INTERVIEW
WESTON PEICK
P78
he admits, is his stamina, which
most likely has to do with his
recent forced time off.
We recently caught up to
Peick and talked with him about
his first few months as a full-on
factory-backed racer.
First of all, how are you now
physically?
My injuries from Phoenix
where 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. My
MCL was bothering me up until
a couple weeks ago, but my
acupuncturist—he's been work-
ing on it a bunch and getting it all
reconstructed and stuff like that.
I've been pretty much 100-per-
cent from injuries and stuff like
that other than just accidentally
crashing on the weekends.
How would you assess
your transition from being a
privateer to a full-on, full-time
factory-backed rider?
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 incred-
ibly awesome to have the people
and the support behind you that
the JGR team provides. Every-
thing that 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 chang-
er, 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?
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?
Peick has recently
shown the speed to
race with the "big
boys." Injuries, how-
ever, have bogged
down his progress
a bit. But he's fully
healed now.
