In these unprecedented times it has been increasingly difficult for all of us to get our ‘Moto-Fix’. With race calendars around the world being persistently re-scheduled, it has left all of us in the Motocross community wondering, What Happens Next?
Interview, Report and Images by Marc Carter and X-Cast Media
2020 seemed to have some serious momentum up until March; Monster Energy Supercross had been providing some serious heat, as Eli Tomac looked to be on course for his first ever 450cc Championship. The MXGP FIM World Championship displayed a mere glimpse of how it was going to progress, showcasing what appeared to be a matured Jeffrey Herlings as Tim Gajser would look to retain his World Championship Title.
Of course, all we can do now is speculate as to how those championships would have developed over the last few weeks. It would be interesting to see what sort of contingencies the FIM have in place in order to still run these championships, as I’m sure we’re all wondering just how pragmatic is it to keep rescheduling in reality?
Here in the UK it doesn’t seem as though we’re going to be coming out of ‘lockdown’ any time soon. So, will these premier championships condense their calendars or simply run into the winter? What impact would this have on 2021’s Calendar? Where does this leave National/Domestic Championships that are yet to run?
There are a plethora of unanswered questions I’m sure that we all have, but I think it’s important to highlight the fact that this is indeed, unfamiliar territory for us all and it’s vital that we all do our part in order to mitigate the potential damage of Covid-19.
With that being said, we wanted to check in with Chambers Racing’s very own, Tom Grimshaw to get an idea of what sort of effect the spread of Corona Virus has had on his 2020 campaign and how he thought his year had been so far. So, we sent the young MX2 rider several questions for him to answer! Check them out below:
Q & A – Tom Grimshaw (Chambers Racing Husqvarna)
So, Tom let’s just quickly recap how the start of 2020 was for you. The change of team, the change of bike and a commitment to a number of World Championship rounds were clearly welcome changes. Just briefly summarise where your head was at going in to 2020 with these things in mind:
“Yes! 2020 was all change for me, people say changing bikes isn’t easy but honestly, I adjusted straight away. Bike is great, team is great and committing to the European MX2 world rounds was the cherry on top! It’s been my goal ever since I started racing to reach the world level and I just could not wait to start. So, the mood in my camp was very good heading into the new season.”
We spoke at Mildenhall back in March about your results so far this year, and I know you had some reservations about your performance early on at the opening round of the World Championship at Matterley Basin; in hindsight what do you think could have gone better for you at Matterley and what did you learn from that round in particular?
“Matterley was a strange weekend for me, it really did feel like I was in a daydream right up until the gate dropped for Moto 2. Also, I was really struggling to find a suspension set up which would allow me to attack the track. On Saturday, my riding was awful simple as that. I was more worried about really small things like will I be able to clear that jump, due to the track conditions, when I should have been thinking about executing the perfect quali’ lap.
“My arms blew up to where I could not pull the front brake lever in, casing jumps, going off track and on top of all that I was getting hassled by some of the fastest MX2 riders in the world. So, as you can imagine I was having a great time! Every session I was getting better and better and by Moto 2 on Sunday I started to feel myself again, for the first 25 minutes I had a great race battling for a top 30 result, however for the final 10 minutes I had just lost the tow and settled for the position I was in. Looking back now I just needed to calm down a little also just spend a little more time setting up the bike going into the season as the GP tracks rough up completely different.”
Moving on to Valkenswaard, we were both in agreement that you definitely showcased your potential in a manner that did your riding more justice. Despite the track being more technically challenging, you seemed to progress considerably going into the second round. What do you think were the main differences in your approach to Valkenswaard, as opposed to Matterley?
“I was really struggling with my suspension and was working hard to find the setting that would allow me to ride the bike properly. So, the days leading up to Valkenswaard I managed to get out on the bike and made some big changes to my suspension which made me feel a whole lot more comfortable. We got to Valkenswaard and the track looked great but was very wet and deep! Nerves were there however, as soon as I went out for practice, I felt good, arms were fine, bike was handling great and I just felt a whole lot more comfortable.
“In the races I went for it right from the start and didn’t let them get away which was one of my mistakes at Matterley. For the full 40 minutes I was battling with other riders, swapping positions and just kept charging to the end; for a good chunk of moto 2 I was in 21st position which was a great confidence booster! All my charging had paid off as I managed to get a 27th and a 25th in the races which gave me 30th overall which I was over the moon with. There were still a lot of things to work on however it was a massive improvement from the week before.
