RUST magazine: Rust#6

eady to go riding and he’d ask me, ‘why are
you going riding today?’ You look at some
riders, they’re riding every day but they don’t
get any better because they’re simply riding
too much. So Seb cut me down to riding just
three days a week, and make that race-specific
training – we’d look to my next race and
if it was a three-hour race I’d do a three-hour
moto as training. And I think that’s what set
me apart last year. I cut the number of races
down too, to about 15, but by doing that I
knew exactly what was coming up and knew
what to train for. Seb’s guidance made the
biggest difference.
“This year will be different though. Seb’s
wife has become ill, so I’ve moved back to
the UK. I didn’t want to be there, I wanted
him to be with her, not being distracted by
coming training and racing with me.”
So for now, Smooth is back working with
Jonny, preparing his UK race bikes, and
Jonny has returned to his privateer days by
maintaining his practice bikes. He likes the
discipline, suggests he might waste his
spare time otherwise and, he says, it keeps
him grounded – something he seems
acutely aware of.
MENTAL STATE is a major part of sporting
achievement. And it’s not just during a race,
but a 24-7 thing, a constant state of mind.
“Graham Jarvis is my strongest opponent.
He is solid, and he’s riding at the highest
level. It’s literally taken me three-to-four