With the off-season now upon us and our racing season quieting down, we once again have tracked down Ryan Lockhart to ask him some more important and entertaining questions. As most of you know, Ryan has been in this industry for over twenty years and during that time he’s been a rider, a mechanic, a riding coach, and most recently the Brand Manager over at Matrix Concepts Canada. Ryan knows a lot about a lot of things and he’s always a great guy to talk to. Here are this week’s 3 Q’s with Ryan Lockhart presented by Matrix Concepts Canada.
MXP: Hey Newf, let’s begin with Dylan Wright and his results in Paris. Obviously, the track was on the tame side but having said that we saw a few of the top riders have crashes. It looked as though Dylan rode solid all weekend, what are your thoughts on his performance in Paris?
It was solid that’s for sure. I mean it is no secret that Dylan seems to struggle when it comes to SX, but it’s not for a lack of skill but more a lack of experience I think. The track really worked for him by not having any whoops so I would think that had to make him feel more confident right from his opening lap. If he could just get a damn start that would make his life so much easier. He came from near the back every time and we don’t get to see his true potential on the results side of things. I really feel in Paris that his speed and racecraft with better starts would have put him 6-8 all three mains and maybe a Top 5 overall. I would have to think that this is an area that he wants and need to fix next year if he continues to race these big events.
MXP: This week Jetwerx released their 2022 Triple Crown Series Schedule and if everything goes as planned the series will head west again as well as out east to Moncton. Do you like what you see and why do you think the Wild Rose track in Calgary wasn’t included in this new schedule?
Yes of course I like it! I think it gives everyone a bit of hope that the series can have a somewhat normal feel again with going coast to coast. I like that they got it out early as it gives riders and teams time to prepare and be more organized like in years past.
As far as Calgary goes, I think it’s a bummer for sure and I would have to think the reason it’s not on the schedule has to do with something to do with the behind-the-scenes stuff? Clearly out of all the available tracks/ venues for Jetwerx to hold a national at Wild Rose makes the most sense and the Wild Rose crew are core moto people who take pride in holding a national. So with saying that there has to be something that we don’t know about but hopefully it get ironed out for 2023.
MXP: We know you’re not an eastern guy anymore but also this week AMO Racing released their 2022 Ontario Series schedule. The schedule includes more events than this past year and also features a couple of new tracks. Auburn Raceway is back on the schedule after a long absence, what do you remember about racing at the hilly track in Auburn?
Ryan Gauld has been doing a hell of a job in Ontario and has really turned things around for you guys back there. I know this first hand as I attended some of the AMO races last year with Meston. It’s awesome that you guys have a schedule out already and something for riders to look forward to over the winter months.
Auburn was an awesome track that’s for sure and glad to see it come back. It’s not often that you see a track comeback after being shut down so for so long. I raced a lot of Ontario Provincial events there in the early 2000s and I remember there used to be a lot of entries. The track gets real motocross rough and it always had cool jumps, a fun uphill start, and lots of technical sections. I’m not sure where everyone is going to park but I’m sure the paddock will be fixed so it can accommodate motorhomes and the large trailers that people use these days to travel to races.