Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Well, after a busy summer of racing and travelling, we finally 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! In this latest issue of MXP Magazine, we interviewed Mike Brown and he spoke about how good Jess Pettis was riding at Baker’s Factory a year ago before his knee injury. Jess spent the summer racing a 450 and actually had a chance to win the title at one point. He’s heading back to Baker’s Factory soon and then onto the Monster Energy SX Series. How do you see Pettis doing in SX in 2022?
RL: We all said it multiple times last season how big of a bummer it was that he got injured at the opening round of SX. It was a prime opportunity for Jess to showcase his skills and to be honest, it was a depleted field right from the get-go in 250SX. I will say that I’m happy to hear he is headed back to give it another shot. I think now knowing what to expect at Aldon Baker’s will be a plus for Jess and he will be more comfortable jumping right into the program. Timing is everything as we all know and hopefully, this is good timing for Jess. There is no doubt in my mind regardless of who he is lining up against in the USA that he will be inside the Top 10 and maybe even inside the Top 5.
MXP: Here is a tough question for you and one that might be hard to give a short answer to. Obviously, there isn’t a lot of money to be made right now in the pro class, but we’ve seen it like this before and we know it will improve hopefully in the next few years. My question to you is what can a young pro rider do during this off-season to maximize their potential heading into 2022?
It seems to go in 10-year waves I believe. Right now there is no question we’re at the bottom of the wave and it’s come on us pretty quickly. It was just a couple of seasons ago when riders like Facciotti, Nicoletti, and Goerke were making good money. The biggest thing right now is that riders need to find any way possible to stick with it. Do what they have to do to keep racing and keep their name relevant. It always bothers me that we see riders do the ten nationals or whatever, and then they disappear till the following year. I get it, it cost money to keep racing on the weekends and travel to races, but there are ways to make it work. Work during the week? Work at a bike shop building bikes? Teach moto schools? That still gives you time to train! Racing was the best training for me and racing always provided me with the best opportunities. If you’re waiting at home for the phone to ring… sorry it’s not going to happen unless your Dylan Wright or Jess Pettis. I could go on and on but trust me if there are races that are local for you, do them. It does help. I could call out a few names here but they wouldn’t get it anyway.
MXP: Okay onto Dylan Wright. He’s ridden well in the first two MXGP’s he’s entered and it feels like he’s one good start away from an incredible finish. So far he’s right about where you said he would be. What does he need to do to finish inside the Top 10 or even better?
He’s been impressive right? Regardless of the end results ( which have been good), he is so close. Look at his lap times from Moto 1 on Wednesday, he was doing the same lap times as riders inside the Top 10. Here is something some may not have thought about with his second moto finishes. Yes, Dylan is in crazy good shape but when is the last time he has had to race a moto battling tooth and nail for 35 mins? He can run the pace without question, but physically and mentally doing that over there has to be draining on him and he might not have as much left in the tank for Moto 2. Here in Canada, he gets a good start, sprints for 10 min then has a gap and then he can cruise, or he gets a bad start and blows by 98% of the field with ease and then picks the top guys off. That isn’t happening over there. If he gets a bad start he has to battle with the dude in 22nd for 2-3 laps. See how that can be way tougher?
A top ten finish is coming and I think Sunday we see one moto in there. By the final round, I could see a 7th or 8th. It’s not for lack of effort on Dylan’s part. It’s just really tough and there’s a process to it all.
