The 3 Q’s With Ryan Lockhart Presented By Matrix Concepts Canada

MXP: Hey Newf! You spent a lot of time out East this summer. Overall, how was your summer?

RL: Overall, it was a good summer. Heading East is something the family and I look forward to every year, even though they seem to get busier and busier. Between work with Matrix Concepts Canada, Atlas, GDR Honda team stuff, Meston and I racing, and fitting in family time, the summer flies by. This year we made it all the way to my parent’s house in Nova Scotia, so that was nice as my youngest, Bowen has never been there. In total, we drove a total of 15000 KM this summer.

MXP: You were a big part of the GDR Honda Team this summer. Obviously, Dylan Wright had another great summer dominating the 450 Series, but what are your thoughts on young Noah Viney, as well as the late series return of Jacob Piccolo?

RL: Yes, your right; Dylan killed it once again and was just a pleasure to work with. The 250 side of things was undoubtedly a bit up and down and was a huge bummer that Jake went out with an injury 100 feet into Moto 1 in Edmonton. I think Noah did a great job as a fill-in rider; the bummer with him is he came into Kamloops not 100% as he was coming off an injury of his own, but as we all saw, he never gave up and had some really good speed as the series went on. It was great to work with him and get to know his family. Hopefully, that’s not the end of coming him up here in Canada racing. Jake returned with two rounds to go and showed a lot of heart, even though the results were not what we were hoping for. The injury was more serious than we all thought, and he took way longer to get on the bike. The good news is that he is back to 100% healthy and should be a real contender come SX here in a few weeks.

MXP: Let’s talk about a few of our Canadian riders going to Ironman Raceway this weekend. Where do you see Wright, Pettis, McNabb, and Devin Smith fitting in on Saturday?

RL: I love everything about this. When was the last time we had four guys racing a U.S. national? I also like that Team Canada MXON is doing this, as it will be a great test for them. It will be a great experience for all of them to compete at a high level. If I was a betting man, Dylan will be 7-9, Pettis 9-12, and Mcnabb 12-15. I think these would all be realistic goals. It’s also cool that Devyn Smith is going to give it a go. He will have his hands full trying to make the moto’s, but it’s possible if he rides like I know he can. Either way, I give him huge props for putting himself out there; not many Canadians can say they have done that.