LORENZO LOCURCIO INTERVIEW: THE PRIVATEER 7TH IN THE 450 NATIONALS

If you are a motocross fan, you have probably heard of Lorenzo Locurcio at some point. The rider from Venezuela began his Pro career in the States back in 2017. After a few seasons here, he branched out and raced in Europe. While Locurcio was getting some notice from those close to motocross, he was not getting noticed enough by the big factory teams. Still, the 26-year-old persevered, and now in 2023 is riding for the team he put together – wildcat racing. He also has brought on former teammate and Spanish MXGP rider Jose Butron. At 32, the MXGP veteran. Butron, scored an eighth and tenth at the first two California rounds. Recent race results may have caused him to drop out of the top ten, but he hopes to return to his Californian ways soon. Butron is currently fourteenth in points.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo is seventh in the 450 motocross championship series, seven points behind another privateer sensation, Ty Masterpool. Motocross Action had the chance to catch up with Lorenzo to learn more about him and his new team. If you need an underdog to root for in Motocross this summer, may we suggest Lorenzo Locurcio?

BY JIM KIMBALL

2023 RED BUD NATIONAL // FULL COVERAGE

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LORENZO, LET’S HEAR A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR FORAY INTO THE 450 OUTDOOR SERIES HERE IN AMERICA. IT HAS GONE PRETTY WELL. Yes, it started well. In round one at Pala Raceway, we did well.  I got seventh, and that was pretty good. At Hangtown, I was seventh in the first moto and then made a few mistakes as I went down to ninth. In the second moto, I was eighth behind my teammate, so we were seventh and eighth for a while before my clutch went out. I stalled it and fell, but I came back to eleventh. Thunder Valley was okay, and I took tenth. The thirteenth I had at High Point; I’d rather forget. This weekend, I am looking forward to having two solid motos and a top ten and going from there.

STILL, YOUR POINT POSITION IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS IS IMPRESSIVE. I am seventh in the championship which is awesome. I’m just a few points off Ty Masterpool, so the second non-factory bike. It is pretty cool just to be there.  My consistency has paid off.  As I said before, I want to be better.  I want to be the top privateer, so I just have to be consistent in the two motos and eliminate mistakes in the second moto and just keep up there and keep building points.

I KNOW YOU’VE RACED HERE IN AMERICA AND EUROPE. GIVE US A HISTORY LESSON ON YOUR RACING TO DATE. My pro-debut was in 2017 when I raced for Rock River.  Back in the day, it used to be Cycle Trader. I did well. But In Supercross, I had a little crash in Minnesota, I believe it was. Before that, I ran third in Daytona, for twelve out of fifteen laps, before dropping back to sixth at the finish. 

Anyways, after my crash and injury at the Minneapolis Supercross, I returned to do some more, but I just wasn’t ready. So, the team decided to have me sit out Supercross, and get ready for Motocross.  do a few more. In the outdoors series, I finished eleventh overall but did not get resigned with the team for the following year.

I only had a one-year deal. So, then I went to the privateer route and did Supercross with the Phoenix Honda team.  

HOW WAS THE 2018 SUPERCROSS WITH PHOENIX HONDA? I broke my collarbone, so I missed all the races! I only came back for the last race in Las Vegas the last race, but I took a top ten there.

 Right after that, I put together a privateer effort, and Thunder Valley was my first round of privateer effort. We ended up top ten, so that was cool. After that, I was a little up and down that year. But I did finish seventh at Southwick; it was amazing.

THAT IS IMPRESSIVE, DID IT HELP GET MORE SUPPORT FOR 2019? The next year, I went to a Kawasaki dealership. They gave me some bikes and I put my own deal together. We did Supercross and then halfway through Supercross, I got a call from Europe. I had an opportunity to ride for BUD Racing (France-based Kawasaki Team) and do the EMX250 series. But I had some issues with my passport, and in Venezuela, all the embassies were closed, so I could not renew my passport. So, I missed that opportunity.

