Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
DirtbikeLover
  • 2 days ago
Support us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/dirtbikelover
Transcript
00:00Since back, Corolli joining us for this afternoon and next time out at Spring Creek.
00:05It's amazing the field we have right now.
00:07Yeah, we got the field and it just showed you how good and dominant actually Jet Lawrence has been to handle this field.
00:13But I believe these guys are going to show up here.
00:15It's all going to start here off the start.
00:18We can start in front of them.
00:19We saw what Jet did last weekend, very quick in the early part of the race.
00:22So let's see if he can calm that down and these guys can stop that from happening.
00:26Yes, it was alarming how quickly he pulled away at Southwick Lawrence.
00:29It's more so than he usually does.
00:31There you see Corolli on the Ducati making their American motocross debut as a brand of a factory team.
00:37We presume out here next year operated by Troy Lee Designs.
00:41This is a production bike, essentially a stock Ducati that they're trying to develop today.
00:46There it is.
00:48And Corolli, the proud Italian.
00:49Let's see how he does.
00:50For the first time in 2025, Redbud, Rebs are up.
00:55Gates down.
00:59Hunter Lawrence leads them in.
01:03Is that RJ Hampshire?
01:05Yes, RJ.
01:06Been working on the starts on that Rockstar Husky.
01:08It pays off.
01:09He's second.
01:10Here comes Jet on his left.
01:11Yeah, good start by RJ there.
01:13Jet slots into third place.
01:15Looks like Tony Corolli is up in the top five.
01:17Justin Cooper.
01:18Jorge Prada is up there as well.
01:19So what JT said, he must have heard that key to the race.
01:23Oh, yeah.
01:24He's challenging Lawrence for the third place spot.
01:26They're danging up on Hampshire.
01:28No.
01:28Hampshire actually goes to the lead.
01:30Do it for Dade City.
01:31Come on, get some, RJ.
01:33Have not seen good starts yet.
01:35It's a rookie 450 campaign for the 24.
01:38And with a start, he's showing you what he can do.
01:40Yeah, looks like Jorge got around Jet.
01:42Looks like Jet's going to go back down to inside.
01:45But just, man, what a race.
01:48I mean, just what Jorge was able to show last weekend.
01:50You can see the difference in his riding style.
01:52So good by him.
01:54Hey, four or five passes amongst this group at the front.
01:57Hunter reclaims the lead from Hampshire.
02:00Prado in front of Lawrence.
02:02Jet Lawrence from the outside.
02:04Looks to get Prado back.
02:05Yeah.
02:06It's going to say Jorge was going to try to have to close that gap off.
02:09But Jet had the slingshot around the outside.
02:11You can tell they put a little bit of water down.
02:12You can see how aggressive Jet is because he wants to get that clear racetrack.
02:16Not that he's worried about getting around these guys.
02:18But it's very hard to see when you're behind them, especially in these early parts of the race, with these rugs.
02:23Plessinger getting in on it from fifth on the number seven.
02:26And Prado wants another piece of Jet Lawrence on the inside.
02:29Oh, man.
02:29Jorge messed that corner up.
02:31I thought he was going to have it.
02:32Doesn't go for La Rocca's leap.
02:33And just look how much time he ends up losing.
02:35Yeah.
02:36Will Plessinger be able to get around him?
02:37I'll tell you what.
02:39A lot of lines on this track, at least in the first lap.
02:41They're all over it.
02:42Yeah.
02:42Jorge does get passed by Aaron from that La Rocca's leap.
02:46If he wasn't able to get it, Aaron ends up getting around him.
02:49So, small little mistake.
02:51Love this jump that Jet was doing.
02:53Almost loses the front end with that water putting down.
02:56So, Hunter Lawrence leads lap one.
02:58Hebshire, Jet Lawrence, Plessinger, Prado, Justin Cooper, Tomac, Caroli, Sexton Anderson, top ten.
03:05And that is a deep field of talent.
03:08Now, what we can hope for right here, Jet just gets hung up behind RJ.
03:12Not that RJ is going slow.
03:13But, you know, Jet's starting to see his older brother get away from him a little bit.
03:18And he's going to keep an eye on the guys behind him.
03:20Eli Tomac and that number one at Chase X.
03:22And make sure those guys don't keep peeping up behind him as well.
03:25First lap led for Hunter.
03:27He only had one this year.
03:29And now he's got another at Redbugs.
03:30So, controlling it for the front.
03:33As for Hampshire, I was talking to him yesterday, press day.
03:37Said they looked at the data and he was creating a bad habit of just revving the bike too much, actually, off the start.
03:44And he said, I didn't used to do it on the 250.
03:46Just some kind of nervous habit.
03:48I was giving it gas, but I shouldn't have.
03:50He had to try to fix it.
03:51He did today.
03:52Look at this.
03:52A pass, Justin Cooper, around Aaron Plessinger.
03:55Yeah, Justin Cooper is moving forward.
03:57He was able to get around Jorge.
03:59And now see if his teammate can try to do the same.
04:01But, as you say that, Aaron Plessinger just gives them the business a little bit.
04:04I don't think Aaron is trying to do anything.
04:06They just, lines came together.
04:07But, just shows you how important his track condition is in the beginning part.
04:11These guys are really aggressive.
04:12A little bit of that first moto probably juices inside.
04:15Tomac and Prado battling behind Plessinger and Cooper.
