MXP: Hey Newf! First, can you tell us a little about some of the things you did over the holidays?
RL: Happy New Year!! The holidays were pretty mellow for the most part. We spent Christmas at home with friends and whatnot. On boxing day, we loaded up the car and headed to Calgary as Randi has family there. We took the kids to the trampoline park and Meston to B-Line bike park one day, so that was fun. Lots of food and drinks, and here we are back at it full steam ahead for 2023.
MXP: Regardless of what type of year you had, everyone loves turning the calendar over to January and starting fresh with a new 365 days. Looking ahead to 2023, do you have any specific goals or plans you would like to see through?
RL: As always, I look forward to a fresh start to the year. Our plan as a family will be to travel across Canada again and hit up the ECAN and TransCan. It’s not easy with the cost of things these days, but we always seem to find a way to make it work. Meston and I are in a tough spot as far as racing goes this year. He will be in his first year of 7-8, and I’m in my last year of Vet Master, so I think it will be safe to say that we both might be eating a lot of roost in 2023 (laughs). However, we will still have fun doing it. I will be back with the GDR Honda once again for 2023, and I’m really looking forward to having a great season with those guys.
MXP: Okay, the golden question now. Who wins tomorrow in Anaheim? Do Tomac and Lawrence pick up where they both left off in 2022, or will we see new riders step up?
RL: I have a really good feeling about Jason Anderson. Look at how he ended the SX series last season, winning the last four in a row. From what we saw, he had a healthy off-season. I think there will be some growing pains with Eli Tomac and the new Yamaha, as it appears they have a late start on the new bike. Also, you can’t rule out Ken Roczen and Chase Sexton; they both will be going for it tomorrow night. To answer your question, I will take JA21 for A1. As far as the Jett goes, No one will beat him besides himself. If he stays out of trouble, I could see him going undefeated in West Coast SX in 23.