MXP: Hey Newf! I guess everyone had an unexpected weekend off from watching SX with Oakland being cancelled. Hopefully, you had a great weekend. I looked through some photos from A1 of some of the factory bikes and their cool parts. Looking back at all of your race bikes, what was the coolest part you had on one of them?
RL: Yes was a bummer for sure that Oakland got postponed, but I watched the AMA Arenacross series, and that sure provided some great entertainment. It was also good to see Julian Benek do well, which will hopefully give him a little confidence going into San Diego. Shout out to Parker Eales as well for getting into the mix.
I would go with my 2005 Richmond Kawasaki. We had full Pro Circuit support with suspension and motors. We had the cool radiator coolers on our KX250F back then, which was pretty trick for the time. We also had full A kit suspension. The bikes were actually pretty garbage back then, and I blew up a lot of bikes that season, but they looked really cool.
MXP: I conducted a long interview this week with Gopher Dunes and GDR Honda frontman Derek Schuster. You and I have both had the pleasure of teaching riding schools at Gopher Dunes and being told what to do by Derek, and I feel like we’re better humans because it (laughs). Also, you’ve witnessed the GDR program first-hand in the last few seasons. My question is, how do you feel Jacob Piccolo is going to be in that environment?
RL: That was a good interview that you did. As we all know, Derek runs a top-notch program, and this will be my 5th season working with the GDR program. I have said time and time again that Jake has the potential to do big things in this sport, and as long as he has an open mind and is willing to soak it in, he’s in for an awesome year. We do not sugarcoat things and the truth is always spoken no matter if things are going good or bad. When you are on the program, you are expected to perform and give it 110%. We, as a team, are there for the riders through the good and the bad, which is why the team produces championships. I really like what Derek did: bring Jake to the dunes for six weeks to get to know everyone and give him a taste of the program before signing him. Almost like a test run. Derek is very open with communication with the rest of the team when signing new guys and running ideas by everyone, whether that be me, Colton [Facciotti], or the mechanics. I believe all of this creates a good vibe which equals success. Jake is going to be just fine, and we all hope he can get him back to the top.
MXP: Okay, here is the question to which everyone wants the answer. Who wins this weekend in San Diego? Can Tomac do it again, or will one of the other series stars step up?
RL: Of course, you can’t bet against Eli after seeing him dominate a few weeks ago, but I think Sexton will have something to say about that. I’m sure Chase was a bit bummed about his performance towards the late part of A1, but he’s had a couple of weeks to get better. The thing is that other guys like Sexton, Anderson, and Stewart can’t make mistakes because Eli is just so strong and is always going to be there to capitalize. But yes, I will go Chase Sexton for the win this weekend.