Forget the embroidered Yamaha logo on Jeremy Albrecht’ s shirt (this photograph was taken a year ago). It’ s full steam head with JGRMX and Suzuki.

Aside from Ken Roczen’s switch to HRC Honda, the biggest offseason news has been JGRMX’s move through Yamaha support to Suzuki machines for 2017. Since bursting onto the scene in 2008, the Huntersville, North Carolina-based race procedure has ridden under blue assistance. However , the trio of Justin Barcia, Weston Peick and Phil Nicoletti are now flying the yellowish flag. It’s a good move designed for JGRMX, as Team Manager Jeremy Albrecht explains. I couldn’t agree more. Expect big things from JGRMX this coming season. We sat down with Albrecht to talk about the transition to Suzuki, together with several other pressing matters involving the team, riders and future of JGRMX.

By David Basher

A few images from the JGRMX Instagram account, showing Justin Barcia together with his Suzuki (left) and Phil Nicoletti’ s RM-Z450 (right).

A lot has changed with JGRMX in the past few months, except for your own riders. Was there a time if you were also thinking about switching up your riders?

Yeah, we were thinking about switching it up a little bit. We told Weston [Peick] that he had until the middle of the Nationals to get it together, and he did. He came around, and no 1 else really did anything special. We like Weston, and his overall performance picked up, so we kept him.

I’m sure your phone was ringing off the catch with riders looking for rides.

Yeah, and there are still a lot of bikers out of a spot, which is a bummer. It is pretty crazy, actually. We need more teams in the pits. There are not enough teams out there.

Do you ever recall a time whenever so many good guys were with no rides heading into a season?

No . There have been guys like [Kyle] Chisholm or Nick Wey who didn’t obtain rides in the past, which even then didn’t seem right. Now there would be the Stewarts, and both of them do not have a ride. Malcolm won the particular [250 East Supercross] Championship, and am don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen where a guy doesn’t get a ride. James possibly lacking something is pretty crazy. Even Dean Wilson. There are a lot of guys at a high level without a spot. It’s not even that individuals don’t want them. Teams simply don’t have the money to sign all those guys.

It is hard for most people to understand that signing a rider for free is still a huge expense to the team.

Exactly. Even the financial obligation plus time that’s required to take care of that will rider is huge. The engines and suspension are going to need function, so you’re overworking your staff, which means that you’ll need more individuals on staff. The staff, traveling and salaries are what get you [financially]. So although a guy says that he will ride at no cost, you still need a mechanic. Then you need to get a hotel for the mechanic and the rider at every race, along with air travel and parts. It adds up rapidly. Even when we started the deal along with Phil [Nicoletti], everyone told me that he should ride a full schedule. It sounds easy, but then again, to have three guys out there doesn’t make a difference. We have two riders in our sponsorship contracts, and that’s all we’re contractually obligated to. If we have three guys then it’s extra. All of us always try to put two guys out on the track. I made the deal with Phil that he could ride all of the outdoors to make it much better for him. It worked out. However , to add a guy for a full season is a big undertaking. We’re also not set up in the truck for a lot of riders. We can handle three men, which is why we were able to take on two 250 riders for Supercross this particular coming season, and they’ll end up being on separate coasts. Suzuki wished us to help more 250 riders, but we don’t have the room in our rig. When we do one two hundred and fifty guy outdoors it won’t become ideal, because then there will be 4 guys in the semi. We’ll figure out how to make it work.

Phil Nicoletti did very well in the 2016 Nationals. Was it difficult telling him at the end of the season that you weren’t likely to put him in a full-time event for 2017?

I don’t like that I had to tell him that, but it’s the reality of the situation. There wasn’t anyone sitting here saying, “Hey, I’m going to spend you more money because Phil obtained fifth outdoors, so we want to operate him full time. ” I get Phil’s point, too. He officially beat Weston outdoors, and also inside a lot of races. In Phil’s brain he feels like he deserves an attempt. Supercross is where he needs to get better results. That’s where we need the particular exposure, because sponsors value Supercross more. He rode some good high temperature races, but something always seemed to go wrong for him. It’s the bummer, because he rode better than what his results show.

“LOOKING BACK AT THEIR RESULTS, HE [PHIL NICOLETTI] ONLY RACED 15 SUPERCROSSES OVERALL ON A 250. MOST PEOPLE WOULDN’T MOVE UP. HE NEEDS MORE EXPERIENCE RIDING SUPERCROSS IN THE 250 CLASS. I’M VERY GLAD THEY [THE AMA] LET HIM WIN THE ATTRACTIVENESS, AND I HOPE HE CAN GET ON THE PODIUM AND WIN RACES. ”

Is it true that Nicoletti will race 250 Supercross in 2017?

