MXP: Hey Newf! We’ve now completed three rounds of the Triple Crown Series. Are there any riders that have surprised you both good and bad?
RL: On the 250 side of things, I have been really impressed with Quinn Amyotte’s speed. He has reached another level over the winter, and it’s nice to see his hard work pay off. Bummer about his finger injury as I felt that he would only be better in the east. In the 450 class, I had higher expectations for Julian Benek. His speed is there at times, but he needs to work on conditioning. Hopefully, he can get some work done over the break. In the past, the Eastern rounds have been very challenging with the rough tracks and heat and humidity.
MXP: The 250 class has been good, just as we all predicted. However, some of the best battles so far have been in the 450 class as the top four have been very close in speed at times. What are your thoughts on the 450 class so far?
RL: It’s better than we all would have thought a month ago. Three different moto winners and the top four guys are on a different level than the rest. Five through ten are also pretty close, so it has been exciting to watch. That first lap in Calgary’s second moto was awesome between the top four guys. Dylan is still the fastest guy but has had a few small issues that have opened the door for Tdags, Pettis and Maff. The east might be more of what we expected when the heat and humidity become a factor. It’s also nice to see Daniel Elmore lead the charge at the front of the second group and be a little closer to the top four guys.
MXP: Two questions in one here to end this week. What are your plans in the coming weeks before the Gopher Dunes National and also, will we see Jacob Piccolo back at Round 4?
RL: We have a Future West race this weekend in Pemberton so we will hit that up then. Next Sunday (July 2nd), I will head east with the truck and trailer for Gopher Dunes. Randi and the kids fly in on July 6th and we will be on the road for the rest of the summer.
The plan right now with Jake [Piccolo] is that he’s going to get back on the bike this coming Monday to see how it feels. He’s been doing a lot of physio but has yet to ride since Edmonton. If the shoulder feels good on Monday, the plan will be for him to get back to Gopher Dunes and continue riding. Realistically, you will probably not see him race until Riverglade, as there is no point in putting him out there when he’s not ready. The best case maybe SDL, but I’m thinking Riverglade.