San Diego: Pre-event press conference

EA SPORTS Supercross, Round 2, Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

Bud Light Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath:

Q. (Anaheim) was obviously not the race you wanted, what were some of the problems?

JM: Obviously it was a bad race for me. I knew this question would be coming. I don't know. I probably never thought about one single race in my life more than I did about last week's race. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself and I think I got overly excited and got tight out there and couldn't really go.

Q. Tell us about your off season and training.

JM: Everyone works hard out there I think last year I was just a bit unprepared, maybe cardiovascular wise. I just put in a lot more time. I think last year I was just distracted by a few things at home and starting up the team. It's a great thing and we love it but the first year out was a little bit tough. So I think I had a few things that were distracting me and I kind of pushed everything aside and focused on training.

Q. What was your week like this week?

JM: We worked on the bike a little bit this week. Mainly I just wanted to ride a lot and just a little more fun. I think I was a ball of nerves last week. I just wanted to get some seat time on the bike and have some fun and relax.

Q. Did you get a case of arm pump?

JM: Yea that is what you would call it. I don't know it was worse than that I think. My arms got really tight.

Q. Was there anything you didn't like about your bike or did you make changes to it?

JM: No I didn't find anything wrong with the bike. We did make a few changes this week, but my bike is great. Everything is good. It was just me.

Team Red Bull/KTM's Billy Laninovich:

Q. Billy this is your rookie year. What was it like competing in you first supercross last weekend?

BL: Last weekend didn't go as good as I wanted it to. I didn't make it to the main. I was nervous. Hopefully I won't put as much pressure on myself this weekend and I can do better.

Q. Since you are local does that add any more pressure or does it motivate you to do better?

BL: I want to do better because it is my hometown crowd, but the pressures still there. It doesn't make it any easier.

Q. Is there anything that you learned last week that you can apply to this race?

BL: Yea. I need to calm down and not try so hard. I need to calm down and just put in some good laps.

Team Motoworldracing.com's Justin Buckelew:

Q. Justin won last years (125) race. Are we going to see a repeat from last year?

JB: Hopefully, I had a great race here last year. Perfect actually. I got a holeshot and led every lap. Last weekend I didn't start the series out too good but this weekend we are going to turn it around and hopefully do a repeat.

Q. Is there anything you learned last weekend you can apply to this weekend's race?

JB: Actually last weekend was just a bad night for us so I am just throwing that out the window. I know that were worked really hard at Motoworldracing.com Suzuki. Everyone at the team has been putting in the work prior to the season, as well as myself. I know we are ready for the season and ready to win some races. We just have to go out and do it.

Q. Last year you won on a Yamaha. This year you moved over to Suzuki. Any major changes?

JB: The Suzuki is a great bike. We have done a lot of development in the off season and its really fast and handles well. I think is suits my style. I know it's going to work out for me this year.

Q. How is it working with Roger (DeCoster)?

JB: It's going good. We spent a little bit of time with Roger. He is in the office a lot also but he always has some advice when we are out at the track.

Q. Last year at this time you were the holeshot guy. That must have helped your confidence. Do you feel you are at the level now?

JB: Last week I had some trouble with the starts. That's a good point. I did over a hundred starts this week. Hopefully I will have that edge back and pull some good starts this weekend. It definitely helps to start out front.

-ama/cce-