Checking In: PJ Larsen 1

After a great amateur career, and a couple seasons of learning the ins and outs of the pro class in the U.S., PJ Larsen was finding the sponsorship options here in the U.S. to be a little tough. But he opted for a little different route, and headed down under to race with the JDR Motorsports Motorex KTM crew. The upside? Taking home the Lites title in his first year.

We spotted PJ while he was testing with the JDR Motorsports crew at KTM's test track, and while he had to be a little tight-lipped about the team's future plans, it was interesting to see them hard at work prepping for the upcoming season already.

All right, PJ, it's cool seeing you back home. Did you come back with an Australian accent?

I don't think I do, but I've heard from some people that they think I do. I think more or less what I've done is picked up on their slang terms that they use. I use a lot of those, so I guess it translates to a bit of an accent, but I didn't carry an actual accent over.

So how'd you end up there, and tell us about what's happened since you've been there.

It was kind of a friend of a friend that set up the deal, it was actually a trainer in Australia named Andy Cunningham who used to train Dan Reardon and a few other guys over here, and he knew about me and knew who I was, and he was really good friends with Jay and Derek Rynenberg, who are the owners of the JDR Motorsports team. He put me in contact with them, and it was kind of a few month process to communicate back and forth through email, and it eventually got to the phone and we just kept talking and ended up at, "Here's your deal, come on over, check out our races and make sure it's what you want to do. So I flew over for the last race of Super X last year, checked out the team and everybody, and I fell in love with it, so I told them to show me where to sign, and let's get the thing rolling.

How about over the last year?

Over the last year, obviously I signed me deal with them, and just before I went over there, Factory KTM needed a replacement rider for Tommy Searle, so I raced the San Diego and Anaheim 3 Supercrosses for Factory KTM. I feel like my results were really strong there, considering I had two days of Supercross before San Diego, and then I rode three days before A3. I walked away with an eighth and a fifth, so I was happy with that. I just kept on focusing on the outdoor Nationals in Australia, because they're what come first in the year. So I got to doin' my long motos outdoors, and got ready for the awkward formats that they have over there. Flew over about a month before and got all of our testing in. I was really happy with the bike and I just stayed over there and did most of my training and all the races over there. Made one small trip back to the U.S. for two weeks. It was an eight-race series, lots of motos, a lot of sprints, a lot of starts. I ended up winning half the motos, half the overalls. I actually ended up getting hurt with three rounds to go, and raced the last three rounds with a broken ankle. It was good, though. The team worked well together and made a lot happen. They made me comfortable with the bike, and I can't thank JDR Motorsports Motorex KTM enough.

So you ended up winning the title?

Yeah, I ended up winning the title. Like I said, I won a lot of motos, and a lot of overalls. I wish I could have won more, but it was just the way that it panned out. It was good. There are a lot of great riders over there, a lot of competition. Kirk Gibbs finished runner-up in the championship, Ford Dale I believe got third, and my teammate Ryan Marmont ended up getting hurt at the final round, got a little bit of a concussion. I think he ended up fourth. There are just a lot of really great guys over there who are fast, and hopefully we can get some of those guys over to the U.S. to do some racing.

It sounds like the whole journey has been good for your career.

I think it's been great for my career. Obviously Jay and Derek Rynenberg gave me the opportunity to go over and they saw something in me. I was really happy to go over. I don't think very many people at my age get to go to foreign countries and live and see the different lifestyle. It was really great for me to step away from the U.S. and get away from it and get back to winning. I think realistically that's going to help me the most, just to get that confidence back and to get hungry to win again. Also, I learned how to win a championship. I don't think that there are very many guys who know how to race through a whole series for a championship. Whenever you come out of the amateurs you're used to two motos to win a championship, so there's definitely a big difference two motos, and I think we did 28 motos to get the championship. Those are two things that I can see are going to benefit me in the future.

How about next year? It sounds like things are a bit quiet at the moment.

I don't know how much we can release right now. I know I can tell you Jay and Derek Rynenberg are going to own the team, Factory KTM's on board with us, we're going to have really great bikes and really great support through North American and Austria. I know that we'll have Nathan Ramsey as Team Manager, we've got some great mechanics, and that'll come out soon enough. I think we've got a really good team. We're ironing out some potential title sponsors and stuff like that. Regardless of what happens with that, we're going to have a really great team with a lot of great support.

It sounds like you're looking forward to the season already.

I'm looking forward to it. It'll be really good. Obviously we're going to have really great bikes, and I'm looking forward to getting back over here. I'm having fun riding Supercross again. This is my third day back, and I'm enjoying my racing a lot more than what I was last year. Last year I was just kind of showing up. I've got a little bit more fire back in me because of the people I've surrounded myself with. I think that's going to play a big part in it. One of the great things about Jay and Derek is they're all about the people that are around and making it a family atmosphere, and really trying to make everyone feel comfortable and happy.

You look like you're having a lot more fun.

I think it's a lot more fun for me this year with the atmosphere around me. It's not so serious and uptight. I think it'll be really good, and hopefully help me out in the future.

How do you split up your season? How much is here, how much is overseas?

Actually, whenever we start up the team in the U.S., JDR Motorsports is going to be two separate teams. They're still going to have their team in Australia, totally separate from the team in the U.S. It's two different incorporations, we've got different mechanics, different motor guys, everything's going to be totally separate. So I think that's a big step for a team, to have two teams in two separate countries. I think Mitch is starting to do that now with a Kawasaki team in Europe, so it's good to see people that want to come into the U.S., especially in this bad economy.

Are you going back to defend your title?

I'd love to go back and defend it, but it runs during AMA Supercross. I wish I could go back and do it.