Weston Peick is one of the few racers to make the big time via a pure privateer team. Run by and funded by Weston and his father, Lou, Peick had enough top finishes to finally catch the attention of N-Fab/AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha’s Jeremy Albrecht and brought on board this year with former factory Honda rider Justin Barcia.
Though Peick has suffered through a multitude of injuries, the Californian has still stunned the field with a number of incredible rides, and this past weekend the Yamaha rider qualified second overall in practice, showing that he has the speed to finish at the top.
Cycle News sat down with Peick in the N Fab/AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha rig to get ths very interesting interview.
Let’s talk about your latest injuries. Are they still bothering you or have you kind of gotten over those?
My injuries from Phoenix, which I broke my foot, is just about healed. I get a little bit of ankle and foot pain throughout the day just from being on it all day and riding on it but for the most part it’s healed up and it’s not bothering me anymore like that. My MCL was bothering me up until a couple weeks ago, but my acupuncturist, he’s been working on it a bunch and getting it all reconstructed and stuff like that. I’ve been pretty much 100% from injuries and stuff like that other than just accidentally crashing on the weekends.
How’s it been going from privateer to factory rider? Has that been a big jump or is that something that’s come pretty easy for you?
It’s definitely a big jump in other people’s eyes but I feel like I’ve built my way up to be able to manage and deal with a factory ride. It’s definitely incredibly awesome to have the people and the support behind you that the JGR team provides. Everything what they have available is unbelievable. It’s a crazy and awesome move just from what I’ve been privateer-wise. It’s a huge game changer, eye changer, and it puts you in a better mental position to do better and be more comfortable with your equipment.
What about going from the Suzuki to the Yamaha? It seems like a lot of people that have gone to the Yamaha either couldn’t handle it or went backwards but you’ve done the opposite. You’ve really done well on it.
Every bike out there is good as long as the rider is smart enough to be able to set up his own bike. People make excuses about a bike not working, that’s because you haven’t put in enough time on your off-season to make that bike work for you. As long as you’re willing to put your head to it you can make any bike work for you.
You’re obviously the most improved of any of the riders this year. What do you think has been the difference from the start of the year until now?
Obviously, just being on a solid program like JGR, and signing with a team like that and being able to start testing and then developing the bike sooner than being a privateer and struggling trying to get stuff developed and ready for you. We started testing before Monster Cup. It’s just having that foundation and having all that support coming into the season and having awesome people behind you supporting you and backing you with everything from riding your bike and just the bike itself. Everybody around you, around the team, and everybody’s super positive. It’s just an awesome team.
These last few weeks of being hurt, has that kind of held you back as far as testing because you can’t ride through the week?
Well, I’ve been riding actually the last two or three weeks, I’ve been able to get back on the bike.
But there for a while you couldn’t ride at all, right?
For a while there when I was going through my injury I was off the bike for about five weeks. Not being on the bike for that long really kind of… You just can’t really do much. You’re just stuck there wanting to do something and you can’t. It is what it is when you get hurt.
From what I saw of you last year and now, you are chiseled. You have lost a lot of weight since last year. Do you have a trainer or are you doing all this yourself?
I have my trainer Buddy Antunez and he does mostly my stuff on the dirt bike, when we’re training on the bike, but he also builds me a small program of gym work and road bike work and all that kind of stuff. I also hired a nutritionist, Michelle Casillas, she definitely kicked me into gear on getting the proper food in me. I think if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have cut the weight just because it’s such a huge deal to get your nutrition in and cut the weight. I cut about 16 pounds from last year to this year, so it’s definitely a huge difference. Just being able to be more fit and have more endurance because you’re lighter and stuff like that.
Do you go to a gym or are you doing most of it on mountain bikes and stuff?
I have a gym at my house. It’s a small gym. I have a lot of stuff from there and then I do a lot of mountain biking and road biking.
There for a while JGR was having everybody move to North Carolina. Did you move to North Carolina?