04:20I'm just impressed at how racy this track is.
04:22We're seeing passes everywhere.
04:24Yeah.
04:25Yeah, it looks like Eli's going to try to go up his teammate.
04:27Yep.
04:29Chet working on Hampshire.
04:33And Hunter starting to pull away.
04:35Here comes La Rocco's lead.
04:38Oh, man.
04:38In the beginning part of these races, La Rocco leads feel so good getting over.
04:42It feels so bad coming up short as Justin Cooper just did as well in the background.
04:48Stink's starting to settle in a bit now instead of KJT.
04:52Well, you see Jet Lawrence here in third.
04:53And he's been trying to make some quick passes.
04:55But this track's really sneaky as Jet goes up the inside.
04:58It's really difficult to make a pass.
05:00You wouldn't know it by that move that Jet Lawrence just made.
05:03But a lot of the lines here funnel back to the inside.
05:06So you almost have to set your passes up far in advance.
05:08Think about what you're going to do and execute very similar to what we saw Jet do right there.
05:12Oh, that was beautiful what Jet was able to do at the lap before.
05:15He almost lost the front end trying to hit the inside.
05:18And most of those guys, if they did jump in, they do cut back.
05:22Jet just jumped out, went straight through to avoid the front end and cut RJ up.
05:26Smart move on an 18.
05:27At one point, I thought the 18 might have been going down in those rollers.
05:31That bike was swapping side to side.
05:33And 50 feet later, he's made a pass as we watch the Yamahas battle Tomac versus Cooper.
05:40And a reminder, you can keep up with that team.
05:43Check out the At Yamaha Motor USA YouTube channel for Beyond the Gate.
05:47That's their YouTube series.
05:49And check out the Hondas up front right now because Jet bringing the heat to Hunter.
05:53Yeah, well, the last two motos, three motos in a row now,
05:57you can see how aggressive Jet has been.
06:00It's normally not like him.
06:01He kind of lets things settle in.
06:03But I think he senses that the race can go a lot of different ways.
06:06And if he's able to get out front, all these guys know he's in shape.
06:09And it is hard to run down to 18 out front.
06:12So I think him being very aggressive, as Aaron's doing the same thing,
06:15but him being very aggressive, getting in the lead early,
06:18I think it changes the whole landscape of how these other guys are able to attack it.
06:21He can put a lot away.
06:23Will?
06:24James, I'm looking at the top sort of like eight here.
06:27And I've heard from so many of these riders and teams,
06:30obviously how important the start is,
06:31but how important those opening laps are
06:33and how challenging it is to be aggressive
06:36and ride with that intensity that you've talked about
06:38when you're not out front,
06:40like we see normally Jet Lawrence doing,
06:42and now he's having to be in that same position and battle through.
06:45Is that just the depth of field?
06:47Is that just the pace of those opening laps here
06:50that makes that so much harder for those guys to push if they're not out front?
06:53Well, I think, you know, with Jet doing that,
06:56I think his whole thing is, you know, all these guys,
06:59I don't know how much they really feel like they can beat him once he's out front.
07:02So him, any time he gets in the lead,
07:04I think it changes the landscape of everybody, how they attack it.
07:07So for him being out front, it's first lap, second lap, you know,
07:10changes for everybody else.
07:12Everyone else is trying to attack it to stop him from being out front,
07:16and so they have to start riding them really aggressive.
07:18And especially with this track,
07:19you can see the distance between first and tenth.
07:22It's 16 seconds.
07:23It's only been two laps.
07:24So this particular track, you lose a lot of time
07:27if you're not out front with these guys.
07:29So I think they're being very aggressive.
07:30But being the first motor today, the track is still breaking in.
07:34A little bit difficult for these guys,
07:35but they're really trying to go for it, Will.
07:37How about Blesinger here, James?
07:39He has passed Hampshire and has begun to close,
07:42although he almost goes down to the bottom of the ski jump.
07:44But he has Jet Lawrence in his sights.
07:47Yeah, well, I mean, this is his holiday.
07:49You know, if anybody's going to have some fan motivation,
07:51do it for USA, it is Aaron.
07:53And, you know, now you can start to see,
07:55I predict Jet's going to start picking back up the pace.
07:58I think once he got up in the second, he's settled down.
08:01Now he sees Aaron catching him.
08:03So Jet's going to go back to work on Hunter.
08:05You can also see how dirty Jet's front number plate is, too.
08:10So another challenging part of this racetrack is that the soil,
08:13once you get hit with it, it sticks to you.
08:16Unlike some of the other races where it's just a roost,
08:18this third really sticks to you.
08:19So it also makes it a lot difficult for all these guys as well.
08:22Reset the order.
08:24It's Lawrence and Lawrence, then Hampshire and Blesinger are battling.
08:27Blesinger has that third-place spot at the moment.
08:29Hampshire fourth.
08:30Tomat is around Justin Kubri's fifth.
08:33Cooper sixth, Prado seventh.
08:34Anderson Barsha has climbed past Sexton to ninth on the Rockstar Gas Gas.
08:41And Sexton is tenth, battling with Cooper Webb.
08:44And I think Webb might have just made a move on Sexton.
08:47But how about Sexton's teammate here in the Red Bull KTM?
08:50Plesinger rolling, JT.
08:53He is rolling.
08:54And coming into this weekend, I kind of set two goals that I thought AP should be aiming at.
