After a challenging season with Richmond Racing Kawasaki, Ryan Lockhart has signed on to race with OTSFF Suzuki for the Future West Arenacross series and the THQ World Supercross events in Toronto and Vancouver. We caught up with Lockhart as he was headed out for his first ride on his new Suzuki Tuesday morning. 
    “I’m doing the whole Future West thing," said Lockhart. "Basically I’m on Suzuki’s for the whole winter and I’m not too sure about next year yet. We haven’t talked about that yet. Basically they are the only ones that wanted to step it up and help me win a championship this winter. There’s no bull about it, I’m just telling it the way it is. I didn’t want to leave Kawi but they didn’t give me any options. It was either not race this winter or race. Luckily Suzuki stepped up and they want to win, they are a good bunch of guys and they want me to win.” 
    Lockhart, who rode for Ron Ashley and the Two Wheel Motosport team at the beginning of his career, is hoping to repay Ashely for his early faith in him. "I wanted to get back to where I started my careeer, with Ron," said Lockhart. "He and I have been good friends all along and hopefully I can win him a championship.” 
    As for Lockhart's fourth place finish in Montreal, he had this to say: “It was all right. I’m just starting to get my confidence back, I had a pretty tough year. But no excuses, I blew it in the main. I should have had the win. I got the holeshot and didn’t know what to do with it. I got tight and went backwards and had to make a pretty aggressive pass on Beaton to get back into fourth. It was all right, it’s coming along. I will be back up there, I just need to get some confidence back underneath me. I’ve been so down on myself and the bikes and everything. I’m just trying to think positive and get my head back into it.” 
    Lockhart will make his first appearance on a Suzuki this weekend at the opening round of the Future West Arenacross series at the Ricoh Centre in Toronto.