Lockhart "I can beat all those guys"
by Roddy MacLeod
21 July 2004
Springhill's Ryan Lockhart leaves tomorrow for the first round of the CMRC 125cc East nationals in Barrie, Ontario and takes with him high hopes for bringing Nova Scotia it's first national motocross championship.
Ryan Lockhart - Blair Morgain Racing photo
Only three weeks ago Ryan suffered a potentially season-ending injury to his left leg when he dislocated his ankle and subsequently broke his fibula while racing in Calgary. Most people in the industry felt the Blair Morgan Racing team rider would not make it back in time for the season opener. But the gritty rider everyone calls "Newf" has already raced since the accident, decimating the local competition last weekend at Pleasant Valley, site of a Canadian national in 2002.
AMX spoke with Ryan yesterday (20 July) about his injury and his chances for the 125 East title.
What are you up to?
Just writing some emails then I’m going riding if it ever stops raining outside. It’s been raining for a few days. So I’m kind of bummed out because I want to go riding. I need to get ready before this weekend, right?
Can you tell me about your injury? Exactly what happened?
Alright, well, I was in Calgary in the first moto and I was running about 13th. I made up a whole bunch of time with about two laps to go and got into like, 10th on the last lap and I was battling with Chuck Mesley and Keith Johnson. I came down one of the big hills there with a left hand corner at the bottom and it was really, really rutted and I just stood up on my pegs like I was doing every time but I went down into the corner harder than usual and I bottomed out when I hit the rut. I tore my left foot off and twisted it around backwards.
Something broke right?
Yeah, I broke my fibula because my ankle dislocated and when it did, it twisted around so far that the ball in my ankle broke off the bottom of the fibula. It was pretty gross. I looked down and my toes were pointed backwards. It was kind of weird.
So did you keep riding, or did you puss out?
Yeah! I kind of panicked and put my foot straight and I felt my ankle go back in and I thought “Oh geez, I must have just dislocated it” and so I finished the moto. I mean, I went back a few spots because it kind of scared the crap out of me and I went back to 13th or something like that.
I came off the track and it was sore and I … I definitely didn’t think anything was broken.
How many laps did you ride like that?
Just one, we were already on the last lap. But I did all the jumps and stuff like that. It wasn’t killing me. It just felt like it was really sprained.
When I got back into the pits I walked on it. I got off my bike where they were washing it and I walked over under the tent and into the semi and then I sat down and got right sick to my stomach and almost puked. I took my boot off and had a huge bump on the side of my leg.
So I didn’t think that was too good.
You almost puked, or you puked?
No I almost puked!
C’mon….
No, I didn’t puke; I didn’t get sick. Almost.
Ok, well you didn’t race the next moto obviously…
Yeah, I just chilled out in the trailer for a while. There’s a doctor who goes along for the nationals and he looked at it said that it was probably broken. But I didn’t really want to believe that it was broken, so I just chilled out and watched the next 125 moto and then my team manager Jamie made me go to the hospital. He said “You gotta go” so I went, but I didn’t think that it was that bad. We got it x-rayed and the doctor said it was broken, so then I was pretty bummed out. But I didn’t think that it was really broken because it wasn’t that sore, it didn’t really hurt.
So did you go back to Nova Scotia right away?
Well we were supposed the test the next day with the team on our 250F’s so I already had my flight booked for Monday night. So I flew back to Nova Scotia on my own because nobody was out there (in Calgary) with me. I was on crutches and I had a ton of stuff with me, a bunch of stuff to take back with me like suspension and gear. I had a tough day – it was one of the toughest days of my life. I flew into Toronto, changed terminals and then flew into Halifax. Then I had to drive my truck home (a standard) and I had a big cast on my left foot! I was glad to get home.
You had a cast on but did they pin it or anything?
Well the doctor in Calgary said that it would probably need to be pinned. But I say Dr. Stanish when I got home. He’s the same guy that saw my knee and my shoulder. He said, “Well we can do it one of two ways. We can take a month off and fix it properly and it will be healed in a month, or you can wait two weeks and start riding and it will be sore until you take a month off.” So I chose to wait two weeks and go through the pain.
So are you taking anything for it?
No. It’s not that bad. It’s still swollen and stuff like that, but I raced last weekend. It’s not that bad really and I’ve had a lot worse. It feels like a sprained ankle.
Does it hurt when you ride?
Jumps are fine but sometimes in corners, if I put my foot down and stomp it (if I am starting to slide out) then I feel it. It made a lot of progress since last week. It was three weeks on Sunday.
So tell me about Pleasant Valley…
Well, it was my third ride and it felt pretty good to get back on my 250F. The first moto went really good and I got into the lead really quick and pulled about a 35 second gap over Johnny Montes which I didn’t really expect to do because he’s been riding really good lately. So I was happy with that. But because I was sitting around all day (only racing one class) when I went out for the second moto I rode around like a spode for the first three laps! I couldn’t even do any of the jumps because the track was so rough. So Montes passed in the first few laps. Then I got him back and started riding a little bit better. My conditioning still feels good so that’s what I was concerned about. The speed is there but I was worried about conditioning.
What did you think of Dusty winning the 125 West?
I think it’s great. I think the kid deserves it, you know? He finally got the support behind him and I think it surprised Blackfoot too. He’s a “free rider” you know what I mean? I am sure he’s just getting the bikes and stuff and then he went out and won them a championship. That makes him look great.
It’s great too because now a Canadian has won it.
Speaking of which… the latest in the East is Randy Valade, Donnie McGourty, Gavin Gracyk, Jim Neese, Chuck Mesley, Doug DeHaan, Pierce Chamberlain, Mike Island, Kyle Keast, Mike Treadwell, Rob McCullough and Simon Homans will all be racing. How do you think you’re going to do?
Well you know what? I can beat all those guys. I just have to believe in it. I am chasing a championship here, not like other years where I was just going out and do as good as I could do but this year I have a realistic title shot. Every night when I am lying in bed I just think to myself: “I have to believe in this”. So I am going to go into the first round and put in two consistent rides.
I am not going to try and go out and win every moto because that’s not how you win a championship. Look at Valade last year. As long as I get through the first round I think I will be alright.
I think a lot of those guys, like McGourty, etc, are crashers. Well, I hope they are because they are fast! But we’ll see what happens. There’s always all this hype going into the first round.
I talked to Homans last night and he doesn’t know if he’s going to ride 125’s or not. And Gracyk was scary fast in Calgary, then last weekend in Regina he went 14-14. I know Chamberlain is going good but everything changes once we get to the big show.
But I am glad all these guys are here because I am getting sick and tired of reading on the internet that the West is faster than the East. That’s a bunch of crap, I think. Definitely the West is fast but there’s a lot more “brand name” guys, so to speak, in the West, but it doesn’t mean they are any faster than the guys in the East.
Well we are a few days away from the season opener Ryan, do you think your leg will have any impact on where you finish this weekend?
I don’t think so. Once the gate drops it’s going to be fine. I am definitely not going to be using it as an excuse. If it does hurt you are not going to hear it come out of my mouth. My team and my mechanic (Darren Van Snick) are supporting me 100%. I just have to believe in myself that I can do it.
Well thanks for your time Ryan, and good luck!
Thanks Roddy.
Ryan Lockhart - Blair Morgain Racing photo
Ryan is sponsored by Blair Morgan Yamaha Racing team.
Sorry about your leg, 
but I no you can do it =) 
maybe
