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Rider- Cole Martinez
Birthday-3/27/92
Favorite Rider- Jeremy McGrath
Best Race- The best is yet to come!
Worst Crash- World Mini, 2008 Zeb Smith slid out right in front of me on a face of a jump and I landed on his bike and kartwheeled like 50 feet. I don't remember too much after hitting his bike.
Motivation Quote- "Never give up!" My dad always tells me that (laughs)
Alright so you pretty much came into the first round of WORCS as an unknown (in off road of course). Not only did you come out and beat the A class, but you swept the Pro 2 class clean. What were you thinking coming into the weekend?
CM-Yeah, not to many people knew me. It was cool going and winning I'm sure people were like, "Who's that?" I don't know to me it was just another race I guess, I wasn't really worried about how I did because it was new to me and I didn't know anybody I was racing. I didn't even now if I was going to race till that friday.
On Saturday you won the 450A class, qualifying you for Pro2. Not many come out and do that! What we’re you thinking when you were on the line with all these kids that have done this type of racing for years?
CM- (Laughs) Well I wasn't quite sure about the flag start, I've never done one of those before but I got through the start in the top ten I think. I didn't now how fast any of them were except a few who I've raced in the amateur nationals a couple times. It was cool not knowing.
Since your both AZ locals, do you and Taylor Robert train and ride together a lot? What did he prepare you for coming into the weekend?
CM- We've rode together since we were little. We're pretty close on speed on a motorcross track so we push each other to go faster. In off road though, he halls the mail! We don't do any fitness stuff together besides road bike some times. And he didn't say too much, he just said I better win the classes, so I did.
So what do you ultimately think about off road racing in comparison to motocross?
CM- Well off road is so much longer race wise and lap time wise and I'm not used to riding two hours straight. It definitely beats your body up. In motocross it's 6 or 7 laps wide open with two or three minute lap times. So it's a lot different time wise. I think the longest amatuer race is Loretta's where it's 20 minute plus 2 laps motos.
In the Pro 2 race you and Ryan Abbatoye battled it out quite a bit. What did you find to be the most difficult section of the course?
CM- The first lap I got the lead on the moto track then we came to the log section and I went through it too fast and ended up in the banners. I got up in third so I had to catch up get around everyone. I got a pretty good lead then stalled it in logs again, it took a while to start my bike and he (Abbatoye) passed me and put like 10 or so seconds on me. I had to charge after that and caught up and got the lead again. Then with two laps to go, the logs messed me up yet again! But this time I got going before he got around me and won with a decent lead!
Motocross races run between 15-30 minutes. Did you find it difficult to keep your endurance consistent in the 2-hour race?
CM- Yes and no, I just had to make sure I drank water every now and then and I had my resting points on the track where I could breath and relax a few seconds. I've been training hard with Chris Brennen so it seems to be paying off.
If you have the support, can we expect to see you at more WORCS races this year?
CM- Yeah for sure! I had fun racing the first one and I would like to do the whole series but we'll see if I can get some help with the traveling part. The ones in Washington are pretty far so we'll see what happens.
Are you planning on racing the Am National circuit this year?
CM- Yea that's what I've been training for the last few months.
Last year at Loretta's you ran with some of the fastest B riders, Nick Paluzzi, Tanner Krahenbuhl (RIP), Justin Starling...You rounded off the top 5 in the 450 B Stock class, pretty impressive. What are your goals for the am nats this year?
CM- This year was the best I've done at LL. I felt like I should of done a little better, but I was happy with my results. My goals are to get good starts (which I've had trouble doing in the past), stay in the top three and win a couple championships in the A and Pro Sport classes.
Aside from racing, what do you do for fun or on your down time?
CM- Hang with friends, mountain bike, dirt jumps, hunt and visit my mom whenever I can.
Anyone you’d like to mention?
CM- John Mitchell, JM Racing, Answer, Pro Taper, 5thgear, Vertex, Pivot Works, Hot Cams, Leo Vince, Chris Brennen, Next Generation, my dad my mom, the Worth family, Rock River D and K Service, Decal Works, Shannon Niday, Jeff Johnson and anyone I forgot...thanks.
Thanks Cole, and we hope to see you in more off-road this year!
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