Top combination Shaun Simpson – KTM reunited
GP winner Shaun Simpson returns to KTM this year. The brand with which the 30-year-old Scot was so successful in the past. In 2015, 'Braveheart' sent his 450SX-F to fourth place in the final standings of the MXGP World Championship.
After two disappointing seasons with Wilvo Yamaha, Simpson wants to pick up the thread again in the new RFX KTM team. The experienced Briton is one of the strongest private pilots in orange, alongside the KTM factory riders Jeffrey Herlings and Tony Cairoli. In 2019, the Austrian manufacturer will also compete in the MXGP with Max Anstie, Glenn Coldenhoff, Jordi Tixier, Ivo Monticelli and Max Nagl. For Simpson, the return to a British KTM team offers a similar environment to the one in which he was so successful in 2014 and 2015. Not only did the British veteran excel in the GPs in his peak years, he also claimed two national titles in his own country with Hitachi KTM UK country. Shaun also won a national MX1 title in Belgium in 2011 (LS Honda).
Simpson hopes that by reuniting with KTM and WP Suspension in 2019, he can forget the unpleasant memories of the past two seasons with injuries. “I don't know what it is exactly, but the KTM just seems to suit me very well. It suits my style and how I ride,” said Shaun between testing and training in RedSand. “I don't know whether the steel frame has anything to do with it. In any case, I feel at home on the KTM. Because I already know the engine well, I was able to skip some steps in the setup. After all, I know which base I used a few years ago. So that was the reference when I started testing. I know how the engine will react, which means I can confidently run for hours without worrying too much about the adjustments,” explains the sympathetic Scot.
“Actually, the KTM hasn't changed that much since I last rode KTM in 2016 (ed. Wilvo Virus Performance KTM). Okay, the bike looks a little different, appearance-wise. The engine has also been thoroughly overhauled, but the feeling is very similar. Even standard I'd say it's a damn good engine.”
It is clear that Shaun is feeling good since he is back on an orange machine. It gives the ex-Lierop GP winner a proven platform on which he can build even though his RFX team is new to the World Championship. In addition to Simpson in the MXGP, the team will start with two young EMX riders. “The team has a somewhat different structure because there are many different sponsors who contribute. That also means that we have to keep a lot of people happy, but I realize that the team mainly revolves around me and that gives confidence. I have the parts I want on the bike. Now we still have to make some refinements in the final development of the engine block.”
In 2015, sand hare Simpson won in Belgium and the Netherlands. Two years later it happened in the muddy Indonesian GP. The ambition is to reconnect with 7th and 4th place in the final standings of the World Championship in 2014 and 2015 respectively and to put himself back on the map as a top-5 rider.
“I would like to surprise some people, yes! That's why I'm aiming for a strong start to the season without going overboard,” analyzes the Fly Racing pilot. “We are really aiming for a strong end result, so regularity throughout the season is certainly a key to success. Precisely because I am very comfortable on the motorcycle, I am convinced that it will help me to perform consistently. Sometimes I was too much at my limit on the Yamaha. That also translated into the injuries I sustained. They were often exceptional crashes and I paid for them in cash.”
Shaun Simpson is one of four Brits in the MXGP this year.
Tekst: Adam Wheeler
Photos: Huub Munsters, Elliot Spencer
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