INTERVIEW: PIERCE BROWN

It was very strong and declarative 2024 racing season for Pierce Brown. Positing up six top five finishes on his way to placing a solid third overall in the 250SX East Region Supercross Championship, the 22-year-old from Sandy, Utah also claimed the first victory of his AMA Pro Racing career when he went 2-1 in the 250SMX class motos at the SuperMotocross World Championship Final at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September. Shortly thereafter, word broke that Brown would be exiting the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas team to join forces with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing for the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Series and beyond. Already deep in the throes of training and testing the YZ250F down in Florida, Brown is fast at it and getting prepared for what will be his debut with the formidable Yamaha Star Racing organization.

“I’m in Tallahassee right now,” said Brown this week while taking break from testing and training with the Star team in northern Florida. “I just got done with a day of riding with the boys. Yeah, I just started boot camp a couple of weeks ago, so we are in the thick of it now. I’m just trying to get used to this new bike. You know it has been fun. Change has been good for me. Yeah, I’m excited.”

Having been with KTM as an amateur back in 2014 before moving over to the professional ranks with the Troy Lee Designs team in in 2020, after four years with the organization, Brown will now experience wholesale change with Yamaha-backed Star Racing.

“Yeah, exactly. It is a huge change,” explained Brown of his new lot in racing life. “Like I said, it is definitely a change. It has been a goal of mine, and if I don’t know if goal is the right word, but I’ve wanted to see the insides and outsides of this program for a long time. With the program being so successful, I’ve wanted to see what it is all about. No, I couldn’t be happier. It’s cool working with the group of guys that we are working with. The bike is obviously unreal, so now we are just trying to dial things in and get a good setup with the bike so we can just pound motos out this offseason.

“Yeah, it’s a different world being here with this team” furthered Brown. “It’s a big change, for sure. Some days I’m riding with eight guys on the same track and we’re all doing motos together and that’s something that I’m not really used to. I mean it is still early days for me there right now and so far, I’m fitting in great. I’ve known a couple of my teammates for a while now. I’m starting to get to know Gareth Swanepoel and the boys on the staff side of it. It’s been cool. I mean, and like you said, comparing this to what I was doing last year is a big change. Every day you show up to the track it feels like race day. Yes, we’re out dong motos together. For me, it’s good to get comfortable with being uncomfortable with guys in front of you and behind you and you’re trying to pass guys and you’re trying not to get passed. It’s legitimate racing every single day and I think that’s what makes this program so good. It is just having a group of good guys that push each other every single day. So that part of it is cool. It has been great so far.”

A consistent top five finisher throughout the 2024 250SX East Region Supercross Championship, in recent months Brown let it be known that he wanted to get to the next level in the sport and to do so and to become a title contender, needed a change

“That was my frame of mind,” said Brown. “With moving over and making the switch to this team, I just really want to make that step and be a contender. Ending this season the way we did was great, and I think that showed me that I could do it. Obviously, there has always been that belief, but sometimes you go to bed thinking it is not going to happen. But we got that first win, so now it’s just clicking them ff now. We know how to do it with a great team. I think this team is going to get me to the next level that I want to be at.

“I would say that for my expectations, 2024 was a subpar year,” furthered Brown. “Obviously, the consistency was there. We were clicking off fourth and fifth place finishes. I was consistently there, but just not in the fight. It’s really my new thing to try and see how much you need to advance from fifth place to third place in these races. Or even going from third place to a win. Everything is so tight right now that it comes down to intensity in the early laps and starts. And like I said, I’m now riding with seven to eight guys every single day. That intensity is there automatically and all of us are ding start practice together. It’s been good. I think that this team is going to take me to the next step.”

A major career achievement for Pierce Brown came in the form of his 250SMX win at the curtain-dropping SuperMotocross round at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“That win meant a lot to me and probably meant even more to the team,” smiled Brown. “ It was an unreal night. It all happened to click at the same time, which was cool. We had good rides in the past and I clicked off some podiums, but I had never been on the top step of the podium, which is where I wanted to be. Getting that win was cool. I didn’t feel like it was real all day long. I was just in the zone, and everything was happening slow. I felt like I was in control. That’s been my goal for the last couple of years. My goal was to find that flow state and to be executing. It was a fun night, for sure. I was stoked.”

And for Pierce Brown, the first gate drop of 2025 is not all that far off in the future.

“Yeah, it’s coming up quick. I didn’t get much of a break from Vegas until now. I had about two weeks off the bike. Those two weeks were spent moving across the country. We stayed busy and got into it quick.

“I’m still learning this bike. It’s a completely different chassis from what I am used to. I’m not sure if I’ll be West Coast or East Coast come January, but I’ll be fine with whatever. I’m really excited to go racing on this thing. Lie you said, it’s coming up quick. It’s crunch time right now. This is where the thick of the training happens. It’ll all be good.

“It’s exciting. Like I said, I want to be a contender and be a winner. I think I’ve had the speed, but it has just been outing it together. Now it is just dialing everything in. I’m not sure who I will be racing in the East or the West and that will all depend on where they put me. There is always going to be some good guys no matter where I go. I want to focus on what I can do and clicking off these days in early November and into late December. I want to be executing every day so we can be prepared as possible.”

With the 2025 Moster Energy Supercross Series coming quickly, Pierce Brown finds himself in a very good place with the Yamaha Star Racing outfit.

“It’s really cool. I love the team so far. Bobby has been great. I’ve known Bobby for a while. However, I haven’t worked with Jensen Hendler or Gareth Swanepoel or any of the other guys on the team. Now coming over to the Star Yamaha racing team, the first week or two weeks, they told me their goal and expectation for me is to be a contender and a champion. Having them back me and believe in me like that is really cool. With that comes pressure, but I think it’s going to be good. Studying back on all the past championships, all the champions are pretty much decided in the first couple of races. You always want to come out swinging and get those first couple wins der the belt. You want to show everyone what you’re made of and what you expect of yourself.”