Lance Kobusch is getting a taste of international living.

The New Florence native is continuing his motorcycle racing career overseas. He recently joined an electric dirt bike team called Stark that will be racing all over the world. 

“I have this new chapter of racing for myself,” Kobusch said. “It’s a new thing for all dirt bike lovers around the world. For me to be one of the first people to be on the team, I absolutely jumped on it.”

The team will have a race in Argentina on Nov. 8, then it will travel to Canada, Sweden, Australia and South Africa.

“We’re going to be all over the place,” Kobusch said. “It should be fun. It would be cool to go see other stuff and some new places. Hopefully, we can do good. It’s the first ever electric team. It’s a new thing for me.”

Kobusch competed in gas-powered bikes for most of his career. Now, he will be part of a four-member electric dirt bike team that includes Michael Hicks, who is from the St. Louis area, and Jorge Zaragoza, who is from Spain.

“It will be very interesting to see how we’re able to do because we’re racing against the gas bikes,” Kobusch said. “It’s going to be pretty interesting to see how all of that plays out. I’m excited to be a part of it and be one of the first people to ever do this. Hopefully, we can go and kick some butt and come home with a cool trophy.”

Kobusch competed in races in France and Italy. He was scheduled to compete in a race in Malaysia, but that has been rescheduled due to the government shutdown.

Kobusch currently lives in Spain with his fiance. He said getting to ride on electric dirt bikes gave the opportunity to compete internationally.

“It was something new,” said Kobusch, who lived in Texas several years ago. “Honestly, it was kind of out of the blue. I was racing the American series on a gas bike. They reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in racing an electric bike. I’ve seen videos and stuff of them. They look like a lot of fun.”

Kobusch said electric bikes are much different than gas-powered bikes.

“They have a lot of horsepower,” Kobusch said. “They’re pretty fast, so you have to be able to hold on to it. The bike handles are a little bit different, so it’s a lot to get used to. There’s no sound. You don’t have the roar of the engine.”

Kobusch has been riding motorcycles since he was 3. His father, Lance, Sr., owns Lance’s Auto Body Shop in Montgomery City.

Five years ago, Kobusch won a motocross championship in Dortmund, Germany. In 2022, he celebrated his first motocross victory in the professional level, winning the Round One 450 Pro Main event of the Kicker AMA Arenacross Series at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo. It was his first race since 2020.