On Track Off Road No.181

confidence & mxgp
How to get
confidence
Simpson: There is nothing like a result
to pick you up. Banging in a podium will
change your world, and not just for a week
but for two-three. I won in Lommel in 2015
and while I’d had a few good results in the
run-up that was my first podium and win
that year and I was riding high until the end
of the season. I almost made the box in Mantova,
I was on the podium in Mexico. I went
to America and did well and went to the
Nations. Everything had fit together; the win
topped up the confidence. You think ‘my programme
must be working, I’m strong at the
end of races’ and you trust yourself more.
If things are not going well then you might
start mixing up your programme and there’s
the danger of getting lost. Still now, when
I go back to Lommel I do exactly the same
things as I did in 2015. The results change
but in your mind you think ‘if I do the same
stuff there’s a good chance I’ll be in the
same sort of shape’ but preparation starts a
lot longer than the morning of a race.
Seewer: It is a big process, especially if you
come into a new team. You cannot find it in
one month. You need to have good people
around you and not just for half a year. You
need time to build something and to have
trust in your team or your friends or parents
or whoever has your back. Everything needs
to fit, and then if you also have good mechanics,
a good suspension guy and a good
engine guy and they work together well then
you can step it up. As a rider you need to
bring something also and deliver good feedback
that makes a connection. There are a
lot of baby steps to grow.