, I, I, I need to look back because I did, I did
succeed quite a few times in theyear.
And it was, this year was definitely super.
I mean, I'm always locked in, but it was like sauna every day,
ice bath every day, riding motocross twice as much as I
always do, putting in long motosand just kind of taking it to

(47:59):
the next level. And I, you know, it was, you
know, this is my job. That's what you're supposed to
do. But it was like, you know, to
the extreme, I'm with the diet and just everything.
And it's like always watching footage between the races and
doing studying or do just do something.
It was like every day, 24 hours,you know, a day or during the
day when I'm awake. I was all just motorcycles.

(48:22):
Like how am I going to be better?
What am I going to be better? Oh, I can't eat this because
this is not going to make me faster.
Or, you know, fucking dine in mysauna because I I usually
struggle in heat races. So I've been doing a lot of like
heat training and freeze in Jamaica ice bath.
It was just miserable. But I mean, like I said, I all
that paid off. It did and it really did.

(48:43):
So yeah, I just got to step it up one more next year.
Just 5 or 10 more minutes in theice bath, 5 or 10 more minutes
in the sun. It's so brutal.
So in the world Super Bike side of things, because you know,
this is where I want to get a lot of information from you
because we don't get the opportunity to speak to people

(49:05):
that have been actually racing next to top rack and these other
guys. Like we know the level of
competition there is high. Is it the level of competition?
Is the level of equipment better?
Like what are all the differences that really make
these guys in World Super Bike like that much?
So first thing was immediately, not only the brakes, obviously

(49:30):
like they, they their bikes and how they have it with their
engine braking and their rear brake usage and how they apply
the brakes. Dude, they could turn.
I've never seen anybody turn a bike that like opening the
throttle and continuing to turn their motorcycle and stand it up

(49:51):
and go like the turning on when they could flick it left to
right was ungodly real. Like I I could never even saw
anybody ever do that. And they it's like they can slow
the bike down enough and their bike with their engine braking
and they could just go Wham and just fuck, they could just turn.
It was it was unreal on that side.

(50:12):
And then just the brakes, man, like it's crazy on how much
brakes like those guys can use. And that's where like top
records really good at obviouslyis like brakes, but it wasn't
like it wasn't the speed. So I was trying to carry more
speed to the apex to the term like, well, that's where I make
my time up is like speed, roll speed here.

(50:35):
It's like, no, they actually do so tard breaking in such a short
distance, but they end up like with their engine braking and
everything, they end up stoppingand then just back in turning
and it's just like blew my mind away.
And that's where they make up the time like tents, like 3 or 4
tents just on the brakes, but not the roll speed to the apex.

(50:55):
It was just brakes in a short amount of distance.
And that was like unreal to me to see.
And they have it figured out. I mean their bikes, they have
different frame concessions overthere, so they could like modify
their frames a little bit. At least all the Yamahas had
that. You know, I had some of the
Yamaha guys. I don't know how true it was.
It was like Massimo, who is he kind of looks over all the

(51:18):
electronics for all the Yamaha teams.
Like he kind of created the system that they're running.
An Italian guy and he was just like you on our frame.
You go one second faster. I'm like, well fuck, I'm not on
your frame. Why would you tell me that?
You know, like, why would you tell me that?
I'm not getting your frame, so Idon't know how much of truth
that was, but yeah, he's like, yeah, you want our friend?

(51:40):
You go one second pass and I'm like, oh fuck.
Thanks a lot. So can can you bring those kind
of things over like break in into into motor America you.
Can't dude, like you just can't do it on our tires, everything
can you? You can't do it.
Can you bring a container of Dunlops and give them all Dunlop

(52:00):
fronts and say let me see you dothat shit now dude?
Like, and that's the thing too was actually when top rack, when
top rack went to Coda, you know,and top rack went to Coda and
everybody was shitting on his time, you know, like basically
it was like holy shit, he just did a 2O67 or whatever it was,
which is insanely fast, but thattrack suits a Pirelli more than

(52:21):
you could ever imagine. Like dude, like if you which he
maximizes his breaking, obviously, but like you can
never do that on a dead lot there.
That's why he made-up so much time just on a, you know, BMW
first time at the track. It's like the breaking dude,
you're probably making up just in breaking sections in a second
alone, you know? But yeah, I know it.

