Richmond Racing Kawasaki’s Ryan Lockhart headed to the Gopher National with huge hopes for the MX2 East series. He left with a pair of DNF’s, no points and a long list of questions about the rest of his season. Here’s what Ryan had to say about his Gopher Dunes weekend.

Tell me a little bit about what happened this weekend? I know things didn’t exactly go as planned for you.

I guess it’s just another bit of bad luck for me. First moto, I got a bad start and started working my way through the pack and got into around ninth or tenth and dropped a valve on the four stroke—which might have been my fault—I might have been revving it a little bit too much. So we came back and basically we were thinking ‘there’s no pressure now.’ We were bummed out, but you can’t get too upset. Then in second moto, we put a brand new motor in the bike and I rode it around and something happened to the motor on the hot lap—we’re not exactly sure what happened. So that’s two DNF’s, no points, and I spent a whole lot of money up here getting ready for pretty much nothing. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out. I kind of want to go back on the 250’s. It makes sense.

Is that an option for you?

I don’t know. I haven’t talked to the team about it yet, but my mechanic and I talked about it and he’s up for it and I’m up for it. We can still be in the top ten there. I’m in good shape and I want to ride the 250’s. I wanted to win a championship but that’s over with now.

It must be frustrating, knowing that you were prepared coming into the series? 

It’s like I was telling my mechanic, if I’m not ready now, there is nothing else I can do. I’m doing everything right. I’ve changed everything, my whole routine from last year and the year before. It’s like something is just against us. My mechanic works harder than anybody I know—harder than me. It’s just that shit happens…and I’m pretty upset about it, but I want to ride the 250’s next weekend. So we’ll see what happens. It’s not the best time to talk to Billy about it right now. I feel bad for Billy. He beats himself up about it more than anybody. It’s nobody’s fault. Well, it might be somebody’s fault, but I can’t honestly point fingers at anybody—if I could, I would. We’re bringing Dave Chase up next weekend, he’s Mitch Payton’s right hand man and he’s a motor guy. There is no reason why we should be having these problems. It was a tough track but there is no reason. Our bikes are fast and I like them, but if you don’t finish motos, there is no freaking point. It’s tough because at the end of the season, people see DNF’s and they automatically think it’s your fault. I don’t want them to see DNF’s at all. It’s tough. I have a lot to prove to people and some people are counting me down and out. I’m trying to do my best.

How were you feeling heading in to the series?

I was excited. My qualifier went all right on Saturday. I rode a little tight but there was no reason why I shouldn’t have been on the podium this weekend. Maybe I didn’t have the speed this weekend to win, but that wasn’t my game plan coming in. I would have been totally 100 percent happy walking out of here with a top five because a lot can happen, everyone is on the pipe and this was the toughest round.

Where were you sitting in the 250 standings coming into Gopher?

I was in eleventh and I was only five points out of tenth and I had two DNF’s in Calgary. There are still a lot of 250 motos left to go and it only takes a sixth overall to bring you back up into the top ten. I’m actually glad I didn’t ride the 250 class this weekend, it would have been hell and I would have been hating life but I really, really want to ride the 250 class this weekend and especially in Moncton.

What would it mean to you to have a top ten number?

It would mean a lot. It’s something I’ve never accomplished before because I’m always chasing this freaking 125 title and something always goes wrong. If I’m not healthy, I’m having bad luck and if I’m not having that, then it’s something to do with myself, and I’m not prepared. But this year, I’m prepared, I’m ready to go, I’ve never rode so much in my life and damn … I’m just like what can I do? A dark cloud is following me around. But hopefully next weekend things will be better—even if I’m on the 250F. I’m not saying I don’t want to ride the 250F, it’s just that I want to be on the podium on the 250F—because I belong there. I want to win some motos. I know I can’t win every moto. I think Kyle Chisholm is a step ahead of everyone else in terms of riding ability. He went 1-DNF and he’s only about 15 points out of the lead. But look what happened second moto—he went from having a good start on the championship to having nothing. Who knows? We’ll see what happens. I’d love to have a top ten number on my bike. If I finished fifth in the MX2 East, whatever, it would mean more to have a number nine or ten on my bike for sure.

Aside from how the weekend went for you, what did you think of the first Gopher Dunes National?

It was awesome. I liked it, I didn’t get to ride a whole lot but … it was good. Frank [Schuster] did a good job. I think it was the best National we’ve had in a long time. Joliette is nice next weekend too. The Gregoire’s put a lot of work into it. But as far as heart, Frank put the most into it. I stayed here all week and helped him out. That guy, man, he wanted everything to go great and there was nothing better than seeing him cruise by here ten minutes ago with a huge smile on his face.

Well good luck with your decision for next weekend and I hope things work out with the team.

Thanks. I just don’t understand what’s going on. These Kawi guys are here earlier than anybody and they are staying later than anyone else. It just doesn’t make sense.