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It can’t be all rose petals and golden laurels everyday, even in the world of reigning MXGP champion Tim Gajser. After a rough weekend in Flanders, he managed to retain the championship lead and is already looking forward to Kegums. A story about regrouping and overcoming adversity.
Tim, you had a rough day here in Lommel, suffering a few crashes. How do you bounce back after a moment like that?
I’ve been through something like this a couple of times. It’s already a few GP’s that I am struggling a bit. I'm trying to find the right mindset. I suffered a few crashes during this race and I've made some mistakes. Overall I felt my pace was really good, and I even felt that I could win, but in the end, it’s the result that counts. The fourth place is not too bad.
In the paddock, people talked about the tricky conditions of the track and the weather. Did that play its part? Honestly, I only have myself to blame. These are very typical conditions for this track; look at last year. The conditions were very similar, but I won. I’m happy I still finished this weekend with the red plate, leading the championship, it’s not that important this early in the season, but it’s a good confidence boost. I think I’m putting too much pressure on myself, so in the coming week, I need to train, regroup and reset and move forward to Kegums.
How do you manage to reset in between raceweekends, overcoming adversity?
I put everything aside and remember I should learn to enjoy it more. I was thinking of too many things at once. I should have had more fun on the bike. I feel that every time I do that, my confidence and consistency improves.
This year, the races seem increasingly frantic, and the competition appears to be building? Do you experience it that way?
In MXGP, the level of competition has always been great. However, the field is indeed very strong this year, especially with the return of Erlings. This season I feel that the start will be the most important part of the race. If you manage to get in front from the beginning, it shouldn’t be that hard. But if you miss your start, you will struggle more because overtaking will be a tough challenge.
If there is one thing we noticed about your riding style and spirit for competition, it’s the fact that, even though you have a crash, your always manage to be back in front in no time. Do you have a secret boost button?
When you have a crash it’s hard to focus again. It takes me about one lap or so to get my head back in the game but after that, I just never give up. I know I have the pace and the bike is really great, so I simply step on it.