(52:43):
And by the top rack's super cooltoo.
Like he hung out multiple times in the garage and just hung out.
He was super cool. He was one of the coolest dudes
there. I mean, there was a good chunk
of dudes over there in the pits that really welcoming.
The Italians, not so much, you know, like they're really when
you're on track, everybody. 'S tense.
They're. On track too.

(53:03):
They're. They're really Italian.
They're just, they're really animated on the bike, man.
They're just always, you know, they're always, dude, I would
be, I won't name any names, but I would be on the track, right?
Like in practice and I'm really caught like cautious of like
getting in people's way, right? Like I, I'm just, I, I'm aware
of my surroundings. I could see people coming up,

(53:25):
you know, you could feel them, you could see it, whatever.
And I would move out of the way,two different guys, two
different times. I would move out of the way
completely way before they even got to me.
And they were way faster than meat some points, and they're
still just fucking throw their hands up and all this.
And I'm like, what was that for?And I end up apologizing, like,

(53:45):
well, why am I even apologizing?Right.
Right. I didn't do anything wrong to
you. I didn't even slow your lap up.
I was way out of the way, you know?
And so, yeah, other than some Italians just being really
animated, everybody was really cool.
Like, super cool. More than I could ever expect,
actually. So would you say it's the the
folks over there in the paddock more warmer than in the North

(54:09):
America? No, but believe it or not dude,
most people came over to me because of that damn video from
music. I mean when you're famous.
Man. Yeah, dude, when they say I mean
dude, I don't know how many of you use that.
That video somebody told me it was like 8 mil or even.

(54:30):
More Wow, OK. Yeah, You know, a lot of people
came up to me and were like, no,no, no, yeah, yeah.
But no, they're they're pretty welcoming mode.
America. Everybody's pretty welcoming as
well. Just because I've been in the
pits so long, everybody kind of knows you already.
But the racers are really cool because we do, you know, every

(54:52):
weekend Michael Hill does like apaddock show deal.
So every racer has to go on stage, or at least the world
super bike guys. And, you know, we're all just
hanging out in the back. And then we called on stage, but
everybody was super cool, you know, spoke a lot, like eager,
like a one was super cool. Vandemark was really cool.
The Brits are always, the Brits are always cool, you know, So

(55:12):
there's a good chunk of people that were really cool and kind.
And then the whole Padda team too was super nice to us.
I thought there was going to be more, definitely more.
Intense. Do do you think that the the
facilities there like compared to what we have here, you know,
you only went to two races or two events, what are the
facilities like? And like is there a difference
in like the overall show value like what the where the way

(55:35):
world Sewer Bike puts on their events versus what we do here?
Like what do you think could be taken from there and brought
here to make our events even better?
Dude, man, it's so different because we're all out of
garages. Obviously every, everybody's
always out of garages, right? And most tracks we go to don't
have garages and Estrel, I mean they gave us 1/2 of a garage.

(56:00):
So I mean literally we have, if we have a space this big, I mean
literally it was 1/2 of a garage, half of 1/2 of a garage.
I mean, we had enough space for the bike and speed mechanics.
It was wild. But I mean, I literally just
lived in that garage, dude. Like it was even that garage.
But then they do they, they start setting up world super

(56:21):
bike teams. They start setting up on Tuesday
before the weekends because Tuesdays, because they have all
the big setups, like all the hospitality setups, proper
hospitality. So I mean, they're they're cooks
there and everything. That was unbelievable.
We can never do that in America because that we were broke.
You know, everybody's broke. I mean, my team eats

(56:42):
Chick-fil-A, but I mean, no, they don't even, I mean they eat
literally cold cuts, you know, and shitty bread.
So I mean, I mean, they're the, you have a proper chef and you
have a barista, you know, and most of the team, the big teams
do, you know, but we all the Yamaha teams kind of eat
together. So we had we ate the Yamaha
hospitality and you know, 20 different selections of food and

(57:04):
different pastas and barista there desserts.
It was unreal. And they did breakfast, lunch,
dinner there every day. And at least in Spain, which
drove me crazy, was even if I wanted to leave the track, I
couldn't because things don't open until 8:30.
So I mean, that like blew my mind.
I'm just like, fuck, I don't know how people do it.