08:58One, beat your teammate.
09:00You want to be the number one guy at Red Bull KTM.
09:02And the only way to be the man is to beat the man.
09:05And you want to be the alpha rider on your own team.
09:07And he's certainly doing that at the moment.
09:08And second, be on the podium.
09:10There is no better feeling here at Red Bull than standing there holding a trophy and watching that crowd go crazy.
09:15So you can see how motivated he is.
09:17He's closed down on these two leaders.
09:20Yeah, well, he's being the man.
09:23I just like Aaron's line.
09:24He's really opening up the racetrack.
09:26So he's carrying a lot of momentum.
09:28And in certain parts of the track, he's really closing in on these guys.
09:31Like the lap before, he closed a lot on the mechanics.
09:34So a lot of that does.
09:36He's been able to make some passes.
09:37And he can kind of see where the other guy is breaking.
09:39But he definitely has that flow.
09:40And you've got to believe it's partly because the USA and everybody loves this racetrack as well.
09:46Blesinger has the fastest lap of this race at 206.
09:49Oh, and just like that, Jett strikes on Hunter to try to get the lead.
09:53Hunter fights back.
09:55Jett locks it down.
09:56Now he was going to worry if there was going to be a little turbulence on the airplane.
10:00Those brothers collided right there.
10:02Oh, Jett got feet off the pegs, James.
10:03And Hunter drives right by.
10:05Yeah, well, there's the point of this whole soil ramp up here.
10:08You can see how quickly things can happen.
10:10They get in these ruts.
10:11And they're so long.
10:12Once you get stuck in it, rip both feet off.
10:15So, Jett going to come back on the downhill.
10:18Hunter able to hold it.
10:20Can he stay clean through these ruts?
10:22Yeah, that's brother love right there.
10:24Because I think if there's anybody else, Jett would have just ran it down.
10:26He had that pass made.
10:28He might have another one made right here.
10:29It's on the inside as they head to the tabletop.
10:32Hunter fights back.
10:33They look each other over in midair.
10:35Yeah, I was about to say, I think Hunter's going to let him go by.
10:37Because Jett has the quick place.
10:39And they're almost racing each other.
10:41Like, are you going to do it?
10:42Are you going to, like, don't want to touch each other?
10:44So, maybe they'll settle back in.
10:46Hunter can catch Jett's lines and try to get going.
10:49Because Jett does have a few better lines than Hunter at the moment.
10:53So, nonetheless, no harm, no foul.
10:55But, look, they already pulled four seconds on Aaron, even with all that battling.
10:59That was wild.
11:01They upped the pace.
11:01And Plessinger made a mistake.
11:03And suddenly, yeah, a four-second gap between the Lawrences, first and second, and then third.
11:08And you see it.
11:09Hampshire has been passed by Tomac.
11:12And Tomac's on the inside.
11:13He's looking to get Plessinger.
11:15Yeah, that was weird.
11:16I was looking at Jett when he jumped at the La Rocca's leap.
11:19He pulled his foot out.
11:20So, I wonder if he's having some cramping or something like that.
11:24Because that was a little bit of strength.
11:25A little bit of MotoGP kind of style.
11:27So, you wonder if maybe he caught his foot in that rut when he got stuck over there, JT.
11:32Yeah, you know what?
11:32I think he jumped long there.
11:34And a lot of times, you'll see guys stick that leg out just to add some more, I guess, to add wind, basically, to slow themselves down.
11:41I've seen riders like Tim Ferry do that in the past a lot.
11:43When you know you're going long, just add a sail.
11:45Add something out there to slow yourself down this tiny bit.
11:48And I should have added a sail a lot of times.
11:50That was overjumping.
11:51So, what do you do when you come up short?
11:55Yeah, no problem going long.
11:59Tomek starting to roll here.
12:01He has passed Cooper.
12:02Working on Plessinger.
12:05Now, so far this year, we've seen Eli.
12:07He's had the pace.
12:08And a lot of times on some of these motos, Eli's been clearly the fastest guy on the racetrack.
12:12His problem is what his problem is right now.
12:14He's got Jed in front of him.
12:17And hopefully for him, he doesn't get stuck behind Aaron.
12:20Because if he can get that open air, man, Eli can run a pace that nobody can match on this racetrack.
12:25It's just once he gets stuck behind these guys, it slows him down.
12:28And for whatever reason this year, he's been stalling him out a little bit more than he has years past.
12:32So, so far, Eli looks good.
12:35Maybe he senses a little bit of missed opportunity of what happened last weekend at Southwick.
12:39He tries to get him.
12:40But he's going to have to make a move on Aaron.
12:42Otherwise, it's going to be a lonely third-place ride.
12:44Yeah, but a lot of these this year for Tomek.
12:46This is an opportunity, though.
12:47Plessinger not clean through that corner.
12:51He's going to fight back.
12:52Oh, I see some steam coming out of the bottom of Tomek's bike.
12:54But meanwhile, he powers past Plessinger.
12:56Yeah, well, Eli's smoking right now, you know, but a little early in the race to have that clutch drive.
13:01But it just shows you how deep this track is.
13:03What we saw a lap ago, Jack getting his feet ripped off.
13:07It is hard on the bike.
13:08It's kind of like Southwick.
13:09So maybe that hopefully for us, that's what it is and nothing else.
13:13Give it up.
13:14Running order, the Oakley-backed riders out here, which includes Tomek, now up to third.
