Larsen Finishes 8th at Indianapolis Supercross

2011-03-12 21:30
JDR/J-Star/KTM rider PJ Larsen earned 8th overall in the East Supercross Lites class at the Indianapolis Supercross held at the Lucas Oil Stadium. His teammate, Tye Simmonds, finished 16th overall in the Supercross class.

The night started out horribly for Larsen who had a wreck on the first lap of his Lites Supercross Heat. "I came out 3rd around the first turn and was sitting in a good position and the next thing I knew I was on the ground," stated Larsen. "I have no idea exactly how I crashed I just remember seeing the air, hitting the ground and then being ran over a few times in the second corner." Larsen and his bike were a little banged up after that crash and he did not finish the heat race.

Larsen was forced to go to the LCQ where he got a poor start. He quickly moved up through the pack to move into 2nd place. He finished in that spot taking the final transfer spot to the main. "I was lucky I was able to move through the pack quickly in the LCQ. It was a bit of a bar-banging race but in the end I was able to make it to the main event."

When the gate dropped for the Lites main, Larsen put together a great start and was within the top five as they entered the first turn before getting pushed wide resulting in a 7th place position at the exit of the turn. Larsen remained in 7th through the remainder of the first lap before jumping up to 6th place after Hunter Hewitt crashed on lap two. Near the middle of the moto, Larsen began to tire slightly as he has been fighting a stomach virus lately. He dropped two positions to Blake Wharton and Dean Wilson. He held 8th place from the tenth lap through the finish to earn a top ten result.

In the Supercross class, Simmonds was able to put in a solid heat race performance finishing 6th overall. "My heat went really well. I nearly grabbed the holeshot except my tire washed slightly and I went wider than I should have in the first turn," commented Simmonds. He came through the first lap mark in 6th and maintained that position throughout the entire heat.

In the Supercross main event, Simmonds was able to get a mid-pack start and sat in 12th around the first corner. A few corners into the race, a rider crossed in front of him off a jump sending Simmonds to the ground. When Simmonds recovered he had lost a lot of time and was sitting in last position. He spent the first few laps of the race catching up to the tail end of the pack and was not able to make his first pass until part way into the moto. He eventually worked his way up to 16th where he finished for the night.

Next Event: Jacksonville, FL - March 19, 2011

Overall Results SX Lites -
1) Ryan Sipes
2) Justin Barcia
3) Blake Baggett
4) Malcolm Stewart
5) Matt Lemoine
6) Dean Wilson
7) Blake Wharton
8) PJ Larsen - KTM
9) Alex Martin
10) Les Smith
11) Gannon Audette
12) Brad Ripple
13) Taylor Futrell
14) Ricky Renner - KTM
15) Michael Akaydin
16) Nico Izzi
17) Tyler Sjoberg
18) Jason Anderson
19) Shawn Rife
20) Hunter Hewitt

Overall Results SX Class -
1) Ryan Villopoto
2) James Stewart
3) Chad Reed
4) Ryan Dungey
5) Justin Brayton
6) Trey Canard
7) Kevin Windham
8) Nick Wey
9) Cole Seely
10) Mike Alessi - KTM
11) David Millsaps
12) Matt Boni
13) Michael Byrne
14) Fabien Izoird
15) Matthew Goreke
16) Tye Simmonds - KTM
17) Bobby Kiniry
18) Chris Blose
19) Ivan Tedesco
20) Andrew Short - KTM

Overall Point Standings SX Lites Class -
1) Justin Barcia - 91
2) Blake Baggett - 85
3) Ryan Sipes - 79
4) Dean Wilson - 75
5) Blake Wharton - 65
6) Malcolm Stewart - 52
7) Matt Lemoine - 51
8) PJ Larsen - 46
9) Jason Anderson - 44
10) Alex Martin - 40

Overall Point Standings SX Class -
1) Ryan Villopoto - 221
2) James Stewart - 195
3) Chad Reed - 192
4) Ryan Dungey - 183
5) Trey Canard - 169
6) Andrew Short - 129
7) Justin Brayton - 121
8) David Millsaps - 114
9) Brett Metcalfe - 107
10) Kevin Windham - 103

Source: KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG

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