In a sport where there's
a famous saying, "You're
only as good as your last
race," it's somewhat easy
to understand why Jake
Weimer isn't considered
one of the best racers
in the world. But a more
objective look at his career
reveals more to the story.
Weimer is a very skilled
racer. He gave Ryan
Dungey everything he
could handle in the 2009
250cc Western Regional
Supercross Championship,
and then dominated the
2010 championship before
moving up to the 450cc
class with Monster Energy
Kawasaki as a teammate to
Ryan Villopoto.
However, he was
overshadowed at Kawa-
saki, both by the fans and
eventually (reportedly) the
team itself. With Weimer's
riding style being so differ-
ent from his now-legendary
teammate, Weimer needed
special testing time and
parts to get his machine
working for him, and at
least late in his four-year
tenure with the Kawasaki
factory team, he lacked
the support. The prevailing
attitude seemed to be that
if it worked for Villopoto, it
should work for Weimer,
but that's unrealistic at
best.
Over the years,
Weimer's confidence
waned, and he lost his
ride. Last year, he rode a
Kawasaki for Team Ted-
der until a huge crash with
Trey Canard ended his
season early. He returned
with Team Tedder in 2016
and put in some solid rides
in the first three rounds,
including an eighth place
at round two in San Diego.
After that same race, RCH
Suzuki's Broc Tickle broke
his arm, and talks began
with Weimer to become
a fill-in racer on Tickle's
vacated RM-Z450. Things
were ironed out after round
three, and Weimer showed
up at Oakland beaming.
"I really like the bike,"
Weimer said. "I felt good
on it right away when I rode
it, and I just want to make
the best of this opportu-
nity."
Weimer was allowed to
bring all of his personal
sponsors to the team, and
he is contracted at this
point to finish the 2016
Supercross Champion-
ship as the teammate to
Ken Roczen. In Oakland,
Weimer matched his best
finish of 2016 with eighth
place, but said he believes
he will get better as time
goes on and he gets more
used to the bike.
SUPERCROSS
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD
ROUND 4 / JANUARY 30, 2016
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA / O.CO COLISEUM
P48
WEIMER'S NEW GIG