13:20And Plessinger fourth, Hampshire fifth, Cooper sixth.
13:23And then we mentioned that Barsha was able to make a move on Sexton.
13:27That is ninth and tenth.
13:29Webb was up there at one point, but Webb has dropped back to 18th.
13:33And shout out to Tony Corolli, who is at 11th right now behind Sexton.
13:37So, critical juncture, James.
13:39Can Tomek bridge the gap to the Lawrences?
13:42Yeah, we're going to find out.
13:43He's got that open racetrack.
13:45Looks pretty aggressive.
13:46He's getting away from Aaron.
13:47And I do believe the way this track is set up, if Eli keeps running, he's outside lines.
13:51He loves having that, keeping those feet on the pegs, just sweeping this whole racetrack.
13:57And half this track is like that.
13:58So, love what I see from the number three.
14:01Just this next lap and a half is super important for Eli at the moment.
14:05Just try to keep that gap.
14:06At least not lose time.
14:07And I think that it may have some confidence as he just lets him have it.
14:11Yeah.
14:12Big daddy out there letting him have it.
14:14It's a mile an hour through that corner.
14:18Tomek beginning to stir butt up front.
14:21Jet Lawrence has put in the fastest lap of the race.
14:24A little bit quicker than what he and Plessiker had put down earlier.
14:27As we check in with the number one, the defending champion, Chase Sexton, back here in ninth.
14:33Yeah, Chase didn't get the start.
14:34He won.
14:34It looked like he made some, got passed a few times.
14:37So, you don't know if he maybe had one of these small tempos, which is easy to happen in this, you know, in the early part of the racetrack.
14:43But now, this might help, Chase.
14:45I think this would be an opportunity just to get out of here and just race.
14:49You know, have to just work, get the feet wet and all that, make his way back up here.
14:53Instead of being out front, putting feet to the fire, having to battle these dudes a little far back.
14:57So, we'll find out, Will.
14:59I was having a chat with him yesterday, James, just about expectations.
15:02Like you said, it's tough to come back at this point of the season.
15:05He said, I did that in 2023, if you remember.
15:08He had his injury there, a practice injury, a concussion that took him out at the same point after the first round.
15:13And he came back at red butt.
15:15And he said, when he looks back to that, he expected too much.
15:18So, he's like, this time, I'm just going to, I feel good.
15:20I'm ready to go.
15:22He's like, at this point, I just have to kind of cancel out those expectations.
15:24But on the flip side of that, he's also very much got his eyes on these SMX point standings going into the playoffs.
15:31And he knows that if he leaves this any longer, he's starting to get kind of geeked out of that top group.
15:36And he needs to stay in that.
15:37So, a bit of a balance there for Chase Exxon to make sure he's in it.
15:41But at the same time, not put too much pressure on for missing so many races.
15:44Yeah.
15:44Yeah.
15:44I mean, I think that's the right thing to do.
15:46It's just try to get out here.
15:47I mean, it's just hard for a guy like Chase when you have the number one plate on the bike.
15:51You want to go out there and dominate, especially what we saw last year being, you know, probably the best he's ever ridden in his life.
15:58So, you know, watching Chase ride, I can just see a few mistakes.
16:01And that's just typical for a guy who hasn't been here.
16:03But listening to his motorcycle, I mean, I'm not going to be afraid to say it.
16:08It sounds slow.
16:09And it almost sounds like he's in too high of a gear when you hear him in the corner really low on there.
16:15So I don't know if that's just the KTM or the way Chase is riding, but we'll figure out how the race goes on, JT.
16:21Yeah, James, just kind of watching him down here at trackside, it just seems like he's lacking the intensity that we're used to seeing from Chase.
16:28And when you think about it, he hasn't raced a full pro motocross race all season.
16:31It kind of makes sense.
16:33These guys are in the group.
16:34This is another gate drop.
16:36They're in the midst of the season.
16:38Everything just feels repetitive for them where Chase is coming in cold, trying to find the pace, trying to find some comfort level here.
16:45And you can see mistakes.
16:46I'm sure he's frustrated inside that helmet running eighth place, but absolutely not the start and the return to pro motocross that Chase Dexton wanted thus far.
16:54Yeah, but he is trying to build toward those playoffs and trying to peak in September.
16:58Super motocross playoffs offer some of the most unique fan opportunities in sports.
17:03Get the inside track to the experience of a lifetime.
17:05To learn more, go to smxexperiences.com and become part of the action.
17:11That includes some spots very close to the racetrack at those rounds.
17:15Yeah, I talked to Chase yesterday, and bike is totally different than the one he had at round one before the crash.
17:22Thought they had learned some things to change the bike for 2025.
17:25They've gone back to a more 2024-like setup.
17:28Speaking of 24, it's the number 24.
17:31Hampshire is back.
17:32What an odd moto for Plessinger.
17:35Bad laps, good laps, bad laps, and he's about to get passed back.
17:39Yeah, well, these guys, they ride together all week long.
17:42You can see how much time, see if RJ gets and greases this inside and not lose too much time on LaRocco's lead.
17:48But, yeah, I think for Aaron, you know, one thing, it's almost a fine line when you get out there and you start catching the leaders.
17:55You're, like, getting really excited.
17:56And then once you start losing that toe, it's almost like you're worse off, you know, because you were able to catch them.
18:02You mentally got to reset and be like, all right, let me focus over.
