An air of the underdog is finally beginning to evaporate from Shaun Simpson. A rider who has seemingly fought some form of adversity (food allergies, a lack of belief by others, brief factory chances, a team misfit, privateer status) ever since the brutal leg break that disrupted his moment at the big time in 2009 while a fresh-faced MX2 athlete in the works Red Bull KTM crew. Simpson has extoled the by-gone virtues of the sport in the past two years in what was largely a two-man band in the homely Hitachi set-up; him and his Dad winning races repeatedly in the UK and throwing rocks without a sling against the goliaths of MXGP.
The 27 year old has proved his doubters wrong. He was unbeaten in Britain in 2015 and became only the second rider from this country to win a Grand Prix in the premier class of the FIM World Championship since 2001 (if we count the 250s as ‘MXGP’). With three GP victories in MXGP he holds a notable distinction as the UK’s most successful athlete and has evolved his sand capabilities to be considered as one of the very best in the world through the terrain.
Spoils? Check. Validation? Check. Success the ‘hard way’? Check. So what now? With factory assistance through Steve Turner’s Wilvo Virus Performance KTM team Simpson finally has the tools and the treatment – not forgetting the experience, maturity and know-how – to sit in his most prosperous position since Yamaha decided to bounce him around Steve Dixon and Michele Rinaldi’s factory outfits in 2012.
‘24’ has faced questions repeatedly throughout his career (like most high-profile competitors) but many MXGP observers will be curious to see if he can get even better and elevate further that rigid approach to consistency while maintaining a firm ‘bigger picture’ of racing and Grand Prix, namely ‘lasting the distance’. After asking Shaun to bring his training clobber to an identifiable Scottish landscape and visually trying to encapsulate his preparation and attitude for 2016 and arguably his most important season yet, we got him behind the Dictaphone.
OK, so, the big question: Did Shaun Simpson arrive at a peak in 2015 or is there more to come?
I think there is definitely more to come-
Well, I guess you would say that…
Yeah! But I finally feel that I have the evidence to back it up because – as I always say in interviews – I have been a slow-burner and I just get better with experience. I’ve managed to win the British Championship the last two years and I think the way I did it last season was very convincing. I feel that I can do it again and after two good years I’m still building up. It’s to do with momentum and you just keep adding to it. I’m talking about fitness and speed and the general lack of a major break or disruption to the schedule. In GPs I’ve gone from 11th to 7th to 4th and I know to beat fourth in the world is going to be a hard task. However if I strip back 2015 and look at how the first half of my season went then there is heaps of room for improvement. If I can raise-up my whole season then we will see again where we finish. Whether it is better than fourth place could be a whole other story. I have better tools to go racing, better machinery and a better structure behind me. I feel I can go out there and do a good professional job rather than being handed the tools to do just a job.
You could perhaps say you are hitting maximum output in the sand: winning two out of the three sandy Grands Prix is a pretty damn good ratio. Even going undefeated in the UK was special. Your head must be in the best place yet for your career…
I think you have to be mentally strong and look at the year as a whole, and not crumble if one race goes wrong. Between MXGP and the ‘British’ I’ll have twenty-six weekends of racing and of course not all of them are going to go right for me; even if the first few don’t go well then there is little point crying and instead work on where you are weak. 2016 is my third year on a KTM and I’m on the same bike that I ended the ’15 season. I feel that I am so much further ahead than I should be or would have been. I am in such a good position and I’m comfortable, confident and strong. I want the results I feel I can achieve.
I know it is some way-off and that you have to get through the opening stages of the ’16 season but a weak point for you is finishing the climax of a championship year. Crashes and problems affected you in the last rounds of both 2014 and 2015…
It is frustrating for me to look at those stats because I pride myself on finishing races, motos and qualifying laps and finishing them strong. In both years things were going so well. In 2014 I had climbed up to fifth in the championship before the crash in Brazil and last year I had the podium in Mexico before it all went to shit at the last round. The Nations also! They were bad races but they could have happened at any point in the season. You have to take the rough-with-the-smooth, analyse the reasons why a race went wrong and get over it. You cannot be dragging low points like that around with you.
On a positive note it is hard to remember a GP where you struggled or faded and that must be a testament to your fitness…
And a testament to the experience I’ve picked up over the last three or four seasons. I’ve tailored my programme to the knowledge I have accumulated in my career. Together with my trainer Kev from Step1 Fitness – who has customised such a good programme – we are looking to go even better and take profit of the better structure I have. Now I just have to arrive at the track, do my job and then go home and carry on doing my job instead of worrying about building a bike or organising travel or equipment carnets. I’m taking that side of it to the next level by recovering, sleeping and eating better this year. Everything is on another level. Overall I think I have made big steps this winter and I’m excited to see where I am when it comes to being on the race track.
But you were working hard before…is it really that simple to push harder?
I think so. Look at Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen with Aldon Baker; it is about teaching yourself what works for you and being disciplined. It sounds a bit far-fetched but you have to make every day on this earth count towards an end goal. Every meal, every early night, every workout: it is the little things that turn out to make a big difference. Finding someone who can guide you in the right direction helps. I’ve actually drafted in two-three people to help me this year and I am mentally stronger for how it is all coming together and contributing.
To read the rest of the feature and see more pics from Ray Archer’s photoshoot in Scotland click HERE
