"I'm so tired of just having that Daytona podium. It haunts me, pisses me off..." | Stilez Robertson on Wanting to Win a Main

On this week’s MotoXpod Show presented by Race Tech and Boyesen, we talked to Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Stilez Robertson after San Diego. He talked about the new bike, new team, whether he believes he can win, and more. The MotoXpod Show is live on Wednesday nights at 4:30 Pacific/7:30 Eastern on the Vital MX YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe to the MotoXpod Show wherever you get your podcasts.

For the full interview, check out EP256 of the MotoXpod Show ft / Stilez Robertson and Dean Wilson . If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: This is your first season on the Yamaha, obviously a big change coming off the Husky. What are you most comfortable with on the bike? What are you struggling with? What do you feel like you need to improve on bike wise?

Stilez Robertson: I think we came in pretty stiff for A1. The practice track doesn't get as broke down or rough as the race and at A1 we realized that. We came back and made the 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 with that is similar to what the 450 guys were on, and it really helped. So, as of right now, I think we're in a really good spot. The bike goes through the whoops good. In San Diego I was able to turn under a lot of people, which I was really struggling with at Anaheim. I got to really put that to work. I think now we've got a pretty good package. I just need to get off the gate. It's kind of my thing right now. We actually did get off the gate in the Main Event, but chaos broke out after.

Jamie: Yeah, you got lucky in that one.

Stilez: Yeah. I got really lucky.

Michael Lindsay: How is the team's vibe and attitude towards the results between you and Levi? Star has a certain reputation of expecting a lot from their guys. They are a top-quality team that has won the most 250 championships over the last couple of years. Were they recognizing you guys were off on bike setup? Did you feel much pressure after the first round or two from them or has it been pretty decent so far?

Stilez: No, it's been unreal. The support has been something that I haven't experienced before on how willing and open they are to try whatever, whenever. After A1 there was no blame on anybody. It was just kind of like, “Hey, we all can be better”. Obviously, I didn't ride well, and I knew that. But they've been super helpful and honestly haven't pointed fingers at us at all. They know what we have to work on. I've actually been surprised at how helpful and supportive they've been.

Lewis Phillips: Are you putting more pressure on yourself riding for this team?

Stilez: Oh yeah,100%. It's the most dominant 250 team there is out right now. I know I shouldn't be reading them, but I've never gotten the comments like, “Stilez and Levi suck. We're terrible”. I never got that before. So, it's kind of funny. But so far, they've been super helpful. Swanie (Gareth Swanepoel), Brad (Hoffman), Jeremy (Coker), Jensen (Hendler), Bobby (Regan), everyone has been really, really helpful. It's been all positive and getting better.

ML: This topic is popping up in our in our YouTube chat quite a bit right now. I don't know whose interview it was from, but people keep referencing you saying something about a spotter. The way I heard it was more of a joking term, but a bunch of people keep taking it dead seriously.

Stilez: Yeah. I mean, I guess they can think what they want, right? Maybe I do (laughs). Obviously, I do not have a spotter. I didn't know this. I was talking to my dad on the phone and he's like, “You know, people think you have a spotter”. I said, “What”? He goes, “Yeah, People think you have a spotter”. I come from Bakersfield (California). There's dirt track, asphalt, we come from that kind of racing where you always have people on the side of the track. Or you have NASCAR. There's a spotter. I was just being funny, making a joke like I have a spotter, but I wasn't clear.

Jamie: Lewis asked you a minute ago about putting more pressure on yourself with this team. I can see that also affecting you negatively if you don't do well on a team that's so successful. That's a bad look, right? How do you find that line?

Stilez: Honestly, I don't know if I've found it yet. At San Diego in the Main Event I don't think I rode terrible. Yes, I didn't ride great. I was battling with people through the Main Event. My best lap time is not going to be what the front guys were. But I also didn't give myself a chance to see the pace. I was back there and it was just a different pace, you know what I mean? A different group. At the end of the day, I rode 15 minutes. I didn't fade. I'm obviously mad, but I just rode okay for 15 minutes. I don't feel like I've done that. I didn't pump up. The bike was good. So, there were a lot of positives to take from it. That was a bad night. I got a bad start, and I was sixth. So, we were trending in the right direction from A1, you know.

Jamie: I think in all honesty that sixth isn't terrible considering how the first turn went. I think at the end of the first lap they had you credited in 12^th, but you were close to dead last coming out of the first turn.

Stilez: Then I stalled it. I've never stalled the bike ever. I've never stalled it, and I was like, “Oh my gosh”. I think (Josh) Varize and someone else got around me, which I mean, it's my fault. I stalled the motorcycle and it kind of jacked me up from that rhythm section. But no, looking at the total time and stuff like that, it wasn't obviously what we wanted. But yeah, I mean, it wasn't terrible, you know.

Lewis: Being completely honest, what do you think that you can do this year if everything goes well? Truthfully, I think you can win a Main Event. I think you're that good. I think you're quite underrated in Supercross. I'm not just saying that because you're on a Star bike. If you were still on a Husky, I think you would be on that level as well. Do you kind of expect something similar from yourself?

Stilez: I think with my ability and everything I'm capable of winning in Supercross. Right now, I really want to get on the podium this weekend. That's my goal. I think it's completely doable and it's something that I want. Once you get a podium, it gets easier. I really just want to get on the box because I'm so tired of just having that Daytona podium. That haunts me, pisses me off. 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 of I can't do it on a normal Supercross track. Then once I get the podium, chip away towards a win. But absolutely, yeah, I definitely think I'm capable of it.

ML: You came into this off-season still nursing an injury, so you wouldn't have been on the bike as early as some of your teammates. At what point did you know that you were going to be racing West coast? Because I'll be honest, up until a couple of weeks before A1, I really thought you would probably be East due to preparation time.

Stilez: I think I found out three weeks before A1, two or three weeks before. It kind of was bouncing between a couple of us, so we didn't really know. And then I got the hint, “Hey, it's going to be you and Levi”. But then it would bounce back and forth. One day it'd be Levi (Kitchen) and Nick (Romano). One day it was me and Nate (Thrasher), you know, just kind of was changing. I think it's honestly a good thing because it keeps you all ready, which I think is mentally good for me.