On Track Off Road No.181

Feature
Seewer: I analyse a lot, and
for the last couple of years
I would go to bed every day
when I’d ridden and lie there
thinking about the track –
sometimes even corner-bycorner
– and where I could
have been better. Sometimes
that even helps me sleep! It’s
a nice side effect! I think you
have to analyse when you get
to this level…but to go too
crazy and look at those papers
and videos for hours and
hours [is detrimental]…motocross
is still a sport where
you have to perform with your
talent. You cannot see it all in
black and white.
Watson: I do think a lot. Especially
if I know I have a special
target or result I have to make.
I think that is something I will
grow out-of and more experience
will help. In 2018 it was
the first time I was fighting for
podiums and top three finishes.
It was new to me. I know I
need to take a bit more pressure
off myself.
Simpson: You rarely think ‘I
am the king, I am the boss’
and I believe it’s like that in
any sport. The moment you
start laying back and thinking
or believing that you have
reached your potential – or
the moment you relax – then
you might as well give up. You
should always want to be a bit
better and that goes for any
position on the track. At Assen
this year I had two sixths and
that was a goal accomplished
for the weekend but I drove
out of that track having to tell
myself to be content with the
result. There was a part of me
that wanted two fifths and I
had to talk myself around.
Seewer: In the end I think taking
a first or second place in
Grand Prix has a lot to do with
your head and your brain. I
know that area has to be very
strong…but I still don’t know
how good or powerful psychology
training can be. For the
past three years I have been
able to make things happen
at my home GP that I couldn’t
at any other race: why is that?
I’m not a different person in
Switzerland and I’m not different
in a place like Imola.
The brain just responds to
what is around it. Maybe that
is the next step for me. 2018
has been a learning year and
I’ve needed to find my steps
and feeling with the Yamaha.
Once I get the experience and
a team that grows around
me well and who listens and
understands me then the next
goal is to find that Swiss GP
level all the way around the
world.
Watson: Mental coach? I’m
not sure I’d like someone telling
me something that I don’t
100% believe in. I like to learn
from my own mistakes and
analyse lessons. Maybe that is
a form of self-belief already. I
believe that if something will
happen, then it will. And for
a reason. If you have a bad
weekend then it will make you
stronger in some way and selfreveal
why it went wrong in
the first place. If someone is
telling you ‘it’s OK’ and trying
to turn your head then I don’t
think that will work for me because
I need to be able to see
and feel what is going wrong. I
want to learn from those situations
and why it hasn’t worked
out.
Simpson: You cycle through
little things to constantly remind
yourself. To pump yourself
up. I can still ride a bike
f**king good and stuff like
photos and videos can help.
Equally if you see a photo
where it looks like you are
struggling or your elbows are
down then it makes you want
to go and change it.
Olsen: Mindset is something
I want to get better at and I
think the same can be said of
every rider and every athlete.
That’s the work. Right now I
am in a good place and happy
with the people I have around
me. I feel safe.
Simpson: It is tiring. My life
isn’t planned out to the second
or every meal is not
perfectly weighed for food
groups. There is an element
of this whole thing, this whole