No, it’s actually optional now. You can do it if you want to, but I decided to stay in California. As long as we come back to North Carolina and we test back there quite often. When we have team tests and stuff like that we’ll go back there and then sometimes they’ll come to Cali and test as well.
It seems like you’ve been doing better on the east coast tracks. Why is that?
I wouldn’t say so much that, I came into the season and missed the whole west coast. I did two west coast rounds so then I really couldn’t… That’s why I was saying I really kind of actually just stepped right into the east coast. I didn’t have a chance of really getting down to all the west coast tracks. East coast tracks are fun. The dirt’s a lot better. It’s tackier. It gets a lot sketchier at some times but for the most part the east coast tracks are good and it’s just better traction and fun.
Have you surprised yourself? Second fastest last week.
No, not at all. This is what we’re here to do. We’re here to win. Obviously going out there and putting down the faster lap times is obviously the key and that’s what we want to do to get the best gate position we can, so then we can put ourselves in position to get the holeshots and win.
The holeshot is such a big part of it now. Is that something that you guys have worked a whole lot on to get the holeshots or that something that just comes natural for you?
It’s definitely an off-season preparation and also as well as during the week training. Practicing starts is a regiment in my program every single day no matter what. By the time the day’s done I’ve done 30-40 starts in one day just to make sure your technique and everything is perfect so that when you get to the race weekend that you know you’re comfortable being able to holeshot.
At other times there’s tracks that are one-lined and hard to pass on but you always seem to be able to find a way to pass. Is that just being aggressive? Is that just your nature?
Definitely. I never used to be a really good starter so I have that natural aggression to attack really quick and soon so that I can get to the front if I don’t get a good start. Now getting good starts isn’t an option; I’m always getting good starts. The bike has provided me with the power and all that stuff. It’s just there.
Going all the way back to James Stewart, the JGR guys have so many resources at their fingertips, the NASCAR shops and stuff. Have they done a lot of things to change the bike over to you or have you fit yourself to the bike?
It’s all about our preference. The team is very open with what they allow us to do. As long as we’re happy and as long as our results are there, then that’s all they care about. But we definitely have a lot of options for bike stuff and just having the resources through NASCAR to do kind of anything we need to do is what we can do.
Have your expectations changed over the year? Do you feel like you should be on the podium every week now?
Yeah, that’s definitely where I want to be every single weekend is on the podium and obviously being a championship contender. Not obviously now because I got hurt, but that’s always the goal going into the season is being on the podium every weekend and consistently being up there.
Do you miss working with your dad?
I don’t miss working with him but it’s nice to have him at the races and stuff like that. On him working for me on the bike kind of situation, I’d pass on that any day of the week. There’s too much head-butting when you have your dad working for you. It’s not the best way to have a relationship when you’re working for your dad or your dad’s working for you.
You seem really happy and positive attitude. Is that just this team? Has everything come together for you?
I’m extremely happy. I’ve never been happier. Being able just to show up and race my dirt bike, obviously signing with JGR has put me in that position to just be able to relieve all the stress of having to worry about getting to the races and stuff like that. Now it’s just 100% focus on racing and my dirt bike. That’s kind of also the situation that the team allows you to do.
You’re not exactly an over-night sensation, but it’s like overnight you’ve become a big name. Is that kind of overwhelming for you?
No, not at all. I’ve been racing since 2009 professionally. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs and I think that’s just with equipment that I’ve had being a privateer it’s hard to break out. It’s hard to start in the 450 class and not come up as a Lites rider and be seen all the time. You just keep getting overlooked for so many years and then finally you’re just kind of like, screw it. Then you get an opportunity to be on a factory team and it is what it is. You’ve just got to adapt to it. It comes naturally like anything else. You know what to do and you’re just ready to go.
Did you start out at this level on a 450 and never rode 250?
Yeah, never rode 250.
Was it because you’re a bigger guy?
It was financially cheaper for me. You make more money racing 450s and then it was just I’m too big of a guy to ride 250.
