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Q Who're you picking for the AMA Superbike championship, and don't give the company answers.

A It's going to be an interesting year for sure, with the new rules and stuff. I'll definitely be following it. 600s too.

Superbike, I don't know. It's going to be interesting to watch Ben. I'm anxious to see what three years of World Superbike's done for him. I want to see how much it looks like he's learned, where he stands now compared to what he did before. That's one reason I'll definitely be watching. I'm excited for the guy.

Q It's a new Kurtis.

A I think the biggest thing is not having me there, I think is going to help him a lot. No disrespect, we were great rivals, but for sure, what I've seen this weekend-I mean, I don't know why, it's just my opinion, but I think not having me there is going to help him a lot, just for a lot of little reasons.

I'm curious to see what Gobert can do, too. He's said for the last couple years the twins wasn't fair, so now I'm sure he's got some pressure now that he's got one. But I will say, even last year, eight or nine guys on a Superbike is just—I really hope that-I wish they'd have done it this year, but Formula Xtreme and Superbike's got to be one class. It's basically the same thing. Just to get the depth. If you took that class and combined it with the Superbike, think about it. It'd be like the 600 class. Twenty guys who are factory or satellite teams, I think it would do the series really good. It would be fun.

Because our series, I'll tell you, that's the one thing that kind of bummed me out (in Europe) is, I feel like we've got a great series and great riders and a lot of talent. Most of us do, and of course we would, but I truly do.

But over there, they don't have much respect for our series (AMA Superbike) at all. I mean, I've noticed that fast. They don't think our series has much talent. I don't think they realize that the teams and factories here are serious. All the transporters, all the money spent. I think it's strong, but over there, definitely, they don't have much love for it. Obviously, this year, I want to do good for a lot of reasons, but one is just to prove that our series, we do have talent.

Because over there, that's something else. Nobody really feels like I should ... they're wondering 'Why'd he get the ride, he don't deserve it. What's he done? AMA?' ...

Q Nick, they're going to have to learn that lesson the hard way.

A That'd be cool. I hope so. But definitely, they don't have too much respect for our series, so that's not cool.

More later