Yes. We actually become a huge hit to have him race 250 Supercross, and it worked. We’re looking at him riding the 250 indoors. This individual likes the idea. Looking back in the decision to move up to 450 Supercross a few years ago, I can’t assist but laugh at him. Get his buddy, Jeremy Martin, for example. Jeremy had a chance to either move up [to the 450 class] or stay back. I asked him, “Why wouldn’t you stay back and attempt to win a championship? ” There are no reason to jump upward, unless it’s a ride such as the one he thought he would definitely get with RCH. If it’s a good deal then it makes sense. There’s no reason to jump up a class, especially when there aren’t any rides available. Anyway, Phil relocated himself up for a ride with the Allan Brown TiLube Yamaha team years ago. Looking back at their results, he only raced 15 Supercrosses total on a 250. A lot of people wouldn’t move up. He needs a lot more experience riding Supercross in the two hundred and fifty class. I’m very glad they [the AMA] let him earn the appeal, and I hope he can get on the podium and earn races. Maybe this will help him get better in Supercross, because that’s really where the money is made in this sports activity. Mentally, that’s where Phil’s issue is with Supercross, and also having the technique. He can race with anyone just for five laps, and then it’s almost like he looks back and sees it is Ryan Dungey behind him and starts riding differently. Hopefully within the 250 class he’ll look as well as see some kid he considers he can beat, and so he will go and wins the race. Then he realizes that he’s good at Supercross.

Mr. bieber Barcia was instrumental in pressing JGRMX to sign the deal with Suzuki for 2017.

Do you have your other 250 rider set in stone yet?

It’s not officially done, yet it’s looking like it will be Matt Bisceglia. There’s a pretty good list of men available. I would say the choose we could have had if things [with Suzuki] were figured out weeks ago might have been different, but I am happy with the guys we have on the listing. Matt Bisceglia makes the most sense, because he rode for Suzuki this year. Yoshimura is going to handle the two hundred fifity program, and we’re going to the actual 450 stuff. Yoshimura is still likely to do things with RCH, too. Ideally we can all share information and interact in order to make Suzuki the best bike, which usually already won the 450 National Championship.

“OUR GOAL IS TO BE WITH SOMEONE WHO DESIRES TO HELP. THAT’S WHAT THIS SWITCH WAS ALL ABOUT. WE WANTED TO TAKE A GOOD SPOT. WE WERE WITH YAMAHA FOR NINE YEARS, AND WE REQUIRED SOMETHING NEW. WE WANTED A PARTNER THAT INDIVIDUALS FELT WE COULD HAVE A LONG-TERM CONNECTION WITH. ”

What were the motivating factors behind moving from Yamaha backing to Suzuki for 2017?

Our goal is to be along with someone who wants to help. That’s what this switch was all about. We wanted to be in a good spot. We were with Yamaha for nine years, and we needed something new. We wished a partner that we felt we could have a long-term relationship with. Yamaha was bringing back their factory team, it seemed like things were modifying. We only had a one year contract, and we wanted to do something for us. Today we’re riding a bike that just received the championship. The guys are thrilled. You never know until you get to a race, but the riders think the bike handles awesome and becomes good. We’re fired up.

How did Justin Barcia react in learning that you were considering moving from Yamaha to Suzuki?

Justin was among the people who was pushing me to continue pursuing it. He wanted to take action different for himself. It did not obviously go the way he expected it. We thought he would venture out and win. We hired him to win, and I know he is able to win. I don’t know if this individual just didn’t get along with that bike [Yamaha] or what. Our sport is so mental. There are a great number of riders that talk a lot of things, and it gets in their head, even though they don’t believe it in the beginning. We’re paying Justin a pretty great chunk of money, and he wasn’t really that happy, so we figured let us try to get him happy and we can see some results. Hopefully items will grow from there, like a lot more sponsors and better support with the sponsors we have now. We really have never achieved the goals we set out pertaining to. It’s funny, because when we started the team, Joe [Gibbs] told us that it might take ten years to get where we all wanted. I didn’t believe this. Now we’re coming up on 10 years and we still haven’t done what we think we can do. It’s tough, because there are a lot of good teams available, but that’s what makes it fun. If it was super easy then maybe they [the Gibbs] might have quit.

Did you ever think nine in years past, when you uprooted your family and relocated to North Carolina, that you would have gone through so much? You’ve worked with Josh Hansen plus James Stewart, won some races, and now you’re switching brands. It must have been quite a ride these past nine years.

I try not to think about it. Obviously I actually planned on doing this for the long term, especially with moving my family to North Carolina. After i first took the job I requested if they [the Gibbs] were thinking long term, and they have been. We’ve gone through some rough years of choosing sponsorships, but they do a very good work at JGR of finding support. We keep grinding and being a great partner to the sponsors we have, and it has worked. We have gone through a really difficult time with the economy, and I’d want to think that makes us stronger. In hindsight, we started JGRMX on the hardest time. It was difficult getting manufacturer support and sponsors to invest money. I’m hopeful that we are through the hard part and now we can keep building.

