The mental edge is something that makes or breaks riders. We saw it in the 2021 MXGP championship just how high riders can take it, with Jeffrey Herlings, Tim Gajser and Romain Febvre all showing that their mental strength is very good. I can’t remember a series where three men have been so strong.

I know I have spoken to many former or present World champions who talk about how to deal with the mental side of things. Taking a sleep during the day, or not thinking too much about what is actually happening. All three from last years MXGP championship spoke of trying not to get into the moment but concentrate more on taking it day by day or moto by moto, or even lap by lap.

As strong as Herlings, Gajser and Febvre were in 2021, all three mentioned how they had to stop themselves from thinking about the situation and despite those struggles, all three were near perfect in the outcome of their season. Sure, all three made mistakes, but the pressure these three were under was unbelievable.

I still remember that 1998 World 250 championship when Sebastien Tortelli slowly broke down Stefan Everts. Despite Everts being the better rider, there were moments in that championship that Tortelli pushed Everts around and broke his spirit to some degree, surprised the Belgian that he was able to maintain the close points race.

At the time Everts denied he broke down mentally, but now some 25 years later, he has admitted it was a tough day in Greece and he had no control over his body or mind on that day. And this a man who is the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time and can arguably be called the greatest motocross rider of all time. Everts with 10 World championships, 101 GP wins, more MXoN moto wins than anyone in the history of the sport and many other achievements was still broken down mentally. He clearly had 100’s of times that mentally he was on song and a level above everyone else.

We see now in the AMA supercross championship how already guys are making crazy passes in the opening round, some like Chase Sexton are crashing and making big mistakes. As much as we all look at Ken Roczen as folding at times, and he has, to win A1 like he did, shows that a strong mental game he has. I still believe his biggest struggle is knowing what could have been, because had he not had that horrible accident a handful of years ago, he might well have won two or three AMA supercross championship and a couple more AMA motocross championships. I think he knows that, and the mental damage from that, when the going gets tough, seems to still be his biggest competition.

Technique wise, Roczen is levels above Cooper Webb, but Webb is like the three MXGP guys from last year, a level above everyone when it comes to being strong in the head. It seems like he in fact loves the mental game and knows he has it over all his rivals in that department. Unfortunately for Roczen, the American also knows how to make the German break, and Roczen probably knows that as well.

Remember last year when Webb started playing mind games with Roczen and the HRC rider mentioned he can also play those games, but unfortunately, he couldn’t, and Webb handled him easily. Both riders know what happened in 2021 and once they get into a real championship fight, the feeling is Roczen will fall like a deck of cards.

I even mentioned to Jeffrey Herlings after his two crashes at Trentino last year how had he not won the 2021 MXGP championship those mistakes might have stayed with him forever, similar to that 1998 250 capitulation by Everts will be remembered forever. Nobody wants to be remembered for cracking under pressure. Sure, Everts came back to win more World titles and more Grand Prix wins, so he pretty much corrected that lack of mental strength in Greece. 

The question now is, can Roczen blow away the dark shadows of his lack of mental strength in 2021 and win his first ever AMA supercross championship? If he does, he will have to beat the mental game of one rider who is mentally stronger than just about anyone else in the current list of elite AMA or GP riders.