Yamaha Motor Canada Presents MXP Chatter With Phil Nicoletti

If you look up the word ‘determination’ in the dictionary, you might just see a photo of Phil Nicoletti standing there with his first-place trophy from Round 7 of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown MXTour Series in Deschambault. Although he’s been close on a few occasions this summer, for whatever reason the cards haven’t turned up in his favour. However, Round 7 was a different story as Phil was able to catch and pass Mike Alessi for the lead in Moto 2. This pass not only gave him the moto win but also the overall for the day. As mentioned, it’s been a long time coming and now Phil wants more. We caught up with the Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha rider this morning as he was getting ready to begin yet another intense training day.

MXP: Good morning Phil, you’re up and on the road early.

PN: Yeah, this is my schedule a few times a week because I have to drive over an hour down to Clubmx to ride and train. Usually Marshal Weltin and I drive together as it’s pretty far and it’s nice to have company. Also, he’s younger so he gets to drive home in the afternoon when we’re tired.

Well, he’s younger so he should have more energy.

Exactly!

So, where do you live if it’s over an hour to Club?

I live just north of Charlotte up by the JGR Suzuki Team HQ. It’s a nice area and I really like it up here. I’m 20 minutes to the Charlotte Airport and there’s always guys to train with. Other than the drive to Club to ride, it’s perfect.

Alright, let’s talk about Saturday. You’ve been riding well all summer long, especially since the MXTour moved east. Last weekend in Moncton you spent some time near the front of the pack but couldn’t quite get into the lead. Finally, on Saturday you got out front in Moto 2 and were able to hold on for the win.

For sure, it’s been a long time coming and I wished it would’ve happened sooner. It’s been funny how the points have worked out this summer as I’ve had some good days but just haven’t had the overall fall my way. Anyway, this weekend we were able to get into the lead and hold Facciotti off for the win in the second moto, which gave me the overall. It definitely felt good!

With how well you’ve been riding this summer it’s hard to believe that this is your first overall. At each round you’ve always been one of the riders who could win, but it just hasn’t worked out.

I was studying the races from last year and sometimes the guys were winning overalls with some odd moto scores, so I was getting a little frustrated this year that, like a 2-2 wasn’t getting the job done. Other than obviously wanting to win the second moto on Saturday, I knew that if I did then I couldn’t lose the overall.

Both motos in Deschambault started off like a carbon copy of the week prior in Moncton. During the early part of the race you were sitting second to Alessi. However, during the middle portion of the second moto on Saturday you were able close the gap and make something happen. That must have felt great!

I spent the entire first moto trying to do the same but for whatever reason I just wasn’t able to. With never having raced at this track before I think I needed a moto to figure things out. I feel like it’s been that way at most of the tracks this summer as I just haven’t qualified well. I keep track of a lot of things and all season I’ve been like three seconds off whomever gets the pole. Next year should definitely be better as I will know all of the tracks in 2020. Anyway, yeah, I found a few lines in Moto 2 and then once I got close I just pushed hard to make the pass. At that point I was hoping Alessi would put up a little more of a fight with Colton and let me get away a bit. Then right away I heard this bike behind me and I knew it was Colton and that we were going to have a good battle for the win.

Over the years the Deschambault track has provided us with some pretty entertaining battles. However, it’s always been a difficult track for passing as it doesn’t provide a lot of places to set someone up to pass. It seems like it can take up to a few laps to really make a pass happen.

Yeah, I would agree with that, it definitely was tough to pass on. I think it’s because of a few things. Not only do a lot of the good lines come together in the turns, but also because the track goes from sand to hard packed quite a bit. In one turn you’re railing the outside in a deep sandy berm, and then the track has a slippery hard packed section that is one lined. So yeah, you really have to take your time to set up a pass.

It appeared like a few riders were going back and forth on whether to run an Intermediate soft tire or a full sand tire. Which one did you end up choosing?

I went with the Pirelli Intermediate/ Soft that we have available to us and it worked great. There were a couple of sections that a full sand tire would’ve worked better, but I think if you take in the start and the entire track, we made the right decision.

Well, you won so of course you did (laughs). Deschambault has always been notorious for lapped riders being a real issue. Were you stressing during those final few laps of Moto 2 when you caught up to the lappers?

Well, it’s always a little stressful when you’re leading and you get stuck behind lappers. During the second half of most motos the leaders are almost 10-15 seconds per lap faster than the back markers, so it’s hard for them to know what to do when we catch them so fast. I just watched the second moto back on television and Colton and I got held up so it was the same for both of us.

You mentioned that qualifying has been tough as you don’t know the tracks up here. Has it also been a challenge to learn how each of your competitors race?

I think at this level most guys are the same, we’re all racers and we’re all out there to win. Also, we’re all in shape so it’s not like anyone is going to get tired. All you can really do is just try and take care of your own business and see what happens.

You mentioned about now knowing the tracks this summer, that’s one disadvantage, but also, it can be challenging racing in a series when you don’t know the towns or the surrounding areas.

Exactly, I’ve never been to Deschambault or any of these towns before, so I don’t know what to expect. Your comfort level is always a little higher when you travel to a race and know what to expect. But that is part of being a professional, so I still have a job to do. This weekend we were able to get it done and hopefully we can have the same result at the final round.

You now head into the final round 31 points out of the lead in the 450 class. You definitely have an uphill battle but you’re not out of it. Also, you’re back in the lead in the overall Triple Crown Series. You must be excited for Walton and for the rest of the season.

You never know what is going to happen at Walton, anything is possible. Colton has been very steady this summer and he’ll be tough to beat. All I can do is go out and try to win. We’ll see what happens. As far as the season goes, I’m happy with how things have gone for the most part and I’ve enjoyed my time in Canada. We still have a few races left so we’ll see how it goes. Without me crashing out of the opening moto in Sand Del Lee, I’m only a few points out of the lead. That’s a little frustrating.

Yes, your Sand Del Lee day was very interesting, and I must say that you and Alessi have handled yourselves great since then. How about that pit stop that you and your team did after you crashed? You don’t see a full rad change during a moto very often.

I know, that was crazy. I couldn’t believe that Steve (Simms) went back to the truck to get a rad and then to have the boys change it while I waited. It’s too bad I wasn’t able to at least score a few points when I got back into the race. It was also cool that other teams and mechanics in the area offered to help out. In the USA no one would help in that situation, so I think it was cool that people wanted to help. That is definitely part of what makes racing in Canada so cool.

Well Phil, your first season of racing in Canada has been interesting and it has involved a little bit of everything. I know for media and fans alike it’s been fun to watch you ride each weekend with such determination. Good luck for the rest of the season and thanks for the chat.

PN: No problem at all. Hopefully we can finish up the season strong and then come back in 2020 and get some more wins.