Shaun Simpson of the Wilvo Yamaha team has once again put his best foot forward and collected another GP victory. The likable Scot was kind enough to chat with our friends over at MXlarge about his win in Indonesia.
Shaun, congratulations. How did it feel, a little weird winning this one?
Definitely, for sure with the one race format, bit surreal really. Standing on top of the podium in your clean kit, usually we are all sweaty from the second moto. A win is a win, and I did the job in the first race, setting up the second moto, which didn’t go ahead and I think that was a good decision.
Watching you come through, it was like a Ryan Dungey type of deal. We have spoken about that before, just chugging away and passing guys. Although those last two laps you nearly got caught twice in that mud hole everyone got stuck in.
What happened, I had a line, that I was using a lot. Not one line, but a part—the left hand side. The team had told me to stay to the left hand side, but near the end some riders were stuck in that part of the track. First there was an Indonesian guy, then [Max] Anstie, then [Romain] Febvre, and I had no option to go to the right hand side. It was really bad, really shit, and two laps I nearly got stuck. And the last lap, I was in the same section and I was moving really slowly, but was able to keep the wheels turning. Because if the wheels stop turning, then its game over. When I pulled out and over the crest I knew the job was done.
Without your mud skills you would probably still be sitting there.
It’s a surprising fact for me that so many of the MXGP guys actually got stuck stationary in the mud, and it’s difficult for me to understand that. I have done a lot of training in the winter in Scotland and Lommel. It started in 2008 with Stefan Everts—we used to go Enduro riding—and I felt like stopping after 10 minutes. But the tips you can learn from that, it’s just like going super human for a second and get yourself through it. If you give 90% for five minutes, you will never get out. But if you give it 100% for five seconds, then you can get out. That is how I was thinking. It felt like I was battling there for a minute, but it was a couple of seconds. A lot of guys complained when I won in Lierop. That the track was like an enduro and I had people say I would be good at enduro but I want to race motocross. I can’t wait for the sand races this year. Jeffrey [Herlings] will be looking forward to that, but so will I. I also want to be consistent in all the races and in all the conditions. I know as well as anyone, I need to up my game for places like Arco and some of the hard pack tracks.
Amazing the names in the top ten, Tanel Leok, Rui Goncalves, Jeremy Van Horebeek, Antonio Cairoli, Clement Desalle, yourself, all older guys with a lot of experience.
I haven’t had a look at the top twenty, but I will look later. I did see Rui and Tanel had good motos. I already had some things set for the second moto to give me an advantage. Just like goggle prep and that type of thing. It’s from experience. You need to figure it out for yourself in time. We flew all this way for like less than an hour’s riding. I did like four laps yesterday, five laps Sunday morning and a moto.
Obviously the GP didn’t go completely to plan. A lot of rain and the races were cut short, but the experience of being here and meeting these local people was great. I am not sure I have ever met such nice people. So excited to see us here. How was that for you.
Its incredible really, because I don’t know where the motivation comes from really. They don’t look like they have seen white people before and in the supermarket they want photos of everyone. At the track I must have done like 400 pictures with people. I was actually telling them to take pictures while I walked, because I would have been there all day. Coming here in the raining season, that was a pity. It rained every day this week, and had it rained like that on Saturday and Sunday, we would have had big problems. I heard they did a three-year contract for here. On a whole, I think it’s got potential, but improvements need to be made. The track and rain isn’t working, so maybe they need to look at the calendar and work out another time to come here.
Can you explain to me what happened in that period when the riders talked to the FIM and the decision was made to cancel the last MXGP moto?
When the MX2 moto started I looked at the track and thought, “Okay, they are getting around.” But the more they rode the worse it got. It became not much of a race anymore. People cutting the track, and people couldn’t get out of the mud. I saw two guys from Indonesian with no shoes on carrying a guy through the mud. From a safety side of things, it wasn’t looking good. For a race side, you can’t have an official result with people cutting the track. I know Steve Dixon was not happy with people cutting the track. So when these things happen, you have the question is if it’s worth riding. We have to crate these bikes up for Argentina and Mexico. The FIM told us to wait—they hadn’t made a decision yet—and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was in my board shorts and thought I need to get ready. So I raced back, but as I was coming back I was told the moto wouldn’t be going ahead. I think the FIM and the race organizer has to come to an agreement if they cancel it.
So you are walking back and you realize you have won the GP. How was that? Maybe a little bit like [do I deserve it]?
It was a bit like that because its only half the job done in my opinion, but the guys second and third on the podium were happy with that. I know races in Bellpuig and I think Fianza. I kind of got rid of it, stood on the podium with a big smile. The team is happy. Our team have done a great job and we will fly home feeling good.
