Lars Lindstrom Interview
September 22, 2025
We had the pleasure of talking with Lars Lindstrom, team manager of Honda HRC, after a dominating night for his team in Vegas.
How much money are you putting on red tonight?
I'm probably going to be so tired when I get home or when we get back. We're supposed to have a little party in a suite, so we'll probably just do that. This end of the season has been wild. Starting off in Supercross was a little rough for us, but then it turned around. Even with Jo's hand and the brothers getting hurt, to turn that all around and then have Jo get a championship in that situation was crazy. It was an exhausting day and night: stressful, with all the prep for the week and everything that comes with it.
Oh man, no kidding… what were your thoughts watching the second moto for Jo?It was pretty much what we expected. Even from the start he looked over and then took him straight to the wall — pretty much off the track — so we knew that's what he would try to do. When Joe didn't have a great start, luckily he picked everybody off and got around the people we thought might be booby traps; and they were all great. When they got into that situation and Haiden slowed down, our strategy was basically to try to smash him. I need to rewatch the race to see how many times he took runs at him… it was crazy. But we made it through. It was exciting; everyone had an exciting night watching it. And now that it's over and we were able to win, it just feels pretty amazing.
We asked in the press card, but were you trying to tell him not to pass Seth at all? If you can keep Seth between you and Haiden, maybe Haiden won't try anything?No, I don't think we had that luxury. There are lots of ways to think about strategy, but the way we thought about it was: get in there, try to pass aggressively, and get away. That didn't entirely work, but he was able to stay up.
Do you expect a penalty to come Haiden’s way? Do you care?I'm pretty sure something will come his way; I think he was already on probation, so I'm sure they'll penalize him. He tried a few different things, so I'm sure something's coming. In a way I care, and in a way I don't, because we're here, we're champions. Considering how much he had on the line, it really wasn't worth it for him anyway. Right now, I don't care about that.
And after the 250 moto's done, is it just a huge sigh of relief? Whatever happens, one of your guys are going to end up with a title?Honestly, a little bit. Those guys have been through so much that you feel confident they'll be able to do it. I really wanted Jo to win a championship; it's been my main goal for the last few years. I waned a 250 championship for him, especially. For Honda it was important to prove we can win on a 250, not just with the Lawrences. Going into that second moto you'd like to be stress-free, but the triple points and everything else add pressure. You want to see Hunter win one, too, but with Jett in it and being strong, there's a lot going on. We were waiting for Jett to pick it up in those last few minutes; he kept it long. I was surprised: at first I thought maybe Jett didn't have the moto, maybe he was feeling flat and Hunter would take it, then Jett dropped two seconds in one lap and reeled those guys in instantly, which didn't look good for Hunter.
Last question: do you know what Jo’s plans are for next year?We're working on Jo's plans. Hopefully we'll have something finished soon and can announce it. We're definitely still talking to him; it's all looking good. It's just a matter of getting the paperwork sorted and filling things up.
