American PJ Larsen won the Super X Lites opener at Newcastle last weekend. Image: Sport The Library.

American PJ Larsen’s bid to add the Lites class Super X, Australasian Supercross Championship, to his MX Nationals title that he won earlier this season got off to a strong start with a debut victory at Newcastle last weekend.

The JDR Motorex KTM rider’s victory was the perfect present on his 20th birthday, adding the opening Super X Lites round victory of the season to an impressive list of achievements already this year, including winning the Pro Lites MX Nationals Australian Motocross Championship.

Originally from South Carolina, Larsen won the opening final in the Double Header event before taking second behind defending champion Matt Moss in final number two, results that were good enough to clinch the overall victory.

“The whole JDR Motorex KTM team has put in a lot of hard work and it’s showing – we had a good result,” Larsen commented. “We were able to take out the first main and got second in the second main, so it was good to win the overall. Now I just need to maintain what I’ve got – I have good speed and fitness – so we just need to stay consistent.”

Larsen was joined on the overall podium by teammate and former Supercross Lites Champion Ryan Marmont, who scored 3-6 results in the pair of 10-lap main events aboard his 250SX-F.

“I felt strong all day and had good qualifying speed,” Marmont reflected. “In the first main I got a good start and ran in third place out of trouble, but then in the second one my start wasn’t so good and I made it hard for myself.

“The track was hard to pass, so it was a case of follow the leader. Overall it was really good to get the first one out of the way with points in the top three. Now we need to carry this momentum and work on my intencity into Canberra.”

JDR Motorex KTM team manager Jay Rynenberg was satisfied with the team’s performance on the night overall, happy to see both his Lites riders on the podium.

“Coming into the round we all knew PJ and Ryan would be fast, so it was a really good start to the season to take good points,” Rynenberg said. “PJ kind of struggled with his starts a bit and Ryan maybe has to get a little more aggressive, but they are all things we know we need to work on. It will be good to go and do some homework and come back even stronger.”

The seven-round series will now head to Canberra in the ACT this weekend, on Saturday 23 October.