Larsen earns best finish of the season - taking fifth in the Lites

JDR/J-Star/KTM Team rider PJ Larsen earned his season best finish with a 5th place result at the third round of the AMA East Lites Supercross Series at Daytona International Speedway. His teammate, Tye Simmonds, qualified for his fourth Supercross main event and finished 17th for the night.

PJ Larsen finished 5th in the Lites, which was his best race of the season

Larsen had a decent start to his evening finishing 4th in his heat race. He had a top five start and rode a mistake-free race to finish 4th overall. His result gave him a good gate pick for the main event. “The gate pick was critical here tonight because the start was so important to this race. I was happy to have a good heat race result so I was able to land a decent starting spot for the main,” commented Larsen.

In the main event, Larsen lined up five gates over from the inside of the box next to Dean Wilson. He was able to get a good jump off the start and came around inside the top ten after the first corner. He moved up to 7th at the end of the first lap and stepped up to 6th on lap two after moving around Les Smith.

Larsen put in a solid performance racing in 6th position through the majority of the race. Near the end of the race he was able to jump up one more position when Matt Lemoine crashed. Larsen held 5th place through the end of the race to earn his season best finish.

“I was glad to put in a decent ride tonight. I am happy to improve upon my overall finish but I still feel I am a podium contender. I want to be on the podium and will continue to work hard to get there,” stated Larsen.

Tye Simmonds qualified for the Supercross main and finished up in 17th position

In the Supercross class, Simmonds was able to snatch the final qualifying position into the main event after a long battle with Jarrod Browne. The two riders battled during the final laps of the heat with Simmonds grabbing the golden ticket into the main event.

Simmonds had a poor gate pick in the main after qualifying at the bottom of the group, and therefore, suffered off the start of the race. He was 18th at the end of the first lap and stayed around that position throughout the majority of the race. “I wasn’t able to get the best start and the lead group pulled away fast. This course was definitely challenging tonight and I am just happy to have made the main event and put in a solid twenty laps,” remarked Simmonds.