The first weekend in May we were at Canada Heights for the 3rd round of the Maxxis British Championship entering the weekend with 2 point lead at the top of the championship. Having lost points in previous rounds I felt it was time to stamp my authority on the championship. I’ve had good races at Canada Heights in the past so I really wanted to do the best job and stand on the stop step of the podium that weekend.
It couldn’t have gone any better. The track prep was amazing as usual and I was fastest in Qualifying and won both races. The first race was a start to finish win with a 10 second lead but the second race was not so easy. Tommy Searle was hunting me down in the second moto and finished less than half a second behind me so it was pretty tight but the job was done and I extended my lead in the championship out to 8 points. I was very happy with that and I felt like the ball was rolling at what was to be the start of 16 straight weekends in a row for myself and the team with MXGP and the British championship.
The next weekend we were at MXGP Mantova in Italy a track that I quite enjoy. The track prep wasn’t the best because they had been expecting a lot of rain on the Saturday night which left the track really unprepared that day. It was dusty, dry and with a lot of hard spots, not the typical sand track that we’re used to.
I wasn’t feeling the flow on Saturday finishing Qualifying 12th and on Sunday it was a total mud bath. I was riding around pulling tear-offs, avoiding as much roost s I could and getting the bike to the end finishing 9th which so far this season has been about the norm for me.
In the second race I didn’t get such a good start and ended up in a heap on the first lap. I was coming back through the pack getting up to 12th but unfortunately with 2 laps to go the bike expired. With the mud blocking the radiator the bike overheated and pumped a load of water out.
Revenge was supposed to be sweet in Portugal the following weekend where I felt I could really do well but we seemed to be missing a lot of speed. There track was hard, fast and not technical and everyone was ripping around at similar pace but I ended up 26th on the Saturday in time practice which is very uncharacteristic for me - as I would normally be at least in the top 15. By Qualifying I got up to 12th and got a decent start in the first races but didn’t really improve finishing 13th in both motos. It wasn’t disappointing with how I was feeling on the bike, physically, mentally and with my prep I felt really good but the results didn’t transpire the way we though they would.
France came top the following weekend and we headed to the track at Saint Jean d’Angely. After two slightly disappointing weekend I felt like I needed to make it happen in France but again things didn’t go quite the way I wanted them to. We started off with a few little bike issues and in Qualifying we had an electrical problem that put us right at the back of the grid for Sunday’s motos. Not an ideal way to go into the motor but we had to focus.
I was on the outside for the start and tried to make the best of it ending the weekend with a 15th in the first race having battled the whole race> I could see the top ten in front of me but couldn’t make the passes to get up there by the chequered flag. Race 2 I was riding round feeling like I was faster the guys in front of me but couldn’t get the passes in ending 14th in that one.
Now we’re heading to the 4th round of the British championship at the Blaxhall Circuit. I’m hoping this weekend is the one where I’ll get that winning feeling back and extend my lead before heading off to Orlyonok in Russia the following weekend for MXGP.
In Russia I’m looking to blitz in a couple of top ten finishes as redemption for there recent GP’s and get that feeling back again. I’m not feeling overly down about myself or the bike, the setup we have but I do need to get back into those top ten spots going into he trio of GP’s where our targets are top six but we’ve not been close to that in the last three outings.
Morale may be a little bit down because of that but we’re focussed on what we have to do and get back there week by week and be a solid as we can with some solid results next month.
Little Angus has been travelling around with me and Rachel in the camper for the last month and having a whale of a time off track and that’s transpiring to lift my mood at the weekends as well so we’re very upbeat and looking forward to next month.
It’s now about staying healthy, getting my head in the right space, getting out of the start and working with the team on those tiny bits of bike setup that will give us the edge we need and it won’t be long before we’re back where we should be!
#SS24 KEEPS THE RED PLATE
Shaun Simpson extends his
lead in the British
Motocross Championship