Jodie Fieldhouse has been an inspiration to many young women in the motorcycle racing world. Despite having two years off after covid, Jodie realised the importance of a positive mindset and has been going from strength to strength ever since.
In 2022, Jodie raced in the British GP2 class in the British Superbike Championship and she told me she felt as if, if "I threw myself into a muddy puddle and didn't know where I was going. I kind of just wung it for the first two rounds....we had a lot of mechanical issues, nothing major just silly little issues...it was also a massive eye-opener of what having two years off during covid actually puts you back... we learnt a lot, a hell of a lot.".
The bike that Jodie was riding in 2022 was an Ariane2 Moto2 bike and there are "only two in the UK, that we know of, he's very bespoke and they were built in 2013, raced in 2014 and 2015 then they were retired so we brought him out of retirement in 2020. He came off of a display in a bike cafe of all places." With the Moto2 bike being sat for three years, there were many technical issues and gremlins that popped up over time, but rather than it all happening at once, each issue popped up individually which took a toll on the team. The frustration that was caused by mechanical issues meant that Jodie and her team were in the dark about what to do and even second guess running the team, "there were many times we wanted to throw it in my skip. There were rounds full of tears...there were times I thought we would all go on our separate ways (her family) and they would come home from race meetings and not speak to each other because we were so angry at it and it kept letting us down." However, Jodie did not let those issues get to her too much, "I just had to push through it and I wasn't ready to give up on it, and I'm still not".
Jodie has a very positive mindset, but she told me during the two years out during COVID, had a huge impact on her mental. "I was having a really strong year on the Moto3 in 2018 and I came back at the start of 2019 even stronger. Unfortunately, I got taken out by someone behind me on the last lap and the last corner and it completely wiped me out and broke my arm before I'd even fallen off the bike." This set Jodie back very drastically because it was the first year in a while that she had had a big crash and injury. "The months after that were really stressful, I couldn't do it, I was upset, and I couldn't work out why I couldn't do it. My mind just wasn't fully there.", She managed to get herself going again at the start of 2019 but had to deal with another large setback at the start of 2020. "I had a nasty crash on the Moto2, we rebuilt the bike and I got back on it and I couldn't ride it and I was so upset because I couldn't work out what was wrong with it and I was convinced it was me and I was convinced it was in my head and then I rode it somewhere else, did the same again, still couldn't ride it, getting even more upset." Mid-2020 Jodie broke her collarbone and she said she didn't know who she was anymore. After many tests and checks, the team figured out that there was an issue with the bike, not Jodie. Despite finally figuring out what was wrong with the bike, by that point Jodie had dug herself into such a deep hole I took her a long time to come round to even trying to ride, "my head just wasn't right, my mindset was completely off". It wasn't until someone invited Jodie out to Super Motoland and it "woke everything back up", her mind had clicked and got her mojo back. In 2022 Jodie was constantly improving sector times and lap times so she is ready for 2023.
One question I always ask my guests if they have any advice for a certain group of people and I asked Jodie, what advice she would give a young girl coming into the sport, here is what she had to say; "You can do it. Everyone will tell you, you can't, but you can. Its gonna be tough, but every second you are out on the bike is absolutely worth it"
Coming into 2023, Jodies' mindset has definitely improved from 2020 and 2021. 2022 was a massive learning year for the team and Jodie is ready to really push. They have put a lot of time, money and research into the bike, so she is raring to go to be fighting for better times and results.
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