MXA INTERVIEW: ROCKSTAR HUSQVARNA’S NEWEST RECRUIT STILEZ ROBERTSON

Meet Stilez Robertson, Rockstar Husqvarna’s newest factory rider. 

The Bakersfield, California native, Stilez Robertson has been racing since he was four years old. Now the seventeen year old is living the dream as he just signed a three-year deal with the Factory Rockstar Husqvarna team. After riding for the Kawasaki Team Green program for the last eight years, it was a surprise to see Stilez switch teams towards the end of his amateur career. We ran into Stilez out at Fox Raceway and we were excited to get an interview with as he was putting in his first laps on the his new bike. 

BY JOSH MOSIMAN

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR 2020? I raced in the B class this year, now going into 2020 I will be racing the A class at the amateur nationals. I’ll be doing the Supercross Futures races to get my Supercross points, Freestone, maybe Daytona, Mammoth and Loretta’s.

WHEN IS YOUR PLAN TO TURN PRO? We’ll play it by ear and see how I’m riding, I wouldn’t mind turning Pro after Loretta’s and doing the last three Nationals next year, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.

Stilez hopes to turn Pro at the final three rounds of Outdoors in 2020. He has a three-year contract with Rockstar that will last through the 2022 season. 

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE YOU NOTICE SO FAR BETWEEN THE HUSQVARNA FC250 AND YOUR KAWASAKI? The biggest difference is probably the frame, just the flex coming into turns. I really like it though, it feels lighter when you’re riding it. It’s easier to lean over, we made a few changes and it tracks really well.

ARE YOU RIDING A MOD BIKE ON YOUR FIRST DAY? HOW IS THE POWER? Yeah this is a mod bike, it’s the Amateur spec that Husqvarna has. It’s really good, it revs super high and I haven’t felt it sign off at all, it just keeps revving. I think I need to rev it even more. It’s really good, it definitely has a lot of power.

Stilez is one of many young riders who live in the Bakersfield area. Ryder Difrancesco and Jett Reynolds are two more top amateur riders from the same city. 

DO YOU STILL LIVE IN BAKERSFIELD FULL TIME OR DO YOU STAY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA? I’ve been in SoCal when I’m training, but I still go to Bakersfield on the weekends if there’s something up there and just to hangout with the family.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR MOST MEMORABLE RACE IN YOUR AMATEUR CAREER SO FAR? I really liked Monster Cup. Winning that was really big for me, I really like Supercross so just doing that in front of all those fans was super awesome. I won at my first Monster Cup by going 2-1 for first overall. In my first Monster Cup everyone watched me hit the Toyota Tundra.

Stilez finished his B-class year strong by winning the 250B class at the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National. Now he will race in the A-class until he turns Pro.  

WHO DO YOU TRAIN WITH? I’ve been training with Ivan Tedesco. It’s still up in the air if I will still work with Ivan, but hopefully we can make it happen.

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT TRAINING IN FLORIDA AT THE BAKER’S FACTORY? Yeah I would be down to do anything that benefits me.

Here is a photo of Stilez on his Kawasaki earlier in the year with his trainer, Ivan Tedesco.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO BESIDES RIDING? I like watching dirt car racing and I like to go to the skate park even though I’m not very good. Sometimes I like to go shoot trap with my friends. I also really like drag racing, I’m actually going to go to Georgia on October 16th to go watch a huge radial tire drag race. Radial tire means small tires and they have some gnarly cars, it’s fun to watch.

ARE YOUR RACING MONSTER CUP THIS YEAR? No Monster Cup this year. I’m just going to go hangout and watch. If I’m feeling comfortable maybe I’ll go shoot up to Ponca to do the MotoPlayground race, we’re not forsure yet. Or maybe the do Fly National at Oatfield, we’re just taking it day by day and getting comfortable on the bike.

Stilez was on the charge out at Fox Raceway.

ANY LAST WORDS? I’m really excited to try something different, it’s been a long eight years at Kawasaki. They were all really good to me, but I’m excited to try something different.