MXP: Hey Newf! We are one month out from the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Series opening round. After seeing the results from the off-season SX races, who do you like for the win at Anaheim 1?
RL: This is always hard to answer since there are so many unknowns coming into round one. From what we saw during the 2024 SX Series, how does anyone bet against Jett Lawrence? However, his two off-season SX races weren’t great. I mean, ya, he was the fastest rider in Paris and AUS X open, but we saw a lot of mistakes. On the other hand, Eli Tomac has had a great off-season with lots of gate drops, so you know he will be ready to go here in a month’s time, but if I had to take a bet, I’m still picking Jett for the win. He’s just so good that you can’t bet against him.
MXP: Unfortunately, it sounds as though Jorge Prado will start the series a little banged up after crashing last week. Do you see him even making it through his first full season of SX in the USA, and if he does, do you think he’ll be a threat to win the Pro Motocross Championships?
RL: I feel his injuries are more serious than the team is letting on, so we will see if he lines up at round one or has to miss some time. I think he is mature enough to make it through the full series because, honestly, he and the team know what the end goal is, and that is to be a contender come Round 1 of the outdoor series. I think he has a legitimate shot at the motocross championship, but that is only if he is 100% healthy.
MXP: Back in 2006, you headed out to California to race the 450 class in Monster Energy Supercross. All you had was your bike, some parts, gear, and a pickup truck. What made you decide to make that trip, and what do you remember most about following the early part of the series that year?
RL: It was a great opportunity for me. Who wouldn’t want to race the world’s best and biggest series? When the opportunity arose, I jumped on it; it was probably my career’s best experience. I will always remember walking down the tunnels into a new stadium and seeing the tracks for the first time, and that feeling is just something that can’t be replaced. I learned so much from Supercross, whether it was technique, figuring the track out, and just all of the gate drops, which were such a big confidence boost for when I came back to Canada for the summer. The summer following Supercross was my best season, all due to the confidence and tools that came from racing all winter in the USA.
