As a racer, Nathan Ramsey was long regarded as one of the best in the world on a Lites bike and played a pivotal role in developing KTM’s 250 SX-F while riding for Red Bull KTM.

In fact, Ramsey won the Anaheim opener of the West Coast Lites series in 2005 on debut with KTM’s then brand new 250F, which is a result that he’ll forever remember and be respected for by the Austrian manufacturer.

Nowadays, Ramsey is the team manager of JDR/J-Star/KTM in the U.S. and does a fine job at it, steering the Australian-owned team’s ship for the second year in 2012.

MotoOnline.com.au spoke with Ramsey in his Californian office recently about life as a team manager and what it’s like to work with a bunch of Aussie owners and riders.

With the JDR J-Star/KTM team coming into its second full season, how have you been finding it so far taking on the role of team manager?

Yeah, you know we are pretty well into the second season now, when I came aboard was September last year, so we’re moving along pretty good. I enjoy it, it’s definitely a lot different than I had imagined and there’s a lot more involved that I just had no idea about.

As a rider you are pretty much shielded from a lot of the big decisions and things that just don’t cross your mind. There had been some decisions I had to make last year that was pretty tough stuff, so on one side it’s really cool, on the other side it’s a lot of work and pressure.

You want to make the right decision, you’ve got a lot of people counting on you and I feel like I’m pretty good at weighing the options up and making the right decisions.

The team has switched to a Lites only program this year, bringing in a few new riders at the same time. For you this year are you just focusing on building momentum from last year, even though the team will be concentrating only on the one class now?

Yeah, it is a little bit different switching to the Lites program because all the focus and development is all pointed in one direction, so that makes it a little bit easier. I think just having a season under our belt as a team and me as my first year as a manager last season, you definitely gain confidence coming into the second year, so those aspects of it are better already.

We’ve got a couple new people also, we’ve hired a new motor technician and two new mechanics also for this season. So we have a really good vibe going here at the moment and that’s part of my job, keep everyone getting along and a good work environment to where these guys want to help each other and get the best results for everyone as a team.

I did learn a lot last year, how to deal with people and trying to manage people. Everyone’s different, every rider who comes through here is different, so it’s a neat thing. You kind of become a little bit of a social worker, but it’s part of the deal you know – that’s one of the reasons why I’m in this position.

What does your day-to-day role include for you as team manager, from here at the office compared to being at the race track on weekends?

Day-to-day I pretty much get in here in the morning, jump on the computer and do my emails, pay bills, all the fun stuff. Once the guys get here I check in with them and see how everything is going. We always have a Monday meeting so everybody knows what the skeleton of the week looks like. I talk with the guys and make sure they all know where they’re supposed to be and what the plans are for that week.

On the weekends at the races I’m there getting involved in the decisions of what changes we might make. It’s always a joint decision between the rider, myself and, a lot of times, our crew chief Vince will be involved too. I’ll just running around making sure everybody’s getting along and everybody’s comfortable.

With the riders I’ll sit down and study video with them, help work out what they need to change to perform at their best on the track, which sections they need to improve on and what lines to run. At the level these riders are at, I don’t need to say much, just a few things here and there.

Finally, it’s obviously a massive ambition of the Rynenberg’s to form a team in America and go up against the worlds best. How have you found it working with what is pretty largely an international team?

Yeah it’s pretty cool, Jay and Derek [Rynenberg] definitely have a passion for the sport and I’m grateful for that and to be in this position. They’ve made a mark over in Australia and we are getting to know those guys over there a little better each year, trying to get a lot of similarities with sponsors meshing as much as we can and making it a uniformed effort.

I enjoy talking with those guys and working out the best way to handle things over here and in Australia. Jay is a younger guy, so he’s got a different perspective on some things, different than even myself so that’s kind of cool. It’s pretty unique to have that dynamic of different ages and experience levels.

Matt [Moss] is over here now and I’ve been working with him now since the beginning of December. I’m getting to know him more and learning how to work together, I believe he has the potential to be on the podium, so if he can land there that would be great for him and the whole team.