INTERVIEW
MOTOAMERICA KTM RC390 CUP RIDER JOSH SERNE
P122
While Serne is only recently
focusing on road racing again,
he's had a good showing in the
nascent series, including the
first-ever pole position in the
class at its debut at Road Ameri-
ca; something that has given him
high expectations of himself.
"It's a dream come true to
be able to ride in MotoAmerica
and get to the next step in my
career," he said. "To get the first
pole of a brand new series it's
an incredible feeling for sure.
I've shown myself that I can run
top five and get it on pole. I feel
I can be top three at least every
race."
Being on the national stage,
the inevitable question came
up—does his condition affect his
racing?
"It doesn't affect me too
much," he answered. "I just got
to make sure to stay on top of
my meds and get all that done,
so that way I'm healthy to go
race every weekend that I can. It
does set me back a little bit with
stamina, but I've been training a
lot on road bikes. Just trying to
get my stamina up and get it to
be where it needs to be in order
to run these races."
Instead of looking at his
unique situation as the glass
being half empty, the challenge
has given the young racer extra
motivation.
"There's a lot of kids that have
diseases like me and they just
kind of sit at home and think
their life is over, but I just try and
get out and use it to my advan-
tage and do as much as I can."
It's also an opportunity to raise
awareness for the disease as
other athletes have done with
other conditions, like Indy Car
racer Charlie Kimball who has
Type 1 Diabetes.
"As much awareness as we
can get, it helps out the founda-
tion with raising money," Serne
said. "It helps get new medi-
cines to try and cure it. More
awareness is great because then
more people get into it and start
looking at it and start helping out
the foundation and looking for a
cure for it."
And like Kimball, maybe it's a
perfect fit for the foundation itself
"I JUST LOOK
AT IT AS YOU
LIVE EVERY DAY
LIKE IT'S YOUR
LAST. YOU NEVER
KNOW IF YOU'LL
WAKE UP OR
NOT, SO I JUST
GO OUT AND
HAVE FUN EVERY
DAY..."
(Above) Racing's a part of family life,
so there's a lot of time on the road
including for the family dog.
(Right)Serne's only just got back
into road racing, taking some time
away after losing one of his best
friends Peter Lenz.
