Vince Friese Interview: San Diego Press Day
January 17, 2025
Image from Feld Motor Sports, Inc.
All right, so I think everyone's super excited to see you racing Arenacross this year. How much do you think that's helped you with Supercross?
Yeah, I mean, I think it helped my sprint pace and intensity early on. I think my— I don’t want to say fitness—but I kind of hit the wall a little bit at that 10-minute, 12-minute mark in the main event last week. So, I think I'm plenty fit. It's just a little bit about how and when you use your energy. I’m used to being able to just dump it for Arenacross and WSX. So, we worked on that a little bit this week, and I think hopefully we'll start to see some improvement.
With you racing both series, do you have a priority? Is your goal right now the Arenacross title, or what's your main focus?
No, for me, I just want to see how good I can be against the best in the world. That's my main thing. Yeah, we’re going to be at the Arenacross series, and if we're there, I want to win the thing, obviously. But my real goal is just to see how good I can be against the best guys in the world.
You had probably one of the busier off-seasons out of everyone. Is that something you enjoy, or would you rather have that time to just focus on your body and the bike, and come into A1 fully prepared?
Yeah, I mean, it’s give and take, right? The travel's hard on you, and that can be tough, but then you get a lot of gate drops. I think it helped with sprint speed, and I didn’t have much nervous energy because I’ve been racing so much. But there’s also something to just being at the test track with your crew, developing the bike, and working on everything. It’s a give and take, and we try to manage it the best we can. But yeah, I can’t complain—I had a blast. You get paid well for doing those races, and it keeps you busy during that time of year. Plus, you come in pretty locked in, and not just me, but the whole team is pretty dialed in.
With that said, how do you feel this year compared to last year? And last question: what’s your goal, results-wise, this year?
Yeah, I mean, last year I felt really good coming in, but I had a crash on the first lap of A1, kind of tweaked my shoulder, and never really got back to 100%. So, this year my speed might feel better, but overall I feel like I’ve got to bring that level up. I’ve done so many off-season races that are shorter, so maybe I just have to find my groove for a 20-minute main event again. I know my fitness is really good, probably better than mine. It’s not even about pacing yourself because we’re almost sprinting, but it’s getting my body used to 12-20 minutes instead of eight or ten.
