Chatter Box: Jeremy Martin 3

Jeremy Martin is one of the most recent additions to the brotherhood of pro motocrossers in the 250 class, as well as being the younger brother of Alex Martin. Making the jump up to the pro ranks after jumping up from Loretta's is always a bit of a culture shock, but he did put in some good rides, and grabbed a holeshot in Steel City before closing out the season. Now he's busy getting acclimated to the Supercross side of things, and will team up with Kyle Cunningham in 2013. We caught up with him recently in California to get his take on life in the pro class so far.

Vital MX: You got your first few Nationals in this summer. What did you learn out there?

Jeremy Martin: I learned quite a bit. Just basically that even the top fifteen guys, or even for that matter the top twenty guys, are all fast. They all have an idea of what’s going on and they know what they’re doing. I was just thankful to be on a good team, Star-Valli Rockstar Yamaha, and for them to be able to help me out and just help bring me through for the last three Nationals. I learned a lot. I ripped a holeshot and I was definitely scared. Tomac was revving it for about 20 feet behind me, and I was just like, “Oh, man!” But it was good. I’ve got some things to work on...a lot of stuff to work on, actually. I’m looking forward to 2013.

A lot of times it looked like you and Alex were pretty close together during practice. Were you guys doing that on purpose? Kind of keeping an eye on each other, or what was going on?

No. Somehow Alex and I would always end up around each other in practice. We’re actually really close in speed. We just did a local race two weekends ago. He beat me in the Open A and in the 14 - 24 A. He pulled three out of four holeshots. He just held me off and I was all over him. He was roosting me. We’re the same speed and we both push each other so it works out really good.

A while back he was saying that you were the faster of the two.

Yeah. I think at one time I was a little bit faster than him, but he really stepped it up and then unfortunately I got hurt. I think we evened out a little bit, but hopefully I’ll put my head down to the grindstone and be faster than him, come time for the season.

What are you working on for the initial stages of Supercross here?

Being so new to Supercross the biggest thing I work on is just getting everything down - the technique, getting the timing down right on the jumps, getting on the step-on, step-offs better, and just skipping the whoops and figuring stuff out and trying not to let old Cunningham take me out. It works good. It’s nice to ride with a teammate like Cunningham. I learned quite a bit from him already. Looking forward to a good season.

So, are you skipping out on Monster Energy Cup and just easing it into it a little more?

Yeah. The team and I decided to miss the Monster Cup and just get ready for the East Coast. Maybe East Coast or West; it’s still to be decided. But either way I’ll be ready come time for the West or the East. So, I’m looking forward to it and just trying to put my head down and get the bike ready and get myself ready for Supercross season.

Do you have a preference on which coast?

I don’t really have a preference, to be honest. Either way I’m just excited to be racing my first full season as a professional. East or West, it doesn’t matter; I’m just ready to get out there and mix it up with the guys like Tomac and Baggett and all them and hopefully bang some bars and have some good memories.

Going out there are you going to try to ignore the crowd and the stadium and just focus on the track? What do you think that’s going to be like?

I don’t know. The idea of coming down into a tunnel and seeing like 40,000 fans in the stands and the lights and the opening ceremonies… It’s going to be quite an experience  and I’m looking forward to it, but I think just the racing and if you make a mistake you can always hear the crowd go, “Ooh!” So I think it’s going to be cool. It’s going to be a good season.