- 6 months ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00here today at hot point. Well for Jorge Prado, think about it like a baseball hitter, right?
00:06He's in a slump. Things aren't necessarily going his way, but what else can he do than get back
00:11into the batter's box and keep swinging? And if you keep getting it, you get two at-bats every
00:16single weekend in pro motocross, and you've got to imagine one of these times he's going to make
00:20contact. So that's what I'm going to be looking for, that breakthrough ride. It could be in a
00:24start. It could be in a really fast lap where he's like, oh yeah, I remember how to do that.
00:29So look for that. At some point this summer, Jorge Prado is going to break out and finally arrive.
00:36Thanks, JT. Fly Racing, 30-second card is up. Yes, will this moto be the moto where the 70,
00:42the two-time and defending MXGP champion, finally on corset here in the United States over in Europe,
00:49definitely known for the good starts? Well, he don't have to worry about getting sent down to
00:53the minors. He's got another year on his deal, so let's get it done. That's right. And there you
00:58see some of the contenders and where they've lined up, and now you can hear it. Rebs are
01:02up. Gates down.
01:10And I think it is Prado battling. Oh, he almost had it with Jett Lawrence. A good start for the
01:1470, and Justin Cooper there as well. Man, that was a great start, and I was watching
01:18Jorge on the gate. He was popping his clutch. I'm like, man, he looks like he wants it in the
01:22start zone. As quickly as that, he's starting to go back. Those guys are attacking him pretty
01:27quick. Let's see if Justin Cooper can make the pass on Jett Lawrence. I just talked about
01:31it. I got the speed. He should have the inside here if he's able to get the bike on the ground.
01:36Now Jett Lawrence got back through him still. And the 18 controlling it from the front as
01:41he so often does. Let's think of the third. Yeah, good to see Aaron up there. He's been
01:48fast all year long. Actually, one guy who's been able to pass Jett Lawrence as he comes up
01:52a little short on his triple, which makes Justin Cooper comes up short. These guys are gauging
01:56each other. But if I'm Jett Lawrence, he talked about how he said that this track is a, you know,
02:01familiar to him and kind of a European-style track. If he ever built a racetrack, I believe
02:05it would be set up just like this. Very technical, but fast. Looks pretty good. And that's where
02:10they don't want to see the 18 out front getting away already. No, and Tomac had a good start,
02:16but has been shuffled back. Not sure what happened. It's about third coming through the hole shot line,
02:20and you don't see him in this battle. The other Yamaha is actually the two of Webb. There's
02:25Hunter Lawrence right in front of him in that yellow gear. Yeah, and then he got the defending
02:29Supergirl champion Cooper Webb behind him, which has been good. Now Jorge, he was up there almost
02:34at the hole shot. Got passed. Now I think this is where that confidence comes in. If he can just
02:39get back around Cooper Webb, which he should be pretty familiar with. Seemed like they're racing
02:42all year long, which is nice scrub. Turn down for what? There it is. Send it to him. Jorge,
02:46let him know with the silent J. There it is. Just looking for some signs from the 70. That was
02:53something. That was something. That was a beautiful thing to watch now. Oh, Webb coming right back,
02:58though. Yeah, he's going to learn about everybody else, how dangerous Cooper Webb is. Can't leave
03:02that door open on him. So still good pass for him. And like JT mentioned, anything, just confidence.
03:09Got to have some confidence with that cow cycle like he did.
03:11And you mentioned it. These two have battled at almost every moto this year, Webb and Prado. Katie.
03:20Yeah, it's like we've just seen this all before. But in talking with the team, the Monster Energy
03:24Kawasaki team for the number 70 of Jorge Prado, they said the challenge right now is they're using
03:29these race weekends as basically testing and getting their best judgment for race setup.