18:05So maybe a little bit.
18:06You get demoralized a little bit.
18:07You get demoralized, especially if you're Aaron, because, you know, as much as you want, he loves to be on the podium.
18:11But we've heard him say a few times he wants to win these things.
18:13And so by catching these guys and then all of a sudden they start pulling away, it's kind of frustrating as a rider.
18:18But he's doing a good job with RJ.
18:20He's still in fourth place.
18:22Eli's only a few seconds in front of him.
18:24So he's still got a lot to look forward to in this race.
18:26As for RJ Hefshire, we used to poke fun of the guy for being wide open.
18:32Even when he didn't crash, it looked like he might.
18:34He would save it on the 250.
18:35We have not seen that on the 450.
18:38No, well, RJ knows if he don't tame it, that beast is going to tame him.
18:42So, you know, but I also think with RJ, you know, I talked to him last week and he said just eating, you know,
18:49it doesn't have to watch his weight as much.
18:51And you think about being a little bit heavier on the 450, it's going to balance them out.
18:55But I also think at the same time, just the way you've got to ride a 450, it will calm you down.
19:00You know, not having to shift so much.
19:01So even the start issues, I think a little bit of that is pertaining to riding 250s.
19:06JT.
19:06James, I got an opportunity to speak to him right before qualifying session on Race Day Live there.
19:12And he talked about how this track's always kind of suited him.
19:15He has two overall wins here on the 250 and just things seem to click.
19:20So it kind of makes sense.
19:21He came off a great second moto at Southwick.
19:23He's following that up with arguably his best, maybe not the best overall moto score,
19:27but certainly the best ride so far of his pro motocross career on the 450.
19:31Thanks, JT.
19:34Battle has settled down just a little bit.
19:37He was closer to Plessinger the last time around.
19:41And then behind them, you've got Justin Cooper, Prado running by themselves.
19:46Six seconds further back is Sexton.
19:49And then it's this Barsha and Anderson battle that you're watching right now for the end of the top ten.
19:54Wow, nice rebound here for Barsha.
19:56He's only started racing again last weekend at Southwick.
19:59Yeah, pretty quick today.
20:02Oh, it looks like Jason throws his hands up right there, so kind of weird.
20:06I don't know if that's a bike issue or a Jason issue, but.
20:12Barsha not asking questions.
20:13He's going to jump the leap and get away.
20:15Oh, yeah.
20:16Maybe Jason letting him know, look, I'm not here.
20:19Don't relapse on me today, son.
20:21So letting him know.
20:22But, yeah, there's something definitely going wrong with Jason.
20:25And I've got to say, that's probably more with him, the way he's jumping.
20:29Then you've got the nine-time Tony Caroli right behind him.
20:33Yeah, looking pretty good.
20:35Again, that's a stock bike.
20:36They don't have factory or works parts for it yet.
20:40So this is not much different than the showroom stock model.
20:43You'll be able to buy pretty quickly.
20:45And just had factory connection work in the suspension settings.
20:49I think it's actually Southwick hanging out with us last week, did not race.
20:53But now it's July.
20:54The bike is homologated.
20:56And he'll race here and next weekend on the Ducati.
20:58Yeah, and one of the disadvantages for Tony compared to just the factory bike is when
21:04you get into those rollers, as you notice, like, his bikes start rebounding a lot.
21:08And it's just stock bikes, they're great, great motorcycles, but they're really not built
21:12for it.
21:13Oh, no.
21:13James Tomac, we saw the steam or smoke coming out earlier, and it looks like he might be
21:18done.
21:18Yeah, no, that's what I was saying earlier.
21:20It was a little early for having the clutch issues.
21:23But, yeah, that's a bummer.
21:25And you start to wonder, maybe hit somebody in Tangle, but, yeah, that's not the fire
21:30Eli wanted to kind of bring to, it's 4th of July, and we got fireworks on.
21:36That's a bummer, yeah.
21:38And look, it's going to cost a lot.
21:39Now, chance of overall podium at Red Bud are done, and it's going to kill him in the
21:44point standings.
21:46Yeah, we're looking at it.
21:47This is the big picture, and he's probably realizing it at this moment.
21:49This is a championship possibly ending.
21:54Yeah, now, Jed had built up a big point lead, but you never know in racing.
21:57But this is going to certainly, I would think, bump Tomac back to 3rd or even worse in the
22:01standings.
22:03Yeah, and just to give you a little bit of where he's at, he's probably on the farthest
22:06part away from the pits, and he's in a valley down there.
22:10So, what's up, bro?
22:13Yeah, it goes Malcolm Stewart by.
22:15And what's that?
22:16Cooper Webb.
22:17You have Cooper, Joey Savace, looks like Harry Koulos behind him, so.
22:24You know, it's funny, as we said to the JT real quick.
22:28JT, what do you see?
22:29Well, you see Cooper Webb going by there.
22:30He actually crashed on the start and was dead last, so he's on a march back towards near
22:34the front.
22:35But as I was seeing Eli Tomac sitting there with an expired motorcycle, I was wondering,
22:40could it possibly be the same issue that Cooper Webb ran into at Fox Raceway?
22:43Remember, he had a bike that said no moths at the opener.
22:47Thanks, JT.
22:48What I was going to say is that Tomac had a DNF on his Kawasaki at this track a couple of
22:53years ago.
