Slaw
One year ago, Pierce Brown was leading the 250SX East Division opener in Tampa, FL. Then, in a flash, his season was over.
In his first race with his new Monster Energy/Yamaha Star Racing team, Brown was seeking his first career 250 Supercross as he lead the main event early over teammate Max Anstie. But, on lap 6, Brown went down hard in the whoops and suffered a broken T5 vertebrae. He would miss the remainder of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross and while he returned for the Ironman round of Pro Motocross, it didn’t go well, as he crashed hard in the first moto and missed the rest of the year.
After struggling with the whoops in qualifying at the 250SX East Division opener in Arlington, Brown found his speed in the main and got around Jo Shimoda late in the race and carded his first career 250SX win.
If there was an explosion of emotion, it was internal.
“No, it hasn’t sunk in yet,” he admitted. “It’s the first race of ten. Red plate’s nice right now, but we still have nine races to go. I’m thinking long picture, long game.”
While the controversy following the race has yielded most of the attention, Brown’s success in his return from a career-threatening injury also deserves to be mentioned.
Here is what Brown had to say after Arlington on Saturday.
Pierce Brown, the journey back, that chapter seems officially closed now with this first supercross win to start off the season like this. So just take us through the final lap and specifically that final corner. You see the finish line, what’s going on under the helmet?
Pierce Brown: Yeah, Jo kept me on my toes that whole main. I mean there were a couple of times he showed a wheel and I wasn’t really like, I’d made a bunch of mistakes, managed some lappers and I would’ve been fine with a second, a podium. I mean I was kind of just riding out there doing my laps and I was able to get a good run through the, whoops, second to last lap, so I got a little bit of a gap and then the last lap, I just hit the whoops, flat corner and I’m like, “Yeah, this is home free.” So it felt good.
Can you just talk about the evolution of how you felt throughout the day? Because it obviously starts with P1 and Q1. You said Q2 was a little so-so, and then the heat race was not a good start and it took you a minute to get going and then the main fired right on all cylinders. So how did you kind of feel as the day progressed?
Yeah, I mean it was a learning day for me. It’s been a while since I’ve raced a supercross a full year. So it took me a little bit to get those nerves out of the way. Yeah, I started off really good in qualifying and then Q2 I was struggling with the whoops, and it kind of compounded, I couldn’t really get a clean track and then struggled. I think I ended up sixth and then heat race, terrible start, restart, another bad start and then I was kind of just like playing it safe. There was chaos everywhere. I just wanted to make it through the first couple laps and then make my passes, pick my points. But I was struggling with the, whoops. It was really like it came down to that all night long. Once I figured out the whoops and the main, I think I was able to put the rest of the track together.
I talked to you a few days ago and you told me winning is going to take steps and I know that we need to take some time to get there, but it seems like you didn’t need very many steps to get on top. Has the feeling finally sunk in that you are officially a supercross main event winner after all you’ve went through in the past year and all the struggles?
No, no, it hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’ve been feeling really good this off season. I mean, I’ve been able to ride with Cole and Nate and even Caden and the speed that we’ve been riding at the test track is winning pace, so I knew coming in that we have the speed, I just have to put it together and, like I told you, if a win was there, I’m going to take it. But if not, I mean I’m thinking long picture, long game right now. I mean, I just wanted to maximize points and that’s my goal from here on out too. Shake things out in the next couple of races and clean some things up because I do think I had a sloppy main for sure. It definitely wasn’t up to my standard, so we’re just going to clean some things up and just try to keep getting better.
By my accounting, this is your second win in the last four races. A lot’s happened in between the two. But with GasGas winding down in the SMX race that you won, can you compare these two wins at all? Which one feels best?
That first one. The first one’s the sweetest for sure. But this one feels good too. I mean, I definitely can’t say it doesn’t feel good. I mean I haven’t really let all the emotions sink in yet. It’s the first race of 10 and we still have a long ways to go and red plate’s nice right now, but we still have nine races to go and I want to keep on building. I mean I’m sure everyone else is too, so I’m excited for the rest of the year.
Let’s talk about the track. This good dirt, but it broke down. It was a very technical track and got more technical as the night went on, so you had ride it smart. Just talk about getting through the paces and not hitting a deck in those conditions.
Yeah, I was just at a question mark watching the 450 heats and then the LCQs, just not really sure where to go anywhere. The track was just hammered by the time we got out there for the main, and it was all about just getting the rhythms every lap pretty much. I mean that on-off was really big and then the whoops really big. But overall, I think start was 90% of it. I put myself in a good position and then I just tried to click off my laps. Jo pulled away a little bit early and then I had a mistake and had to roll the finish. I got him there and then from there on I don’t feel like I ever had any breathing room. He was kind of on me the whole time. So it made things difficult, but I’m stoked to get the win.
Obviously the first round, trying to figure out where you stack up against everybody in the competition. What did you learn about the rest of the competitors and what it’s going to take to continue to beat them throughout the season?
Well the good part is I know two of my competitors pretty well. I’ve been riding with them all off season, everyone else is, I haven’t seen him in a while. I mean I haven’t raced in a while, so I think everybody obviously came out firing this first round and it’s going to be the tell of the next couple races, see where things shake up. I just plan on maximizing points in the next couple rounds and see where we’re at.
Photos: octopi.media