I was literally at the airport, and they would not let me board. But the Kawasaki dealer here said, “Hey, your bike is still here, come pick it up and finish the season.” I did outdoors, but I just had bad luck with the bikes outdoors, they kept breaking. In 2020, I did Supercross here in the States, and then this time I had no passport issues, and I went to Europe with BUD Racing Kawasaki for the EMX Championship which was cool.  So, I did the whole series and finished eighth overall. But for the next season, in 2021, I had to move to the MXGP class, as I had turned 23 and aged out. I had to bump up to MXGP class directly from EMX.

I WAS AWARE YOU RACED EMX, BUT I DIDN’T KNOW YOU ALSO RACED MXGP. I was lucky enough that I attracted the attention of the JD Gunnex KTM team. They signed me for two years. I did the MXGP class with them for two years and it was an amazing experience.  I got a couple of top ten’s in MXGP, so that was cool. I raced against Tony Caroli and that was cool, as it was his last full year. I also got to race with Jeffrey Herlings, Tim Gajser, and all those guys. It is cool because you really get to see some different tracks. All the tracks over there are different from the tracks in the States. Unfortunately, several injuries took their toll.

HOW WAS EUROPE? Traveling through all the countries and all the different cultures like Russia, is kind of hard.  People kind of take for granted how great it is here.  You go from Florida to California, thirty-four hours or five hours by plane – but they speak the same language. 

You have the same food. Over there, we struggle because you can only eat chicken tenders and fries because that is the only thing, they have that you can understand. It was difficult when I stayed in the Czech Republic because nobody spoke English. My team boss spoke a little English. It is eye-opening just how different it is. The views over there are really nice. I really enjoyed the tour around Europe.  

But the time difference with my family here was difficult being here by myself. Then this last year, I had a real injury-filled year. I broke my shoulder, my wrist, and my elbow at the same time in one crash. then I went there to a hospital, and they did not really diagnose me well.  I needed surgery and they told me I was okay. I struggled all year and only made one GP.

YOU THEN RETURNED TO AMERICA? I came back home to see my doctor and my doctor said, “You need shoulder surgery and elbow surgery, and the wrist is fine, you just need a cast.”  I came back, had surgery, and had four weeks off before the Red Bud MXON. I didn’t get my shoulder surgery until after Red Bud, or I couldn’t have raced. They wrapped my shoulder and said if you can bear the pain, you can race.

I WAS AT RED BUD THIS PAST FALL FOR THE MXON; CAN YOU REMIND ME HOW YOU DID? In qualifying, I finished seventh, and then in the B final, I won it. In the first moto of the main race, I was just behind Marvin Musquin, and one of the berms had blown out.

I did not see it and I lost the front end, and I blew my ACL.  That kind of put a damper on it.  After that, I had some sponsor obligations in Venezuela, so I could not have surgery right away.  I went to Venezuela for a couple of months and I was there for some races that I had to do.  After that, I came home and right after Christmas, the week before New Year, I had surgery on my ACL and then I had to wait three weeks to be off crutches to have shoulder surgery, so I did that the week after my birthday, so the second week of January, I had surgery for my shoulder and then I spent all this off-season now, well part of Supercross, just recovering from my injuries.  At the same time, I put this deal together, all by myself with the help of my parents, of course, but yeah, it has been a really busy first couple of months and now that we are racing here, it is kind of all now back to normal.

ALONG WITH YOU BEING THE RIDER, YOU ACTUALLY PUT THIS TEAM TOGETHER, RIGHT? Yes, luckily, I built a good relationship with a lot of sponsors here in the U.S. that I kept in touch with, and then some that I have never been in touch with. The team owner is from Europe, I told him about my plan and what I was doing, and he was “Hey, I want to be a sponsor of the team.”

I have a couple of other sponsors from the Czech Republic, and Europe that are helping also. It is nice and of course, I have all my American sponsors. I also brought some sponsors from Venezuela. It is nice because I have a little mixture of the three continents.

AND YOU HAVE SPANISH MXGP RIDER JOSE BUTRON TOO. I have Jose Butron as my teammate. We were teammates before in Europe and we became good friends. he always mentioned his dream before he retired was to race AMA Nationals.  We got together and I put the deal together. He helped with some stuff too, so it is nice just to not only be a racer but also understand what it takes, all the effort, just pretty much how to do business, not only as a racer but also as a team owner. 