(57:24):
I want to be laying in bed at 8:45, you know, you know, So it
was so we, I just stayed at the track at least until 7.
They did dinner at the track at 7:00.
So I ate dinner at the track andthey do, you know, breakfast
super early in the morning there.
It's just a different lifestyle.You know, like the times they
eat to, you know, all of their time is spent at the track.

(57:45):
Like when I went to Mazano to gowatch Garrett Gerlach in the
beginning of the year. I mean, it drove me crazy being
at the track that long. That dude was doing shit at the
track at 9:00 at night that his team wanted them to do at 9:00
at night. And they just spend all their
time there. Like it's crazy, Like that's
their home, you know? And then just go back to sleep,

(58:07):
you know, it's, it's a lot. Usually I like to raise and get
the hell out of there, you know,and just turn my brain off.
Yeah. So you have you have things that
you brought back that you might incorporate does as the attack
Yamaha as a whole, the guys thatwere able to work.
I know Reese's out there cheerleading and and supporting
and stuff like that. Do you guys look to say, hey, we

(58:29):
have an edge because we're able to have a couple of rounds and
and we're all super bike and we learned a couple of things that
we may be able to throw into into Mode America for next
season. Yeah, myself and the team too,
especially the team, because they made, you know, the team
didn't they have a relationship with Yamaha in Italy?

(58:50):
But it wasn't like, you know, close, like they're not sharing
notes all the time and stuff like that.
Richard always kind of does his own thing, but just meshing that
bond a little bit more with Yamaha over there and, you know,
just showing face and hanging out with them, you know, and
seeing how they do things, you know, with their motorcycle.
And my team learned some stuff too.

(59:11):
So we're going to try this offseason to try to incorporate
some of those things and testingto see if it works with our
tracks and tires. So yeah, not only myself, but
like just trying different things here.
And then we're riding the team as well.
Learn some stuff and got a few they got a few tricks they want
to try got. You so you'll you'll be in the

(59:32):
paddock and at 9:30 PM. I'm.
I'm. Wild bro, that drove me crazy.
Yeah, so. And now you were there obviously
that we had two Americans racingin super bike.
Like what was the feeling or didanybody say anything about the

(59:54):
fact that one doing a round in America Like anybody mention
anything or any of the riders say that they would love to have
a round in the US? Oh, dude, everybody wants to
have a round like a more proper world super bike round Laguna.
Like everybody wants to go back to Laguna.
Like they love that place. Like fuck, let's go to Laguna.
We've been trying to get go to Laguna.
Like they love most, most of theraces, they love America, they

(01:00:14):
love to come. You know it.
It's not really, you don't really appreciate America until
you're in a different country for a few weeks and you're like,
fuck, there's nothing like the great US.
Just everything is just so open.And but yeah, the races love.
They want to come here badly. Well, do they want to come here
because it's America or because when they get here they can

(01:00:35):
actually go out and nobody's going to bother them because 90%
of the people will have no clue who they are?
Probably a little bit of both, and they just have room to
breathe. Dude, it's crazy.
Yeah. Because last year before last,
we had Bazecki go to New York City for a day to do like an
event, and he literally walked all around New York City with

(01:00:55):
like three or three people. Yeah, not one person.
Recognized not one person was like, hey, you're Marco Bazecki.
No, and it was like go. Wild to me, do you want a pizza?
Like whatever. And it's crazy too, like in
towns, like where we stayed at, you know, if you have a team
shirt on or something like that,like it's like you're, you're a

(01:01:15):
fucking star. You know, it is a different
feel. Like we, they, they allow the
fans to walk on the other side of the garage like it wasn't a
fan walk for the riders, but they allow like the, the fans to
see the garages and outside, youknow, a certain amount of time
throughout the day. And I was standing out there

(01:01:37):
just like looking around, not doing autographs or anything
because I didn't have to at the time.
And literally a kid asked was like, Hey, can I have a knee
puck? And I, my Leathers were hanging
up kind of outside. So I didn't have a dryer, a
proper dryer. So I was like hanging out in the
sun and I ripped it off my, I ripped it off my, my suit and
gave it to this kid. And the fans came unglued.

(01:02:00):
They were just like, literally the kids were crying like it was
crazy. But you don't get dude, you
don't get that in the US, man. Like the the dedication of fans
are unbelievable, but they are psycho too because they're like
come over and like, can I have ahelmet?
You know, It's like, yeah, it's like, no, yeah, like, no,
they're aggressive about things too.