How did the opportunity with Suzuki actually come about?

This year we weren’t looking to switch brands, but our deal with Yamaha changed quite a bit. It made us actually analyze things. The deal wasn’t what we had thought or expected, so we had to ask ourselves if we need to agree to it anyway or attempt something different that could help us for future years. I was actually working on my annual Surfercross event, and I was speaking with my buddy, Dave Castillo. This individual wanted to borrow a bike for the event, and I told him that I didn’t have a bike. That led to me telling him that we had been trying to figure out our Yamaha deal, simply because they were cutting us back quite a lot. He started asking me why I hadn’t called Suzuki, because Dave’s buddy, Chris Wheeler, works presently there. I didn’t know Wheeler sufficient to cold-call him, and I did not want to get in the middle of the RCH plus Yoshimura deal. I told Dave that if he wanted to call Wheeler and see if Suzuki was thinking about talking with us, then that wouldn’t be a problem. Wheeler was in the job probably four months at that point. I remember Chris back when he raced, yet I didn’t want to call him and create issues. I also didn’t need to do that to Yamaha, either, because it didn’t seem fair. Anyway, Sawzag called me back and said, “Yep, Chris is willing to talk. He doesn’t know exactly what’s taking place, and there might not be any opportunity, but he’s interested in talking. ” At first we didn’t know what was going to happen. We were told ‘No’ 3 different times, so I had to come up with a different angle. Really, looking at it long term, the Suzuki partnership was one we felt we could benefit from. I had watched the bike outside and it looked really good. I was looking to get Barcia to ride similar to that will. Now that I see Justin on the RM-Z450 it definitely helps him with the items we were trying to get him to work on. I apologized to him to get on his case so bad for wanting to change his technique during the outside. From the looks of things it was more of the way the bike was set up than him.

Weston Peick a new rough season in 2016, yet he hopes to rebound on familiar equipment (Suzuki) and a new year.

You’re talking about a long-term partnership with Suzuki. How many years may be the deal?

Right now it is a one year deal, because there wasn’t budget there for both edges to do it the way we feel it must be done. We did a deal together to build for the future. We’ve already talked about five- and ten-year plans. Hopefully they’re thinking the way that individuals are. You never know. I figured Yamaha was, too, but that’s the way our sport is. Items change, people move, and there’s different management. So far, Suzuki is how we feel that we fit the best.

“OUR GOAL IS TO WORK HARD AND HELP EVERYBODY. IT’S NOT A ONE-WAY STREET. NOW WE’RE THE ONES BEHIND, SO THEY’RE HELPING US GET UP TO SPEED. WE APPRECIATE THAT. ”

The team is working with Yoshimura now. What’s that like?

The majority of the 250 testing will be in California by Yoshimura, which makes sense. It’s the same reason we do a lot of testing here in North Carolina, because this is where we’re located. The Yoshimura men did offer to have us appear to California and stay some time, and we offered that same opportunity to them. The same goes with RCH. It’s very exciting, because we’re many working together very well right now. I hope we can bring something to the table for everybody involved so they feel like it was worthwhile having us switch to Suzuki. Our goal is to work hard and assist everybody. It’s not a one-way street. Right now we’re the ones behind, so they’re helping us get up in order to speed. We appreciate that. RCH and Yoshimura have helped quite a lot, and we also just switched in order to Showa, so they’ve stepped in, too.

JGRMX also has a retail department that will does engine and suspension adjustments, as well as selling hard parts. Will the switch to Suzuki bolster the particular retail side of the business?

We’re hoping so. Really, we haven’t done a great work of advertising the retail aspect. Like any business, we’re growing simply by word of mouth. We make linkages, carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer parts, and also engine and suspension mods. A lot of the retail parts are usually based around the Yamaha, because that’s what we rode. We are going to keep growing the business, little by little, to make things better. We are adding new parts all of the time. Changing to Suzuki is going to help people realize that we do Yamaha and Suzuki parts. We are also going to make components for other brands. Right now we now have great modification packages for all of the bikes, as well as karts. We do the same type of work as Pro Circuit and Factory Connection. We’re just on the east coast, and we assist a lot of local kids.

Will your guys have any race time on the Suzuki RM-Z450 before Anaheim 1?

Justin Barcia is racing Lille and then Geneva. He will end up being on a bike that’s not really that close to his race setup in Lille. That’s why I’m thrilled he’s racing Geneva, because with that race he’ll be on the race setup. For him to obtain starts on a Suzuki and press himself in a race situation, we will figure out any issues we might have to address. Justin is super joyful now, but I’ll be serious to see what he thinks after he races the bike.

Good luck with the transition. Thanks for the time, Jeremy.

No problem, John. Thank you.

SEE JUSTIN BARCIA ON A SUZUKI