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, let’s first talk about your weekend at Glen Helen Raceway. You rode great and between you and your Canadian teammates you did us all proud. What was your experience like at the World Vet Championship?
RL: I was very thankful for the opportunity with the help from Steve Matthes at PulpMX and Kris Keefer. The World Vet is an event that I have always wanted to do since turning 30. I’m not going to lie, the event was run pretty loose but all in all, was fun. The Glen Helen track was super rough with over 1000 entries per day and the weather was hot. My preparation was non-existent with it being a last-minute deal but I was able to get some decent results with a second in 35 Expert class and a win in the 30 Expert class. The highlight was Team Canada getting second in the Vet MXDN, I rode well and so did my teammates Shane Cuthbertson ( Plus 40) and Derek Sorenson ( Plus 50 ). If I go back next year I will try and get a little more preparation in that’s for sure.
MXP: Let’s talk about Dylan Wright. He had a great final five MXGP rounds in Italy and I believe that his best moto was his final moto on Wednesday when he came from behind to finish 11th. What are your thoughts on Dylan’s overall performance in Italy?
I think all in all it was a huge success for Dylan. He stayed healthy, rode well, improved with each race, and got some solid results. I would be lying if I didn’t think he was going to have a breakout ride at the last round getting into that top 6-7 as we all know his speed was there. He just didn’t have a lot of luck on his side as the first two turns were so important to get through and he just couldn’t get off the gate well enough to make that happen. Either way his speed was great coming through the pack and I’m very proud of what he accomplished over there.
MXP: Sticking with Dylan Wright. In between rounds, he received some great press and it appeared like he really fit in well over there in a short time. As you know it’s not easy to jump into any series and find the success that Dylan had in the MXGP’s. Did the Dylan Wright conversation come up when you were in California and what are everyone’s thoughts on how he did in Italy?
Yes for sure. Dylan was a hot topic all around North America as I believe that his results really showed how good he is. We had him on PulpMX Show on Monday night and it was a great interview. It will be interesting to see if any offers will come his way over the winter for MXGP in 2022, but either way, he really built a name for himself as well as the GDR Honda Team. I think it was super cool that GDR stepped up big time to make this dream come true for Dylan as well as the other single race sponsors that they were able to secure for those rounds.
