MXP: Hey Newf! Aside from the racing and the results, how was your weekend in Calgary?
RL: It was a good weekend for sure. I always love the first round. Geeting to see everyone and go through the motions of all the pre round-one stuff is busy, but fun at the same time. Weather didn’t work out the best, but at the end of the day, I think it still made for a great race track for the most part. The whole set up in Calgary is what makes Calgary so special, from the airport being so close to the track, and the track being so close to the hotel makes it fun. Lots of time to hangout when the day is over. I can tell you one thing, I was sure tired on Monday when I got home and back to work.
MXP: Let’s begin with the 250 class from the opening round of the Triple Crown Series. Obviously, your rider Dylan Rempel was impressive on route to second overall, but who else impressed you?
RL: I was very happy with Remp. He had two good starts and fought hard both motos. I know he wanted to win but man Preston Kilroy is so good at Calgary and we knew this coming in. To me, for Rem, a two was as good as a one and like he said to me after moto two, last year he got beat by 50 seconds both motos and this year it was less than 5 seconds both motos. I don’t think any of us could not be impressed with Teegan Kortenbach. He was solid both motos and for it being his first national that was legit. I also thought Tanner Scott was a bit better than I expected and if it wasn’t for a crash in moto two, he would have been 4th or 5th overall.
MXP: Dylan Wright was solid on the weekend, and he looks like he’s a different rider at the moment. Jess Pettis ran into some issues in moto two which was unfortunate as the fans missed out on potentially another Wright/Pettis battle. But, overall, what did you think of the racing in the 450 class, and were you impressed with the speed of Harry Kullas?
RL: I mean I’m extremely happy with how things turned out for Dylan and you’re right he was very smooth and not really willing to take the risk. He let the motos come to him and even in the second moto, he just managed the lead he had and rode to an easy moto win. Kullas was as good as I thought and I think he will only get better, especially when we get east with the sand and extreme heat conditions. He’s in great shape. Other than that, the racing wasn’t awesome, besides Jess and Dylan in moto one the class was very spread out and I think that’s just because the track was so tough. I think that pack will be much closer this weekend in Pilot Mound where the track isn’t as technical.
