Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128240
Suzuki's Nick WeV B y STEVE C O X PH OT OS BY STEVE B RUHN t's hard to beli eve sometimes that Nick Wey has alread y bee n on the AMA t our full-time for six y ears. Lon g cons ide red an eli te 125cc rider, he's ridden for plenty of top- ti er teams in his tim e, but it' s been a struggle for him t o prove himself sin ce he m o ved to th e 250 cc class full -ti me for 2002 . Fin all y , afte r two yea rs of toil on YZ2 50s that realis tically any one cou ld build, he's arriv ed as on e of th e AMA's elite 250cc riders with a full factory rid e on th e Suzuki te am . Alth ough he's q ui ck to po in t o u t that h e 's ext rem ely grateful for his recent equ ipment (wh ic h helped him earn a fourth -pla ce fin ish in th is ye ar 's AMA Supercross Ser ies , desp ite ac tually m issing the m ain eve n t at ro un d one in A naheim) , he ' s eag er to show what he can do on on e of today 's top wo rks m ach in es - th e Suzuki RM250 - with a top factory team behind h im. HOW does it m ak e you feel to be finally m ak ing that final st ep to full -fl edg ed , full- fac tory status? w ell , sin ce I' v e bee n on 2 5 0s, I' v e be en on some pretty good t e am s. You k no w, they weren 't factory , but th e only th ing I feel li ke was ma yb e ho ld ing me back was the ha nds -o n peo ple that are h elpin g m e get m y b ik e wo r k in g to it s potential. Over here, we have a lot of guys. We 'v e D Q A got a suspension gu y and a guy out testin g an d things like that . It 's going t o be a big hel p if I can just get th e bik e dialed in to suit me. I' m excite d to be on the team , and I've worked rea l hard t o put m ys elf in this position. I j ust want to do the best I can . 32 NOVEMBER 12, 2003ยท c ue I e ne Wha t was the timeline like le ading up to you r sign ing with Suzuk i? Well, last ye ar I was ridi ng with Mach One, and I " feel li ke m y bike was pretty goo d, but outdoo rs I was ju st ki nd of struggling to get it handling. I was doing eve rything I could, and I spoke wi th Suzu k i th ey were looking for ano ther guy - and th ey seeme d a lit tl e bit interested. so I k ept tal k ing to them. A s it ends up , it worked out. What are you th e most lo oki ng forwa rd to com ing into th e new team and th e new season? MOStl y , it' s j ust li ke I said: Th e bike's great, and m or e or less wh at' s really helping me out is having a lot of guys here to help m e wit h any problem I have wi th it . We've go t a lo t of me chanics and technici ans to m ak e th e bik es work for me , and I'm really exci te d about hav in g that opportunit y . Q A Q How do you feel on th e RM250? So far, I've been ridi ng ov er here for a month, and I'v e only been riding at the Suzuki tr ack so far, so I'm m or e or less just ki nd of learn ing as we go . But I feel pretty co mfort able on it . Has becoming a fact ory rider affected your confi denc e level any? Well , of co urs e, whe n you feel competitive with your bi k e and you feel com fort able on it , th at always helps your confid en ce. I'm th e kind o f guy who j ust go es ou t there and does th e best I ca n. I th ink th at , with getting my bike set up so that I can rid e it as fast as I' m c apa bl e, it' s go ing to reall y impro ve m y resul ts. So are yo u going to expec t more fr om yourself now ? Q Q A Oh , yeah. For sure. VIl's What ab out th i s p ast se as on: fo urt h i n the " \:::Il. Supercross Championship and stuff li ke that. Does it bother you when pe op le try to put an asteri sk on t h at by sayi ng , " B ut so m an y peop le got hurt... "? I don 't k no w about all of th e other gu ys getting hurt - that's part of it - but I took confidence fr om th e supercross season in 2002 [where he fin ished eig hth in points ], and in the 250 itself, and j ust getting m y speed up and getti ng more confident rac ing with the other riders. Obviously, [Chad] Reed and Ricky [Carmichael] were riding out front, and I was riding w ith th em on occasion and wi th Ernesto [Fonseca] it seem ed li k e every week, so it felt good to know I was competitive with those gu ys no matter what. So it really doesn 't matter. I feel like I' ve improved quite a bit. Hav e you heard anything about the RM-Z450 and maybe who might end up riding it? No , I haven 't heard an ything. A A Qu p until now, what would yo u p inpoint as the one th ing that' s been holding you back from being a top-three gu y every week? J ust ex p erien ce and confidence. I think I've had, like I said, pretty good bikes in the past, but I th ink with the package th at I have over here at Suzuki , there 's nothing th at's go ing to be ho lding me back from doing that. I'm go ing to do the bes t I can every week to bring home a trop hy, but I'm just exc ited to have the op port unity , knowing that my bike is as good as anybody 's . c an y ou compare what yo u were expecting fro m the 2003 season to what you actua lly achieved? w ell , if you would 've told me I would've gotten fo urt h at the end of the series before it sta rte d - A Q A