Larsen Earns 2nd at Round 7 of the Australian MX Series

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!