German racer Kai Huckenbeck admits a winter of mental coaching sends him into 2025 feeling “way more confident” as he prepares for his home event in Landshut this Saturday.
Huckenbeck flies the German flag in the WWK FIM Speedway GP of Germany – Landshut, his former home track, where he is expected to be cheered on by a big OneSolar Arena crowd.
It’s the Bydgoszcz and Rospiggarna rider’s second full season in Speedway GP and while Huckenbeck made three semi-finals last year, he admits there were times when nerves got the better of him.
He has worked hard on the mental side of the game throughout the winter and says it’s an ongoing part of his preparation for racing. “My mental coach and I are in contact a few times every week,” he said. “As soon as I am back in Germany, I go to his place, and we talk for hours and hours. It’s a good thing. I feel way more confident.
“We have just been working on things to help me calm down before the meeting. It’s hard to explain. I was always too nervous and always put too much pressure on myself. I just have to calm down and do it as I do in the league meetings or open meetings.
“Of course, you ride against the best riders in the world, but in the end, it’s just four laps and everybody wants to win. You just have to focus on yourself – that’s the main thing.
“It’s tough and it’s a little bit of a mind game. You have to be strong in your head and I think that’s the main key.”
Huckenbeck isn’t just working on his mind. He added: “I just need to be more consistent, score in every heat, grab every point I can and that what I was working on in the winter.
“It was a tough winter, but I think I am ready, and I am not as nervous as I was last year. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself.
“I have done a lot of fitness work, and I feel way better right now on the bike. I am also working with a second tuner. He’s going to come for the GPs and support me.”
Huckenbeck would love to launch his second SGP season with a famous victory in Landshut. “That would be awesome!” he said. “I will do my best and it would be a crazy feeling to win in front of my home crowd. That’s the biggest wish of any speedway rider.”