Guillem Farres will make his AMA Supercross debut this weekend at Detroit, the first stop of the 250SX East Coast Championship. He has already competed in the AMA Pro Motocross series for Star Racing Yamaha, impressing the industry at his first day-view at Budds Creek in 2022. Last year he made a solid start with multiple Top 10 before a wrist injury at Thunder Valley ended his campaign and his time with Star Racing too.
Now for the Spaniard, the chance to join Rockstar Energy Husqvarna sees him preparing for his maiden 250SX campaign, in which the 20-year-old Spanish revelation is looking to develop important Supercross experience during the upcoming season, before turning his attention outdoors
Interview: Xavi Francés de Andrés
Its been a year since you really move to USA. But before that you had to do all the paperwork…How was that?
The paperwork issue was to be talking to lawyers, giving information, paperwork… The most difficult thing was that, while I was doing all this process, I had to leave the country, because the ninety days passed and then I had to go home again, spend a few days there… Last year, Pala Raceway, I was finishing the visa process, so about twenty-odd days before the race I was in Madrid, without training and without a bike.
You suffered two tough injuries. It that put you in a situation where your time in the USA maybe come to an end?
I went through difficult moments, because being alone here and having a second injury that in the end is not your fault… the first one was nothing, it was three weeks or a little more and that’s it, but the second injury was a blow. I took the first two races with a little more calm, because I knew that it was a long championship, with eleven races, and suddenly seeing you like that in the third race hurts. The truth is that I felt very good in that track… But yeah, in the end, it’s a hard thing, the whole season away, it was quite hard.
Give us a walkthrough about your time racing at Star Racing
Well, I made a lot of friendships. They are very good people, people who have helped me a lot in all this paperwork process, like Gareth Swanepoel, with whom we are still in contact; he did a lot for me, I lived with him for a couple of months. But overall, I take a lot of good things from Star, like a very good friendship with Justin Cooper.
How the deal with Husqvarna came about?
I knew there was a slot in Husqvarna Factory. Several people recommended me to the team and I was willing and needed a change. The opportunity came the same day of Thunder Valley and I knew I wouldn’t have as good an option as this either, and that’s where the talk started.
What are your goals for his rookie sx season?
I just want to be in every round. Every day that I go to the test track I improve more and more, and I think we are on the right path, to be honest. I have very good people around me, the new bike for 2024 is going very well, much better than the other one, and the truth is that I am happy.
…and for the Pro Motocross?
I hope I can be on the podium. I hope I can be on the podium. I thought last year I was capable of being on the podium in some races. In the end, the first two rounds, as I train here in Florida, which is a sandy terrain, racing at Pala Raceway and Hangtwon, which are hard-pack tracks and where there were not many tracks and ruts, it was quite difficult for me to adapt. I come from Spain and the tracks there are like that, but it’s been a long time since I’ve trained on those tracks. Thunder Valley and the tracks that came last year after was more of my characteristics, but I could not be racing. But well, in 2024 I hope to be able to be on the podium.
You have been training with Jorge Prado, what did you think of him, could he become a top supercross rider in the future?
I was there from the first day until the day he left. In Jorge’s first training session I was there and I saw his evolution, and the truth is that it was spectacular how he evolved so much in so few days. I think Jorge has an innate talent and it was already evident at the end of his two-week stay. He was only there for a few days, but his speed and ease were brutal.
Tell me about the new crew
I am very happy with my team. The team manager and the team coordinator are Nathan Ramsey and Sean Murphy, they are super nice people and they have helped me a lot, as if I had already been with them, as if I had known them all my life, and that has made things a lot easier for me. Even when we are in California they are in the circuits every day, in Florida they come from time to time…. But a team manager like him is helping me a lot, he has a lot of experience in supercross. As for mechanics I have two, one in Florida and one in California. My mechanic in Florida is Joel Lee, he worked for Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin the last few years. And in California, the race mechanic is Jack Richards and the truth is that it’s very good, very good vibe, every day at the track. It’s our job, but it’s nice to do it with these people around.
What surprised you the most about Baker’s Factory?
What surprised me the most is how clean everything is and how beautiful all the tracks are, the grass… it’s brutal.
Can you detail a week of training with Aldon?
Right now, in these weeks that we are doing bootcamp, which is a little harder, we do about three days of gym, which are usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday; four days of bike, which are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; then on Wednesdays and Saturdays we do bike, an hour and a half of road bike; on Sundays we run 20 minutes, it’s the only thing we do on Sundays; the days we do bike, before riding we do about 25 minutes of warm up bike; and many times we also do stretching and mobility after or before riding the bike.