22:53Lost the point lead that day when the engine let go.
22:58Yeah, and it feels like a whole different feeling where he was when he lost that points
23:02lead.
23:02He felt like at some point he would get it back.
23:04This was going to be a little bit tougher.
23:05But yeah, JT, it does look like the same thing because we were having those same issues
23:10and a little bit of smoke and all of a sudden things just blew up.
23:13So one issue that we don't have, if you're a Honda HRC, is both brothers out front, Jet
23:19Lawrence looking.
23:20I mean, this kid is, this kid's for real now.
23:24Like, he's bringing it.
23:26Yeah, you think he's even better now.
23:28This guy had a perfect season two years ago.
23:30You're seeing more now.
23:31No, he's, I don't think he's better.
23:33He is better.
23:34And you can just tell by the way he's opening up these races now.
23:38That's, you've got to be confident, as Will was talking about earlier, in an open part
23:42of the races.
23:42Will?
23:43It's just that question that Jason just posed to you there, James.
23:47Do you think he's better?
23:48I asked both him and his brother Hunter that earlier on today.
23:52So let's look at the overall pace of racing here compared to going back to 22, 23.
23:57Has it gone up?
23:58Are you guys better?
23:59Hunter kind of had a think about it.
24:01And he said, yeah, I think we are.
24:02He's like, it's all kind of marginal, right, by how much.
24:04But he said, yes, I believe we're both better.
24:06I believe the entire field's better.
24:08And he kind of cited that between 22 and 23 and Jet taking that jump up and everybody
24:14else then having to do that, having to step up and reach that pace.
24:18So he said, yeah, generally speaking, I think the pace is up.
24:20Yeah, and what I will say is being better is not necessarily going faster.
24:26You know, it's just the way he is on the motorcycle.
24:29Being better, you look at 250 class, Hayden Deegan, he'll come up next.
24:32It's just their body language.
24:34When they have tried to attack, I feel like being better means when I make a pass, I know
24:39when I'm going to make it.
24:40Things are going to happen around this racetrack the way I want it to, whether it's just, you
24:44know, being fast.
24:45He was already fast in 2023 when he won this thing, so.
24:48He's had a Rocky Mountain team check in with this twisted T.
24:52HEP Suzuki team presented by Progressive.
24:54Welcome to America.
24:55Benoit Patrelle has been very good hovering around that top 10.
24:59The majority of the races this year.
25:01Right now, Patrelle is in 16th.
25:03More trouble for his teammate, Colton Nichols, who has been luckless the last couple of weeks.
25:08And he is back into the 30s.
25:10And from the French veteran, Patrelle, we go back to the leader, Jett Lawrence, and now
25:18has a nine-second gap.
25:20And that's what that improvement that you're talking about looks like.
25:25Cerato, that's won all but one overall ever that he's raced on a 450 in motocross.
25:31Battles on hand.
25:32This is Prado.
25:34Sexton has caught Prado.
25:36This is for sixth.
25:37Yeah, Chase is slowly marching his way up.
25:41And I think this is a good thing for him, as I mentioned.
25:44Now, Jett's so far gone that now he can just focus on just how the motorcycle feel.
25:50He can ease his way into this thing.
25:52He's not going to be happy with the finishing position knowing Chase.
25:55But at the same time, this is what he's got to learn and get back to it.
25:59That was a beautiful pass, by the way.
26:02So, I think this is a good thing for Chase.
26:04And maybe if he continues this as he wipes it, he's out of tear-offs, obviously, might
26:08be better for this second moto as well because he's starting to look a little bit more loose
26:11on the motorcycle.
26:12And definitely looks a lot better than he did at Paula.
26:14Yeah, I was going to ask you, you know, there's going to be some rust with having this time
26:18off.
26:18Can the first moto do a lot of that?
26:19Can he be much better even an hour from now?
26:22What do you think, James?
26:22No, I absolutely think he can.
26:25And, again, it just depends on how this moto goes.
26:28I actually think this moto is perfect for a guy like Chase coming off injuries.
26:31We're watching, like, Eli walk back off.
26:34He loves you fans.
26:35He's just disappointed right now.
26:37JT.
26:38Yeah, unfortunate there for Eli Tomac.
26:40You know, just thinking about Chase, though, and his comeback here to pro motocross, moving
26:45forward is a net positive.
26:47That's for sure.
26:47But you're talking about the defending champion, and what I worry about is he's going to go
26:51back and he's going to look at the lap times, and he's anywhere from four to five seconds
26:55a lap off of Jett right now.
26:57That's demoralizing for a guy who's coming into these races wanting to win.
27:02Yeah, 100%.
27:04You know, but I will tell, if I was in Chase's corner, what I would tell him, like, look,
27:08that clean air, we know how important it is.
27:10And those opening laps that Jett was able to do, that 206, you know, that's because he's
27:15got clean air and he's moving forward, where you, you didn't start off right.
27:18You probably got caught up behind guys.
27:20But how's your race pace?
27:22You know, once you get into these laps, how's the race pace?
27:24How's your body feel?
27:26You know, how do you feel getting out here?
27:27Is your mind clear from coming off these injuries?
27:29And if that's good, then we can build off of that.
27:32But if he was out here and he was kind of going the opposite way, making a lot of mistakes,
27:36then I would say it'd be tough.
27:37To me, when I'm watching Chase, he looks better now than he did when we first saw him.
27:41And I think that helps him out as well.