03:33Tuesday, Wednesday, they work on the flaws. And it's not really any time to really get out and race
03:38and confidently knowing what the bike is underneath him and what he needs. And so it's a little bit of
03:43getting the song and dance right. Stu, can you speak to that? Just like how difficult it is when
03:48you're in a new team, new bike, new country, if you will, trying to make sure your song and dance
03:53is right with the team. Yeah, I mean, I don't even have any experience with that. But I know I have one or two
03:58of those experiences and just a new team, new bike, how difficult that is. So Jorge's doing a good job.
04:03But just continue to be out here. As JT mentioned, look, man, you have to go through those
04:08pains. You have to strike out. You have to keep lining up and going out there trying to
04:12take a shot at it. Because eventually, as you mentioned, you will hit one. It's just whether
04:16you have the endurance mentally to keep sitting up there and fighting. And I do believe Jorge
04:20does because he wouldn't be a champion if he didn't. Just a long road to get there.
04:25Long road. Even for Jet Lawrence, the leader, because once again, as usual, has not opened
04:32up a big gap. Still has. Cooper, Plessinger, and his brother Hunter right there.
04:40Yeah, it's a weird scenario to be in because Jet Lawrence, how dominant in all these races
04:44he's won, you would just think he could just somehow almost pull his Hayden Deegan hat off
04:48and say, you know what, once I get out front, I'm just going to pull three, four seconds pretty
04:52quickly. I think it would change the whole landscape of these races. I think these guys
04:56would start battling for second place rather than looking at the A team. But because he's
05:00so smooth and he's just methodically, he'll eventually pull away and he keeps these guys
05:05there, they'll continue racing him thinking that they got a chance until he crosses the
05:10checkered flag first, which he does many times. But I think for us, him being there keeps these
05:15guys engaged. And I love what I see with all of them. They believe.
05:19Yeah, you said last week, the fact that Tomac kept the heat on, it's not just confidence
05:24for Tomac, it's confidence for the other riders as well.
05:27Oh, absolutely. When Eli Tomac was able to beat Jet Lawrence, which was a shock to a world
05:32at Hangtown, that first moto, it gave everyone confidence. And I think that's what you're
05:37seeing with Aaron Plessinger. He's racing, believing that he's going to win. And if you're
05:41Aaron, I caught him last weekend and I passed him. Yeah, he got me back. But I feel like I'm
05:46here. If I can get around Justin Cooper, you know, I love the ruts and I might try to do it
05:50right here. Jet Lawrence ain't going any farther. I feel like I have a chance. And that's all set up
05:55because of what Eli was able to do a couple of weeks ago. These guys believe.
05:59Yep. And Plessinger was able to beat him in that moto also. And now he might beat
06:03Justin Cooper to the inside. And he does.
06:05Yeah, that's all confidence. And again, he's back in the same spot. Now, if you're Aaron Plessinger,
06:09you're thinking in your head like, dude, he's right here. I've been stuck behind Justin Cooper
06:13and Jet Lawrence is still right in front of me. So let me see what I can do. I think this crowd
06:18and all of it's going to come to life is somehow number seven gets around that 18 just to put
06:23another battle on our hands. You heard the air horns for the cowboy when he made that move for second
06:31place. Bottom box. Nice cut across line here, although he did flirt with those track markers.
06:39The Mufo suggesting markers over there.
06:44That was Jason Anderson, that is. Came out that corner, lost that rear end. So no harm,
06:48no foul on that one. But yeah, that's battling with Tomac Anderson and Tomac eighth and ninth.
06:53So not sure what happened to Tomac after the first turn, but he was tenth after that.
06:58Now they're moving forward. Now, when I just mentioned, because Jet Lawrence wasn't able
07:04to pull away, is he listening to the broadcast right now? Because he just threw in a hot half
07:09a lap. Now he's starting to get away from him. And I think he knew Aaron Plessinger got up,
07:14which was the guy who was able to get around him last weekend, got in that second place. So now
07:18he's trying to break that confidence and have Aaron start rotting behind him. It'd be hard to do
07:23because Aaron's going to do it. And I want to say it, Jay, but I see some weather moving in.
