Mark Fineis Interview
June 22, 2024
Image from Muc-Off/FXR ClubMX Yamaha
Hey Mark, how's your day going?
It's going, it's definitely goin; it's like 90 something degrees here with like 96% humidity and it's muggy. We just did warmup starts and then we did two three lappers, three two lappers, and then two one lappers. And that was hard; I was struggling. I needed to change my gloves at the end on the last one lapper. I actually ended up falling 'cause my hands slipped off the bars; my gloves were so wet. But when I switched gloves for a dry set, I sent my fastest lap at the last one. I was just absolutely blown doing races on the weeken; it is definitely hard every weekend.What does your schedule look like during the week? I’m assuming you obviously have Sunday as a travel day, but are you right back in it Monday through Wednesday?
No, no. I take Sunday, Monday off, do Tuesday, Wednesday, and then fly out Thursday.Are you doing two 30 minute motos at least one of those days? Tuesday or Wednesday?
No. [laughs]. No, I'm too roached [laughs]. It's mainly just like staying on the bike, like recovery stuff, just not getting cold.Okay, I see. And is that the same program that a lot of guys at club are doing?
A little bit different, but it's under the same umbrella.Okay. So, congrats on the great start to the season! Was that what you were expecting results wise or are you kind of surprising yourself?
From the way I was riding here at Club, I knew I was gonna be at least in the top 15. Like that was my goal: top 15. Well, the main goal was to make it through it healthy because I get a little bit antsy when stuff starts rolling. So I was trying to stay calm the entire time, but I’m stoked. Trying to sprint for 35 minutes is hard though, especially at that level.Is that something that you guys try to prep for in the off-season? Is doing that whole 35 minutes hard being a rookie and not having that experience racing?
No, I'd say we were really prepared for round one and just the nationals in general. Track prep-wise, tracks were gnarly with deep ruts, big braking bumps. We did two 35 minute motos at least two times a week. And I was fine with it. It was just at that intensity for that long is definitely something. ‘Cause like I can push for 15 minutes and then I'm like by myself in the motos here at club and I can kind of just flow and not have to push at 110%.So where do you, where do you expect to be results wise?
I want to get at least one top 10 this season. Like in one moto I want to get one top 10 for now. Like once I get that, I'll set another goal. It's like top eight. And then after that, if we even get there, then keep trying to move up. I just gotta get a start first. I've been like on average 20th to 15th on every start and I've had to make my way up and then just everyone is so fast. Unless you're like Chase Sexton you can't go from that far back to up front, you know?So far we have had pretty mild temperature. Are you prepping as we transition out to more east coast races for hotter and humid weather?
Yeah. As the Supercross season started to wind down and we were getting into motocross season. I started doing saunas to try to prep myself for the heat. Sometimes I'd do little workouts in there at like 190, 180 degree dry heat, which was pretty intense. But I think it's helped, it's like I haven't really been feeling the heat at the rounds at Pala and this past one, but today at club, it was hot, real hot.What about nerves as a rookie when you're lining up against guys you grew up watching? Or are you just fully focused on your own ride?
I'm pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. I focus on myself. It's like you said, I was looking up to these guys in the past but it's more so me watching them race and be like: “I want to beat them! I wonder how I would stack up against them” It's not me “oohing and awwing” over these guys. I want to beat these guys; I wanna see what I can do.You were on GASGAS last year. How has the transition been to the Club Yamaha?
We actually have a suspension guy and my suspension has never been this good before. Like I thought I had some good suspension and I did try to do Ironman last year, the last round on my GASGAS (my amateur setup). And it just was not up to par motor-wise and suspension. I just couldn't go that pace with what I was on. But now it's like I’d say we're borderline a factory team. I don't think we're a privateer team anymore because our stuff is good; our stuff is really good. I'd have to ride like a Star bike or a Red Bull KTM to see if we're lacking anywhere, but for now this is the fastest bike I've ever ridden.So how did the deal end up working out for you to get on the team? I think that was announced last November, but is that something that you guys were talking about for a while to be on the team, race Futures, and then transition to Pro Motocross this year?
We were kind of joking about it for a while. I've been here at Club training for a while (since 2016) and I started ride some of their Yamahas as a just fun play-ride on Fridays. And it just kind of kept evolving into just what it is now. I did really well at the last SMX round; I got a second and they decided to sign a contract to put me through the Futures program and then be pro outdoors.How was riding Supercross on the Yamaha for the first time? Was there a bit of a transition curve?
No, I was actually surprised, like as soon as I got on the Yamaha on Supercross, I was immediately faster. I could be like one of the fastest guys here, if not the fastest guy here on Supercross some days. And then I'd get to the racetrack and just have mainly bad luck because I'd get taken out or something happened with the bike. It was just, I could never really put it together and show everyone how hard I've worked and how much I gained with this team. It was definitely frustrating. And it's hard; I feel like 'cause there's not that many Futures races in the Supercross season, so you really only get like four or five opportunities to kind of prove yourself. Then if you get bad starts, the races are so short or you know, bad luck with crashes.Were you training full time for Supercross or were you kind of always prepping for outdoors? Getting a head start on that too?
Actually we made the mistake of just doing Supercross. Like we just did Supercross for dang near a year and didn't do any outdoors and I just, I got absolutely burnt out. I was so done with Supercross. So I took a week off just to do some motocross and that definitely helped .But now we know to incorporate some motocross, like on Fridays or like midweek or something just to keep things fresh, you know?So when did you start incorporating motocross? How deep into the Supercross season were you before you started riding outdoors?
Right before the last round. I picked up all my old habits, well good habits. I was riding really well just second day on the bike, but the speed is definitely picking up more and more. I'm getting more comfortable with that speed for however long I need to. 15, 20, 30 minutes depends on if I got a good or bad start. 'cause I'll need to sprint for however long till I'm just by myself.Are you able to ride with the Coty Schock or Garrett Marchbanks during the week? Are you able to gauge yourself off of those guys and have a sense of how you're doing?
Yeah, I ride with them a lot. I don't know if it's good for me to say whether or not I'm faster or not [laughs]. Or will it be a good look?[Laughs] I feel like people have straight up said that you're faster than them!
Well, if they said it, then yeah! Other than Anderson here, I'm arguably the fastest guy here. I hate saying that.I always wish riders alked more about how they gauged themselves with other riders because everyone's training and riding with each other. But as outsiders, we don't get to hear about any of that during the off-season or in between weekends. So I think it's good to come out and just say it as it is: you're confident and this is where you line up.
Yeah. I don't know. I don’t want bad juju. If I say this then that'll happen, you know? But hey, if you guys like it, mid Supercross season I announced to everybody that I was gonna be the fastest person at Club. I did say that [laughs] and I wanted it, I wanted it so bad because I was like one of the slowest in the training group that I was in for Supercross. And then I just wanted it. There's not much difference, I'm not like special or anything. I just want it more, you know? I don't have a whole bunch of talent, I just work on stuff that no one really thinks about and I just try to perfect. I'm a big perfectionist on those things.Well last question for you: What’s the plan for next year? Are you racing Supercross full-time professionally? Are you staying with club?
I wish I could tell you but everything is blank right now; it depends on how I do this season. So that's why I'm trying to do the best that I possibly can to get a ride or an extension on this Club program.