27:43But, of course, he wants to be where this number 18 is right now.
27:47The worst thing could be him starting up from him and Chet pulling away from him.
27:51Because I don't think Chase is ready for this level, which ain't nobody else in this field
27:55that's ready.
27:56So it might be a good thing where he started at.
27:58Yeah, never even was in that fight, but has been able to grind his way up to sixth as
28:02Jett continues to log laps up front, hitting Larocco's lead at Redbud.
28:09Hunter Lawrence in second, and it's become an alarming trend if you're any other team
28:14in the paddock.
28:151-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 has been the story lately for the brothers, Lawrence of the Hondas.
28:21Yeah, and even scarier, it looks easy for these guys.
28:25The bike looks good.
28:27I mean, there's nobody even in their field.
28:30I mean, when Eli got up in the second place, I mean, third place, we don't know if some
28:34of the bike was kind of holding him back, but those guys just kept pulling away from
28:37him.
28:38So, to me, it just looks like a continuation of what we saw starting at high point and
28:43then last weekend.
28:45But those guys got it figured out.
28:47Great ride by this dude right here.
28:49Yeah, he made the move on Plessinger.
28:50So, Hampshire is running at a podium spot in this moto, the 450 rookie of the Rockstar Husky.
28:56Yeah, RJ looks good.
28:57But this is where sometimes I feel like if you're riding with the guys like Aaron and
29:01all of them during the week, there's no secret.
29:03So, RJ is comfortable riding with you.
29:06So, him making that pass, he's probably not too worried about you coming back because he
29:09rides with you every single day.
29:11But RJ has definitely brought the heat, especially the way that moto started.
29:15He was up there battling for the lead, got passed, regrouped.
29:19Now he's in the third place.
29:21That'd be a career best on a 450 for him.
29:23Back to Jett, putting some lap riders behind him.
29:29Plessinger is still fourth.
29:30Justin Cooper fifth.
29:31Sexton made that move on Prado.
29:34Oh, and now Justin Cooper has caught Plessinger.
29:37What a strange race for the number seven.
29:39Yeah, this is why I go back to sometimes it's demoralizing in the opening parts because now
29:44once RJ got, he was just right behind RJ.
29:47So, you don't know if something else is going on with the number seven.
29:51He's starting to fade back.
29:52But 250 riders getting ready.
29:54There is Hayden Deegan, the championship leader.
29:56He did go down late in qualifying today.
29:59Had a charley horse in the leg.
30:01So, maybe get that thing warmed up.
30:02He did log a good quick lap after that.
30:05Not sure how bad that situation is.
30:08As for the number seven here, losing spots, send it to JT.
30:12Yeah, Jay, just a question.
30:13What are your thoughts here on AP?
30:14You know, he's been pushing so hard at the beginning of these motos, trying to put pressure
30:18on the leaders.
30:20Do you think he's putting in too much work, like overriding the pace and overriding the
30:24track, and that's taking a toll on him late in the motos?
30:26Because this is two weeks in a row where he's really seen him suffer in the back half of
30:30the moto.
30:30Yeah, no, that's a great point, JT.
30:32And especially how he started the year off.
30:34I mean, he was really strong at the motos.
30:36I mean, he was a couple laps from winning the hottest race of the year and hanged down
30:39that first moto.
30:40And yeah, when you're, it's different when you get out front.
30:45And look, you can end up running the same lap times as Jet and all these guys.
30:49But just those opening laps, what you got to do to your body, if you're not ready for
30:53that, it can exhaust you really quickly.
30:56And then you got to start fighting the mental side of things.
30:59Once you started feeling that way, now your mental game.
31:01Because you know, look, man, I feel like I'm close to beating these guys.
31:05Now you're starting to lose that toe in the beginning part of the race.
31:07So yeah, it is something that you can tell.
31:10He is trying to be very quick in the opening part of the races.
31:12And now with Jet doing the same thing, they all know they have to do that.
31:16And I think JT, that's an excellent point.
31:17It is bringing it out of them.
31:19And sometimes it might be better off just kind of to settle back and then regroup because
31:24he's starting to go the wrong way at this moment.
31:25And in two seconds behind him is his teammate, which is coming down too.
31:29How about Justin Cooper making a bid to perhaps be the number one seed when the SMX playoffs
31:37begin in September?
31:38He was third in the Supercross rankings and then moved to second because Sexton wasn't
31:44scoring points early in motocross.
31:46And he has chopped the lead that Cooper Webb had on him by more than half.
31:52Took it from about an 80-point deficit.
31:54He's taken about 50 out of it already.
31:56And he's going to make up more ground on Cooper Webb in the standings today.
32:00If he keeps up this pace, Justin Cooper might have the most combined points in motocross and
32:05Supercross this year.
32:07Check back in with Sexton.
32:09He's only two seconds behind.
32:10He might get Plessinger.
32:11Yeah, he's going to get Aaron for sure.
32:13Aaron's definitely, you know, feeling it for whatever reason.
32:17But, yeah, as you can look at Chase, I mean, he was, besides Justin Cooper running a 209,
32:22Chase was the second fastest on that last lap and been consistently in these 210s.
32:26So, as this race goes on, he's definitely looking a lot better.
32:30And that pass that he made on Jorge a few laps ago tells me that he started, he's feeling
32:35that race condition, race pace starting to come back to him.
