PJ Jacobsen - Q&A
By Christian Tiburtius
An exclusive interview with 20-year-old American PJ Jacobsen, who finished ninth overall - with one podium - during his rookie MCE British Superbike season riding alongside Josh Brookes at Tyco Suzuki...
Crash.net:
Why PJ?
PJ Jacobsen:
My first name's Patrick and my middle name's Jacob so everyone just calls me PJ for short. Everyone calls me that including my mum and family. I'm from New York.
Crash.net:
Do you have any Irish connections?
PJ Jacobsen:
Yeah for sure. I started racing with Celtic racing who were the first people who got me into road racing when I was eleven, an Irish guy owns the team and he's helped me even up to now by giving me advice and helping to guide me.
I have Irish and Norwegian in my family history. On my grandfather's side there's Norwegian and on my grandmother's side there's Irish.
Crash.net:
So you can drink and you can fish?
PJ Jacobsen:
Unfortunately I can't do either! I'm living in Cookstown Northern Ireland at the moment close to where the TAS team is based. I don't drink at all, I just don't like the taste of it. The team's Irish and drink quite a bit but I'm the one there with the Diet Coke or water keeping sober.
I like living there and I've had a great year. My girlfriend's moved over, we've made tons of friends and I feel I can really settle in anywhere.
The Cookstown 100 happens right around there, I saw that race with my girlfriend and it was fantastic. Those guys are pretty crazy, we were watching one corner, it was bumpy as can be and it had a wall right next to it and for me that's not good. I don't think I'd ever try it. Josh has tried the Isle of Man and the Northwest but I'd never go down that route, I'd stay with the short circuits. Short circuits have plenty of run off whereas in the Isle of Man you don't get that option.
Crash.net:
What do get out of bike racing?
PJ Jacobsen:
I don't know, I've loved it since I was three years old. My dad put me on a Yamaha PW50 with training wheels and it went from there. There was no leaning on the training wheels and my dad put a screw in the gas so that I couldn't grab any extreme openings but It's been in my blood since I was three years old and I don't think it'll ever go away.
My father used to be a professional dirt tracker in the Chris Carr days. I used to look up to riders like Kenny Coolbeth who's the three times Grand National champion and I still look up to him even now. He's been a good friend, a great guy to get advice from and a personal hero.
I've always looked towards dirt trackers. For me I like to do a bit of both, some days I'm more into dirt tracks and some I'm more into road racing. Now that I'm racing for a factory team like Tyco though I can't really do flat tracking on the side because they wouldn't let me for safety reasons. At the end of the day you're paid to go out and ride a bike and you can get hurt by just tripping over something so the less danger the better.
Crash.net:
Are you enjoying the more formal duties of riding in a factory team?
PJ Jacobsen:
This season's my rookie season so I feel like there's not that much pressure from the team but I do put a lot of pressure on myself to get the results I want. I'm sure that if I was riding for them next year though I'd get a lot more pressure to be in the top three.
Crash.net:
Why have you come to England to race?
PJ Jacobsen:
Last year I was supposed to ride for PTR but the sponsorship fell through and I was left without a ride. I had nothing to do and one of the mechanics I'd known since I was 11 in the Celtic racing team called me up and it was through him that that I got connected with TAS so I started riding the Superstock races last year. My mechanic went to their shop and asked a couple of questions and I got a test at Cookstown and from there they said they'd give me a shot in the race at Oulton Park.
It's been really great with TAS, they've really given me everything this year. They gave me an apartment and made sure that my surroundings are good so that I'm happy and can go fast. A lot of teams are very straightforward and very serious and there are others which are serious and friendly and for me it works best if it's good in both departments. That means that if you have a bad day you're somewhat relaxed and not so angry
In America the AMA has kind of gone downhill a little bit and BSB is the best domestic championship in the world right now. One day hopefully I can be back in the world championship, that's where I'd like to be and that's where I was supposed to be last year when it didn't work out.
Being in the BSB paddock is fantastic and Stuart Higgs does a great job with that. He definitely knows how to run a series and the number of spectators you get here are amongst the largest in the world and probably compares with a baseball or football stadium in America. Even seeing Cadwell Park for the first time this year was amazing, I got both wheels off the ground at the jump.
Crash.net:
Surely to come over from America and being thrown in at the deep end at Oulton Park was quite a challenge wasn't it?
PJ Jacobsen:
Being down where I was, without a ride and working back home meant I had to take a risk, do what I could and try to get the best results I could to try and keep going in my racing career.
Crash.net:
What do you think of the English circuits?
PJ Jacobsen:
Cadwell felt a little dangerous at the beginning but I think that's because I was going slow, the faster I got the better it was. I often didn't know where I was going and there were so many blind corners.
Crash.net:
How did you feel about riding the 1000 after all your experience with the 600s?
PJ Jacobsen:
Yeah, it was quite a challenge going into the main class, I had to adjust my style a bit and pick the bike up more but I made it work in the end.
I set some expectations for this year and realistically I had to be top 10 in the championship and I think I can definitely do that. I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself to get into the showdown or anything like that because I knew that the main class was going to be real hard.
It was really difficult at the beginning of the year, and still difficult now but I've found a little bit of a rhythm which I missed in the first half of the year. Every time I get on the bike I'm still learning though and at the end of the day even Shakey is still learning every time he gets on the bike. I'm making steps forward every time and I feel as if I'm making progress.
The Suzuki's good too and I don't think anyone else has a bike advantage over us. Josh has won races this season so it's really down to the rider.
Crash.net:
Did you feel that the podium you achieved got a certain amount of weight off your back?
PJ Jacobsen:
Yeah, definitely. It was a really good result for me and I was super happy to get a podium in British Superbikes in my first year. I was even looking at a second podium there at Silverstone with Bridewell, I was fighting for that. Now that I'm there I feel that I can get more.
Crash.net:
Are you a nervous rider, how do you feel on the grid?
PJ Jacobsen:
I feel calm. If I'm sitting there on the grid and it's dry there's nothing to lose and just to go for it. I'd say that the showdown round this weekend is one of my most relaxed weekends and I feel completely calm.
Crash.net:
So what does scare you?
PJ Jacobsen:
I don't think that too much on a motorcycle scares me. I mean snakes scare me so if you put a cobra in front of me on the grid that would be a different matter and I probably wouldn't ride the race.
Crash.net:
Is there a good interchange of information between you and Josh (Brookes)?
PJ Jacobsen:
No, not really our sides of the box are fairly separate with regards to communication.
Crash.net:
What are your plans for the future?
PJ Jacobsen:
I think that TAS want me back for next year, but I just don't know what I want to do yet, it's a question of deciding.
Crash.net:
So you have got offers that you're considering.
PJ Jacobsen:
I've got another offer in World Supersport but I can't say what team, it is a competitive one though.
At the end of the day the world championship is the world championship. BSB is really good and I don't want to take anything from it but I've always wanted to ride at world level so I'm genuinely deciding.
There's also the question of riding a 600 or 1000. I've done Superbikes for the first time this year and I have to say that the bike's really enjoyable to ride. I like riding the Superbike.
Electronics wise, coming back from my background as a dirt tracker I don't really mind about the electronic level, the way BSB is right now is really good and it's all about the rider and his wrist. I think the rule level in BSB is really good.
Crash.net:
And what are you doing next week after the season finishes?
PJ Jacobsen:
I'll be going home to New York or I'll be doing the Sunflower in Northern Ireland, I'm not sure yet. The Sunflower is one of the team's local races so I may be doing that.
Crash.net:
Thanks PJ.
PJ Jacobsen:
Thanks, I appreciate it.
