From The MagTo The Web- The Phil Nicoletti Story From Our November Issue

 

Coming into the 2019 season Phil Nicoletti had high hopes of winning all three Triple Crown Series plus winning the large $100,000 prize that went with it. Well, here we are at the end of the year and Nicoletti almost accomplished all of his pre-season goals. Although he came up just short of winning the AXTour and MXTour titles, Nicoletti rebounded nicely in the Fall and took home the SXTour title as well as the overall Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series Championship. It definitely wasn’t an easy season for Nicoletti by any means and his OTSFF Yamaha Team, but together they fought through the adversity that any championship chase brings and persevered to get the job done. We are honoured to give Phil Nicoletti his first ever cover in Canada, and we caught up with him to chat about his amazing season.

MXP: Hey Phil, what is going on tonight?

PN: Hey Chris, not much is happening tonight. Right now, I’m just sitting on my patio having a glass of red wine.

After winning the Triple Crown Series Championship a few weeks ago in Hamilton I think you’ve earned a few glasses of wine.

Yeah, it’s nice to just sit back and relax and not have to worry about going anywhere for a while. I had a little break after Walton when I went on cruise, but other than that we were just grinding things out. It’s definitely a long season with the three different series so it’s good to have it overwith. Now that I have a full season in Canada under my belt I have a much better idea about when I have to begin my 2020 preparation.

We’ve talked a few times this past season about how important experience is when racing a series in a country that you’ve never been to before. You just mentioned your off-season preparation and when to begin again, but there’s so much more.

This year I think I started to prepare a little too soon, so in 2020 I’ll wait just a little longer. Racing in a series when you never been to the tracks and the cities before is definitely a challenge. Where to eat, where the hotel is in relationship to the track, what is the track like, it’s just everything that is more difficult the first year in a series. Now I know exactly what to expect so I’m looking forward to next year.

You mentioned a cruise you took in early September. You took a little heat from your buddies on Social Media for deciding to go on a cruise prior to the SXTour series. However, looking back I think it ended up being a great idea as you were pretty dialed in during the SXTour.

You can never make everyone happy, that’s for sure. I think it was like May or something when Cooper Webb called me and asked if I wanted to go on a cruise with them in September. A bunch of our friends were going, and the price was right, so I said, “Sure, book it.” Once the MXTour began I actually forgot all about the cruise until it came up in conversation later in the summer. At that point I had the Triple Crown Series points lead and I was wondering if I should even go on any type of vacation, let alone a week-long cruise when you can eat and drink whatever you want. But it all worked out and I think it helped because I went into the Montreal SX pretty fresh.

For sure, I mean obviously there’s a time and a place to take vacations during the race season, but you definitely need them. I always find it amazing that for most pro motocross riders, they don’t take too many non-moto vacations between the ages of like 19 and 30.

You’re right and I really don’t know why that it is. It could be that we just get so wrapped up in riding and training that we feel guilty going on vacation. As I’ve gotten older and started to train smarter, I’ve realized that rest is just as important as training and doing motos.

Looking back to this season, you’ve spent your career racing against the best riders on the planet, but you haven’t been in a lot of championship chases. Did you find it stressful during the past few months as the Triple Crown title became yours to lose?

Honestly, I was good until Sand Del Lee. Heading into that race I was right there with Colton in the MXTour Championship and I felt like I was starting to build some momentum and getting a little edge over him. What happened at SDL not only cost me a ton of points but it also took some wind out of my sails, mentally. I obviously didn’t mean for everything to blow up the way it did, and it’s hard as an athlete to sit back and admit to yourself and everyone else that you messed up. Then the following weekend we headed to Moncton and I just didn’t gel with the track and I didn’t ride very well. Looking back, I think I was still dealing with what had happened at SDL and it took a few weeks to just move on. After Moncton we headed to Quebec and I loved the track right away; we had one of our best weekends there. That gave me a lot of confidence and I took that to Walton where we won again. From there it was just a case of managing the races and trying not to doing anything stupid.

As racers we always want to win a race by 30 seconds and have it be easy, most of the time. However, to win that second moto in Quebec you had to fight off Colton right down to the finish line. Did winning that way and beating Colton give you just that little extra boost of confidence heading into the final few months of the season?

Colton is a great competitor and it was awesome to race him all summer. He’s a clean rider and he never gives up. He did the same to me in Prince George and I wasn’t able to get by him. During that second moto in Quebec I knew he was there, but I also knew that I felt good and that I wasn’t going to let him by. It definitely got a little stressful with the lappers, but I managed to win that moto and it felt great.

As the 2020 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series Champion you obviously had a lot of great moments this year. Is there a moto or two that stand out to you as maybe your highlight?

The Calgary national was good; even though I didn’t win in Prince George, that was a good race. The Montreal SX was fun, but if I had to pick one moto, though, I would say the second moto at Walton was the highlight. After the first moto I was really upset that I let the win slip away, and then when I got off to a bad start in Moto 2 I was like, “Here we go again.” But I found a few good lines on the sight lap and was able to move up quite quickly, and then I took the lead. I pushed so hard in that moto and I knew how badly Colton wanted to win his final moto of his career as well. It was a great race, and after Colton and I joked about how I wouldn’t let him win his final moto. I might have lost the MXTour to him but at least I won the final moto of the series.

I spoke to Colton about that moto and he said that he pushed as hard as he could to win but he said you were riding so good that he would’ve had to really go out of his comfort zone to pass you. And he didn’t want to do that.

That was a great race, and to beat him on a track that he knows so well and has had so much success at was special. Actually, that entire week was fun as I got to hang out, watch some great amateur racing and call out the numbers at Bingo Night.

What is next for you in the next days, weeks and months as you soak this title in and then get ready to defend in 2020?

Well, I’m going to take a little time off before I start training for next year. I have the best trainer in the world, so during November and December we’re going to focus on getting me bigger and stronger. Then when the new year comes I’ll start riding more and getting ready for the 2020 series. We did a little testing on the new YZ450F in September so we already have our base settings and a good head start on next year.

Well Phil, enjoy this championship and thanks for helping out with this story. We’re excited to have you on the cover of this issue and we wish you the best of luck next year.

Thanks Chris! I’m already excited about next year and trying to defend my Triple Crown title. I really enjoyed my first year in Canada. The fans were great and I made a lot of new friends. See you in 2020.