(01:02:20):
But like the dedication from thefans, obviously you guys saw
what top Rex fans you know afterthe Bulgar thing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You needed security like Marquez
in Italy. Yeah, too.
Seriously, you just don't. You just don't get that in the
US, man. So given the opportunity, would
you go again? Yeah.
No, for sure, I would go again, even though I'm agreeing to get

(01:02:41):
my ass kicked right off the bat,you know what I mean?
But it's it's it's weird becauselike there's only like, you
know, when you see like when you're riding with those guys,
it's like, man, they're everybody is good, like
everybody's really good there. But it's not like, holy shit,
that dude has something that I've never seen before other
than top rack, other than top rack.

(01:03:02):
When I see that dude riding, I'mlike, whoa, like how, how did he
do that? Like, how did he make that bike
turn so good, You know? But everybody, it's just on how
they, they just learn to, you know, maximize their bikes with
those tires and those tracks, man.
And that's as easy as I could put it, dude.
But like, yeah, they riding around those guys.

(01:03:22):
Everybody is quick. But like, they're not doing
anything different there. There's just 20 of Cameron
Beaubiers there, you know? So.
Yeah. 20 Cameron Beaubiers on ondifferent tires.
Yeah. On different tires, yeah, so.
And what's your offseason going to look like?
Like, obviously you know you're going to be riding next year,

(01:03:43):
but is, you know, do you have any additional plans this year,
this offseason, not just workingout, but just other things you
want to do? This.
I got to dine in. I got to dine in Phoenix coming
up. OK yeah, yeah.
But honestly, for the next at least month, I'm actually
looking forward to at least a few weeks of just doing.
Yeah, I've been still riding my bike.

(01:04:04):
I still work out just because that's just like my daily
routine, but nothing crazy. I'm really just looking forward
to like just chill. So I felt like I was on the road
a lot this year just with eithertesting or doing something, you
know, it'd be cool. Just honestly just to hang out
and just relax. Because I feel like even
throughout the season, like yes,I'm traveling, but when I'm home

(01:04:26):
it's all fucking motorcycles. So I want to kind of turn my
brain off for next few weeks still and and then get back to
it. Obviously the testing will start
ramping up and then doing some stuff with Yamaha and you know,
just little stuff like that. And I don't think it'd be home
so long until I get the edge to get back on the road, so.

(01:04:47):
Nice. I, I think that I think we're
right just about it right, guys.Is anything we missed that you
might want to add, Bobby? Nah, man, thanks for thanks for
having me, dude. Like you and Lewis, dude, it's
it's cool to be on here and it'scool to tell my, my side of the
story and, you know, love me or hate me, I mean, we all make
mistakes, you know what I mean? We're all human.

(01:05:08):
And yeah, we'll try again next year for the championship.
Listen man, there, there's like a 1,000,000 people that would
love to be in your shoes right now, so.
I'm just glad that you know how I feel when I I get on the track
with you. The first, the first session for

(01:05:28):
sure. You're like, holy shit, I'm a
club racer. Yeah.
Were you feeling like like RickyBobby when he came back from his
big accident? And he's like, is that the other
riders? Dude, it's crazy because like,
and it's like, it wasn't just like I said, there would be like
an Estrille, dude. Like I would overlay my data

(01:05:50):
with like Lockatelli and I'm like good here, good here, good
here, good here, really bad here, like in one turn and then
good, good, good, good, really bad.
And it was always like 2 turns that just like blew my whole
last time. Then I just couldn't get my head
around myself. And the team is.
Yeah, wow. Well.
At least you got some. At least you got some knowledge.

(01:06:10):
So the opportunity comes up nexttime or comes up again, but you
might at least you're not comingin at at zero, you're coming in
maybe like four or five versus just a complete yeah, yeah.
Seriously now? Well, thanks for having me boys.
I appreciate it dude. Hey, we appreciate the time.
Love having you on here, love hearing your side of the story,
love hearing your season overall, and we wish you the

(01:06:31):
best this coming season. Obviously with everything else
you do going forward. Thank you so much.
Man, I appreciate it. Thanks guys.
My name is Rex 45 is to be forever.
Cool podcast. We got the real Luis Ortega.
We got Bobby Fong in the building.
Peace. Peace.