PJ Larsen Wins Round 4 – Australia Super X Series
JDR Motorsports/Motorex/KTM rider PJ Larsen wrote into us about his successful weekend at the fourth round of the Australian Super X Series in Auckland, New Zealand.
Since the fourth round was in New Zealand we had a much longer flight causing me to feel a bit more fatigued while adding a few more stamps to my passport.
I struggled a bit through practice trying to adjust to the track conditions. I couldn’t get as comfortable as I wanted. I ended up qualifying third fastest, and although it’s not where I would have liked to be, I was happy to have a good qualifying time for the heat race.
I was given second gate pick in my heat allowing me to pick a decent gate and grab the holeshot. The heat race was 10 laps of which I led start to finish. After the heat, I felt much more comfortable on the track and was ready for the finals. The finals were intended to be three 6 lap races but after much convincing they changed the first final to an 8 lap race.
Off the start of the first final, I again got the holeshot and pulled a comfortable lead. I went on to take the first win of the night. I wasn’t as lucky in the second final and got a mid-pack start. I waited patiently and avoided a lot of the carnage that went on out front and was able to pass into 3rd by the end of the moto.
Heading into the third and final main, I was feeling pretty confident as long as I got a good start. Luck must have been on my side or maybe my hard work of day after day practicing starts is finally paying off, because I nailed the holeshot again. I really took advantage of the holeshot and cruised to an easy win out front. My final scores were 1-3-1 which gave me the overall and added 70 points to my championship standings. With three rounds left, I now lead the series by 9 points.
I’d like to thank my sponsors JDR Motorsports/Motorex/KTM, MxRad, Shift, Pirelli, FMF, my trainer Brad Johnson, my chiropractor Steve Navarro and Ryno Organics. I would like to congratulate Luke Styke with his 3rd place finish. It has been a long hard week for him and his team with the tragic injury of Harley Quinlan. I wish him and his family all the best.