IT IS LIKE A FAMILY AFFAIR TOO, RIGHT? Of course, that is the main thing; we wanted to keep it fun. Of course, we don’t have the biggest budget. We just have what is necessary to go racing. Sometimes, my dad is my mechanic.  We have one of my friends, down in Florida, where I am based, who lets us borrow his mechanic on the off weekends when he is not racing. One of my best friends has a graphic company that has helped sponsor the team, and on his off weekends, he comes and mechanics for me too.  We get to ride and train at the Moto Sandbox facility. As I said, it is a nice family team.  My mom is the team manager, so she is the one that handles all the flights and handles everything with AMA, so that is cool. It keeps her busy. We gave my dad the title Crew Chief as he does a little of everything. I am lucky to have a supportive family. We are tight. Normally, Americans turn eighteen, and they go out on their own.  

We have only good vibes here.  No pressure, just have fun and the results are just a plus. 

WITH YOUR GOOD RESULTS, DOES THAT CREATE ANY MORE PRESSURE? Not really, honestly, I knew we were going to be good. Nobody expected us to be this good, but like I said, we knew we were going to be good.  We knew we were going to be in the top ten.  We just did not know that we were going to be seventh in the championship right now. I come from two very big injuries, so I am still not 100 percent.  Meaning, I don’t feel totally comfortable on the bike. I am still getting the feeling, and still putting the time in on the bike necessary to be back to 100 percent.

I want to do better, honestly.  I am not totally happy with my results, even though I am seventh in the championship. It is great but I just have not Results are not really a pressure. I want to ride to my potential.

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT NEXT YEAR YET? Honestly, I have not made thought about next season, just because of how grueling this season has been just to make it through the first round with everything looking professional. Of course, we are going to keep it going.  Unless I really get a great offer from Europe, I am not going to go back there because I understand what it takes, and I have seen firsthand everything over there. My focus is now here in the States. I will get back to doing Supercross so that we will be there at Supercross.  Even if I get an offer from a team here in America and I get a ride, then my goal is just to keep building the team up. Even if I am not racing the team, I am going to keep having it there, just to have something to fall on when I decide to call it quits.  

EVENTUALLY, YOU DO SEE YOURSELF AS A TEAM OWNER? Yes, that is the plan. I want to build the team each year bigger and bigger and at the same time, I don’t want to get over my head. We know our limitations, so step by step, we will get to where we want to be. 

IS THERE A SPECIFIC REASON YOU CHOSE GASGAS? I have been riding Austrian bikes for the past couple of years, primarily KTM. I am comfortable on that chassis. I know how good the stock bike is and you do not have to do much for it to perform well. KTM, GasGas, and Husqvarna have done a great job giving you a platform to excel. You don’t have to do too much. One of our sponsors owns GasGas Venezuela.

They are GasGas and Husky of Venezuela and they asked me if I could do one of the two brands, just so they can push it in Venezuela and America. We decided to go with the factory edition GasGas just because of the looks. It is a nice-looking bike. We are struggling some with plastic, and other parts; luckily, TLD GasGas has been very supportive.  

IT IS INTERESTING TOO BECAUSE WITH JUSTIN BARCIA INJURED, GASGAS DOES NOT REALLY HAVE A FACTORY PRESENCE RIGHT NOW IN THE 450 CLASS. Yes, of course. We have been talking to them because we know they don’t have a presence in the 450 class right now in the championship. Yet, they have two riders in the top fifteen. It will make me proud just to be the first two GasGas out there and I think they were saying in the whole history of the AMA Nationals, not GP’s but AMA Nationals, it is the first time they have two riders in the top ten. It is cool. Hopefully, when Justin comes back, they can have three riders in the top fifteen. And hopefully, Jose’s luck will turn, and he will return to the top ten. 

THAT IS SUCH A FEEL-GOOD STORY.  IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD OR I MIGHT HAVE MISSED? Honestly, I think we have covered it all, and I appreciate you taking the time and interviewing me.  

2023 RED BUD NATIONAL // FULL COVERAGE