32:39Otherwise, he wouldn't have made that pass.
32:41But he's going to get Aaron here pretty quickly.
32:44He might be in this corner right here.
32:45But, yeah, Plessinger not aggressive at all on the entrance to that corner.
32:49And Sexton is around his teammate and into the top five.
32:53Hey, a shout-out to those listening to the show on SiriusXM every round of the Super
32:58Motocross World Championship available.
33:00Listen live, the NBC Sports Audio channel, which is number 85 on SiriusXM.
33:07You know, it's going to look decent for Sexton.
33:10It's going to potentially end with a top five.
33:12It's a good jump back in.
33:13But, yeah, I mean, again, I like the way he looks on the motorcycle.
33:18And earlier I was saying the way his bike looked a little slow, you could tell when he
33:24was even coming up against LaRocco's lead, like him having to pull up on the bike.
33:28And, again, I know the KTM's not slow.
33:31It could just be simply just the way he's riding a bike, gearing or whatnot, suspension
33:35setup.
33:35So that's one of the things, because he hasn't been out here riding, these other guys would
33:39have figured that part out.
33:41And now he's going to have to do that.
33:43And I will say here at Redbud, because it's really humid, if this dirt's really soft, if
33:48you don't have that out, it really brings it out.
33:51And, you know, it really makes it tough for these guys.
33:54And you can kind of see it, to me, when I watch him chasing his motorcycle.
33:58I don't know.
33:59Is that something you can fix between motos, or is that a bigger change?
34:03Or is it actually maybe the riding he's doing?
34:06Well, I mean, the riding looks good.
34:08And, yeah, I think it's going to help him because, one, he's going to be more comfortable
34:14riding in the race condition.
34:15So I think his lines will change.
34:17His track will harden up a little bit.
34:19So, overall, yeah, the bike might be holding him back or whatnot.
34:24But I think his riding looks a little bit better.
34:26His flow in the motorcycle, to me.
34:28And so whether they can make that change or not to make a huge difference, we don't know.
34:32But, to me, I think they'll be able to build off this instead of him going the other way.
34:38As Jet beat off the pegs as he's about to launch LaRocco's leap.
34:42And we check in with Tony Carolli, the now nearly 40-something Italian,
34:48the nine-time champion of MXGP over in Europe, riding for the Italian brand Ducati,
34:53and really more of a testing and development guy.
34:56But they do bring him out to the races, raced, I believe, three MXGP rounds this year.
35:01He's in England a couple of weeks ago.
35:03He's in the top ten and holding up pretty well right now.
35:07He's in ninth place.
35:08Yeah, he's holding up really well, you know, when you think about this.
35:11And Tony kind of ruins it for all of us because this is why I don't want to get out.
35:15I don't want to have to test because, look, our test guy shows up from a different country on the stock motorcycle.
35:21He's going to get a knife.
35:22Why aren't you doing it?
35:23So Tony's doing a great job.
35:25And it just shows you how much he's enjoying riding this new motorcycle and this new opportunity with Ducati.
35:31Great for the sport, great for Tony, and I love watching it.
35:33With Ducati jumping in, it is now ten brands that have raced races this year.
35:39Of course, Triumph has jumped into the 250 class.
35:42Beta is a recent entry into Motocross and Supercross as well.
35:46The traditional four Japanese manufacturers and that KTM group, KTM, Haskubarta, and Gas Gas.
35:52That's not a record.
35:53You go back to the earliest days of this championship, there would be ten at times.
35:57But it has been a long, long time.
35:59You're talking about 45 years since this many different brands have competed.
36:05But I think the main thing is to say that all ten are competitive.
36:09That's the thing.
36:10They're not laggards.
36:10We saw some good runs from the Beta guys with Benny Blossom and Supercross.
36:13Jordan Smith won a race in a Triumph at Supercross.
36:16That's what oppresses me.
36:17Yeah, absolutely, and I think just as a sport, when you're choosing a bike, they're all good these days.
36:25And like you said, just show these guys are coming in, Ducati, Triumph, Beta, all here.
36:30It just shows you how much this sport is growing.
36:35But as you mentioned, it just shows the work that these guys are putting in to show up with a motorcycle,
36:39a stock motorcycle on Ducati, and compete.
36:42It's not like he's out here, people are just dropping.
36:44This guy's competing out here, so really impressive.
36:48But I'll tell you, the other red is pretty darn impressive, too.
36:51These Hondos, like I said, it's getting alarming for everyone else.
36:55Jen Lawrence working on his 37th career moto win.
36:58Hunter Lawrence is in second.
37:01They're going to be 1-2 in points after this moto.
37:04They've been 1-2 in the last couple of motos in this championship.
37:07They are taking control at a level that we've never seen two brothers do.
37:13And even for a manufacturer to be this dominant, this goes back to Honda's glory days in the 80s, 90s,
37:18where they were throwing anybody on these bikes and doing it.
37:21Here it is.
37:22Moto 1 at red butt goes to Jen Lawrence.
37:26And it's going to be a Lawrence.
37:28And Honda 1-2 again.
37:30Got the full-on boss of Honda, HRC, the president, coming over from Japan to watch the race today.
37:35And he's got to be happy with what he just saw.
37:39I don't know how much it ran into the bail right there.
37:42Got to finish first.
37:43I mean, I got to finish that thing.
37:45You see him shake his head.
37:46But, yeah, as you mentioned, that was a...