Fast-forward a week to 15th March. The ACU pulled the plug on the first Round of the British at Little Silver and since then, there obviously hasn’t been any World Championship or National Championship Rounds. But how were you feeling going into Round One of the British and anticipating Round One of the MX Nationals at FatCats the following week?
“So, the Dutch GP gave me a lot of confidence and I was feeling really good going into Little silver. I arrived Saturday afternoon and even though the pits were a mess the track still looked to have the potential to be really good come Sunday. As we all know they did cancel the meeting due to heavy rain being forecast, so we never got to turn a wheel on track which was a shame however, I do understand why. So, all my focus then turned to Fatcats a week later for Round 1 of the Mx Nationals. It’s not one of my best tracks but it didn’t matter as I was just excited to get racing again, and then that was cancelled due to Covid-19. So since then I haven’t been out on the bike and have been in self-isolation at home, which is not fun, but you’ve got to stay safe during these times.”
16th/17th March, all of the National Championships in the UK begin to announce their decisions to adhere to the advice of the Government concerning Covid-19. Undeniably, it’s had a massive impact on everyone’s lives. But focusing on your reaction as a rider, what were your immediate thoughts surrounding 2020 and how did your game plan adapt moving forward into this ‘limbo-period’?
“Well honestly, I don’t really have a game plan as there is not much you can do during these times; until we get an official date for our next race I am just keeping myself busy with jobs around the house (which are quickly running out). I have started a few new series on Netflix, so that’s my evenings sorted and throughout the day I am just keeping myself fit and busy, that’s all. When we get a date, that’s when we can put our heads back down and start working on getting myself and the bikes ready for the season to kick off again.
“My thoughts about this whole situation is that I think everyone has done the right thing by closing the practice tracks and postponing races, as the last thing you to is crash and be in hospital. I hope everyone is just staying home and ticking off the days like I am, hopefully we will still see some race action in 2020.”
Something many people may not know about you personally, is that you are in fact a personal trainer. I’d imagine you would place heavy emphasis on trying to maintain physical fitness whilst everything else is on hold. Could you break down your training regime in order to give people an idea of how from a PT’s perspective, you would stay ‘bike fit’ without actually being able to train on the bike?
“Yeah, I have been a Personal Trainer for just over a year now and things are going great, it keeps me busy during the week, but not too busy to where I can still go riding and then race on weekends. I really enjoy it and it actually really helps to take my mind off racing for a bit. Currently I am still busy creating home workout plans and videos who I then send out my clients, just so I can try and keep them fit and healthy. Me personally I have backed down my training at the moment as up until Little silver I had been trying hard to get myself in shape for 2020.
“I have done this to try and avoid burn-out, but once we get the date of my next race I will be back on it again. For people who are trying to stay bike fit I really recommend endurance training, which is like your running, cycling etc… exercises that build up your cardiovascular system so when you come to riding again you are not hanging after 2 laps, you are still able to do 15- 20 minutes comfortably. Also, I recommend short but intense HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions which has your heart rate spiking and burns a load of calories. You can find some examples of HIIT sessions on my Instagram page.”
Finally, where do you see 2020 going from here? Of course, at the moment all of the Championships are postponing their rounds, it would only be reasonable to expect some form of disruption this year in terms of how the calendars pan out. Will you still be attacking the World Championships as and when they resume, or will you adjust focus and look more towards National Championships for the rest of the year?
“Absolutely I will still be attacking the World stage races, they have some great tracks this year and hopefully we still get a chance to race them. But as we all know, it all depends on if they can fit all these races in. I want to hopefully keep building the momentum and get better each round I race. With the domestic series I will definitely be doing the British championship and then we will see if any time is left for anything else, which I’m doubting at this time.”
#Team Lank
I would like to say thank you to Tom Grimshaw for jumping on-board with our interview; I can imagine there are many riders in the UK finding themselves in a similar position to Tom, forced to play the waiting game and just waiting on the greenlight to get back riding. Motocross is a community, and I think its very humbling to see that riders like Tom, are setting the standard from the very top of the sport in the UK. We hope that everyone else is playing their part, avoiding the risk and being patient. We hope to see you all very soon back at the races in the not-so-distant future. Thanks for reading. Stay safe. Stay Home.
