On this week’s MotoXpod Show presented by Race Tech and Boysen, we talk to Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Stylez Robertson after San Diego. He talked about the new bike, the new team, does he believe he can win, etc. The MotoXpod Show is live on the Vital MX YouTube channel Wednesday nights at 4:30 Pacific/7:30 Eastern. Don’t forget to subscribe to MotoXpod Show wherever you get your podcast.
For the full interview, check out EP256 of The MotoXpod Show ft. Stylez Robertson & Dean Wilson. If you’re interested in a condensed written version, scroll down a bit further.
Jamie Guida – Vital MX: It’s your first season on Yamaha, obviously a big change coming from Husky. What bike are you most comfortable with? what are you fighting with? What do you think you need to improve bike wise?
Stills Robertson: I think we were tight enough for the A1. The practice track is never as rough or rough as the race track and we felt that on the A1. We came back and made adjustments after that. The team was unreal. We tested Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday that week. We tried everything and we found a setting I was really good at that was similar to 450 people, and that really helped. So, for the moment, I think we’re in a really good place. Bike runs well. In San Diego I was able to come under a lot of people I really struggled with in Anaheim. I really want to make it work. I think we have got a pretty good package now. I just have to get off at the gate. It’s just like me. We actually got out of the gate in the main event, but chaos ensued after that.
Jamie: Yeah, you got lucky with that.
Stylez: Yes. I got really lucky.
Michael Lindsay: How is the team’s enthusiasm and attitude towards results between you and Levi? The star has a certain reputation for having high expectations of her friends. They are a high quality team that has won over 250 championships over the years. Were they recognizing that you guys were on the bike set up? Did you feel a lot of pressure after the first round or two rounds from them or has it been pretty good so far?
Stylez: No, this has been untrue. The support has been something I haven’t experienced before how willing and open they are to try anything, whenever. There was no blame on anyone after A1. It was like, “Hey, we can all be better”. Obviously I didn’t ride well, and I knew it. But they have been very helpful and to be honest, they haven’t pointed fingers at us. They know what work we have to do. I’m really amazed at how supportive and helpful they’ve been.
Lewis Phillips: Are you putting too much pressure on yourself riding for this team?
Stylez: Oh yes, 100%. This is the most impressive 250 team out there at the moment. I know I shouldn’t be reading them, but I never get comments like “Stylez and Levi sucks”. We are terrible”. I’ve never found that before. So, it’s kind of funny. But so far, they’ve been very helpful. Swanee (Gareth Swanepoel), Brad (Hoffman), Jeremy (Coker), Jensen (Handler), Bobby (Regan), everyone’s been really helpful. It’s all been positive and getting better.
ML: This topic is popping up a lot in our YouTube chats right now. I don’t know whose interview it was, but people are telling you something about a spotter. The way I heard it it was a joke word, but a bunch of people are taking it seriously.
Stylez: Yes. I mean, I guess they can think whatever they want, right? Maybe I do (laughs). Obviously, I don’t have a spotter. I didn’t know this. I was talking to my dad on the phone and he said, “You know, people think you have a spotter”. What did I say? There’s people on the side of the track. Or you have NASCAR. There’s a spotter. I was just kidding, kidding like I had a spotter, but I wasn’t clear.
JAMIE: Lewis asked you a minute ago about putting too much pressure on yourself with this team. I can see that if you don’t perform well in such a successful team it affects you negatively. It’s a bad look, isn’t it? How do you find that line?
Stylez: Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve found it yet. In the main event in San Diego, I don’t think I had a terrible ride. Yes, I did not ride well. I was battling people through the main event. My best lap time would not be the same as those in front. But I also didn’t give myself a chance to see the pace. I went back there and it was just a different pace, you know what I mean? a separate group. At the end of the day, I ride for 15 minutes. I didn’t fade away. I’m clearly insane, but I ran fine for just 15 minutes. I don’t think I did. I didn’t pump. Bike was good. So, a lot of positive things came out of it. It was a bad night. I had a bad start and finished sixth. So, we were headed in the right direction from A1, you know.
Jamie: I think sixth isn’t terrible considering how the first turn went, in all honesty. I think at the end of the first lap they gave you credit for 12thBut after coming out of the first turn, you were close to death.
Stylez: Then I stopped it. I have never stopped the bike. I’ve never stopped it, and I was like, “Oh my god”. I think (Josh) Varys and someone else came around me, which means, it’s my fault. I stopped the motorcycle and it lifted me up that rhythm section. But no, looking at the total time and things like that, it obviously wasn’t what we wanted. But yeah, I mean, it wasn’t terrible, you know.
Lewis: To be completely honest, what do you think you can do this year if all goes well? Seriously, I think you can win a main event. I think you are so good. I think you are quite short in supercross. I am not saying just because you are on Star Bike. If you were still at Husky, I imagine you’d be at that level as well. Do you expect something similar from yourself?
Stylez: I think with my ability and everything, I can win Supercross. Right now, I really want to be on the podium this weekend. that’s my goal. I think it’s totally doable and it’s something I want. Once you’ve got the podium, it gets easier. I really just want to get on the box because I’m so tired of getting that Daytona podium. He bothers me, bothers me. Everyone just says, “Oh, you know, Daytona is different, Daytona is different”. So, I really want to get that podium and get that monkey off my back, I can’t do that on a normal Supercross track. Then once I get on the podium, I go for the win. But absolutely, yeah, I definitely think I’m capable of it.
ML: You were still nursing an injury this off-season, so you’re not as quick on the bike as some of your teammates. At what point did you know you were going to do West Coast racing? Because I’ll be honest, until a couple of weeks before A1, I really thought you’d probably be the former because of the preparation time.
Stylez: I think I found out three weeks before A1, two or three weeks ago. It was bouncing between a few of us, so we didn’t really find out. And then I got the sign, “Hey, it’ll be you and Levi”. But then it will bounce back and forth. One day it will be Levi (Kitchen) and Nick (Romano). One day it was me and Nate (Thrasher), you know, just kind of changed. I think it’s a good thing honestly because it keeps you all prepared, which I think is good for me mentally.
