JDR Motorsports/Motorex/KTM Rider PJ Larsen Earns 2nd at Round 7

July 21, 2010, 4:58pm

JDR Motorsports/Motorex/KTM rider PJ Larsen reports on his latest race:

I had a tough time preparing for the 7th round of the Australian Motocross Series after a big practice crash earlier in the week. I crashed pretty hard resulting in a sore shoulder and a badly bruised and swollen ankle. I was able to tape the ankle and strap my boot on but it definitely wasn’t comfortable.

Despite the practice crash, I was excited for this round because it marked the first round this year that I got to race my new 2011 KTM 250 SX-F race bike. I qualified with the third fastest lap time in the practice sessions and went back and made a few adjustments to my bike and was soon ready to head to the first moto.

This weekend we had another odd format of racing compared to what I am used to racing in the U.S. It consisted of four motos total. We started with one 7 lap race and then had a five minute break and did another 7 lap race. Then we had a couple hours intermission and did the same thing again.

In the first moto I got an okay start and made my way into the lead before the red flag came out for a downed rider. We restarted the race and I got an even worse start than I had the first time. I wasn’t able to get through the pack in the short amount of laps and eventually finished 6th. I was determined to do better in the next moto.

I had a much better start in the second moto and was able to quickly work my way up into the lead and settled into a good pace out front. I am happy to say I took the win in the second moto.

I got a great jump in the third moto but collided with another rider and crashed hard in the first turn. I got back up in last position and again went down before completing the first lap. Still in last, I charged hard in the short seven lap moto knowing every point would matter. I made my way up to 15th and scored 6 points toward my overall score.

In the final moto, I took the start a bit easy trying to avoid another crash and garnered a mid-pack start. I worked my way up to 4th place by the end of the moto. My very up and down race results put me in 2nd overall for the day. I was pretty disappointed that I wasn’t able to win the overall, which went to my JDR Motorsports/Motorex/KTM teammate Ryan Marmont, but I was happy to be on the podium. I am heading into our final race weekend with an 84 point lead toward the championship. Wish me luck!