07:28He knows that rain comes out. The Cowboy's got his dancing shoes on for that.
07:32He does like the mud. Won that mud race, Monster Energy Supercross at Foxborough.
07:37Well, look, he can't sneak attack Jet Lawrence because the crowd will alert you. Maybe quiet it
07:42down, everybody. Help your guy out and just keep it quiet because Jet probably figured out,
07:46oh, I think I know who might have gone to second place. Yeah, and he can hear it from the crowd,
07:51as you mentioned, because the other guy that he'd be worried about would be Eli Tomac, and he can
07:54hear that motorcycle. So he can hear Aaron can't sneak because of the crowd. But nonetheless,
07:59still a good job. Jet's starting to loosen up. Aaron's going to have to do a good job as we're
08:04watching Eli Tomac try to close in on RJ. Then he's got Jorge Prado right in front of him. So
08:09Eli's got some work to do to get up in the podium in this moto. So he made the move on
08:13Anderson that you saw in the bottom box. That's Tomac there in blue. Now working on
08:17Hampshire. And Plessinger working on closing that cap. Oh, that's your brother. That's
08:24Malcolm Stewart over there. Yeah, it looks like they're checking. He must have hit his
08:28neck or something because they didn't pull his helmet off. So Malcolm's a tough boy. He's
08:33standing up. He'll be all right. But a tough break for Husker Varner right there.
08:37And I think we have a replay here of Malcolm. He's right behind Eli here. He's going to
08:44come in and try to get to that inside. Oh, yeah. Let's see. That's what I thought. Something
08:52they were looking under his chin. And man, those are the worst ones because the helmet,
08:57it likes to hook on that and front break, all that stuff. Clutch area and caught him.
09:02Uppercut from the handlebars. Got hit by Tyson right there.
09:08Aaron Plessinger still digging and he needs to because he's got both Lawrences to contend
09:12with. Trying to catch Jett and Hunter is on the hunt. Yeah, Hunter will be there. And again,
09:18like I mentioned, Jett's about three seconds up front, just slowly pulling away. And it's
09:23frustrating because Aaron's right there and he just got around Justin Cooper and he's thinking
09:26about last weekend. I was able to run the guy down and he's just standing up, just pulling
09:31away from me. And then I got another Lawrence behind me. It'd be a tough motor to keep
09:36moving forward, but anybody can do it. This crowd will keep the number seven moving forward
09:40if you can. You hear him everywhere he goes. Let's see. Gets to the top of this hill.
09:50A few little mistakes in that corner easily happened. Actually, that was a nice save by Aaron
09:55right there. He started losing the front end, but he was able to catch a rut, which kept him
09:58moving forward and actually gained some time on Hunter. But that was quickly almost went
10:03down.
10:03More battling here with Prado under fire from Hampshire, who's got to go because Eli Tomac
10:09is lurking.
10:11Yeah, still, I would say somewhat of a good ride by Jorge.
10:17Can he cover the line? But Hampshire, he does.
10:20Yeah, he's one of those tracks as a rider, you know, like if I just beat him to the inside,
10:24I'm going to just go really slow through this section because he won't be able to get around
10:27me. It's going to frustrate RJ. As you can see, Jorge pulls a tear off because he knew RJ
10:33wouldn't be able to get around him.
10:36Shot to the inside now. Lost traction. Prado holds him at bay.
10:43Yeah, but Jorge right here, RJ can sling or shot around the outside if Jorge doesn't do
10:47anything and it'd be up the inside here. So, RJ was kind of nice. He kind of gave him a
10:53little ramp. Jorge looked like he was going to back it out, but RJ didn't push it in.
10:57Another section opens up, puts RJ in a whole different line. He'll be on the outside of here,
11:03but then he goes back and...
11:04Hey, look, that's Cooper Webb. Is that Cooper Webb up ahead?
11:07That is Cooper Webb, yeah.
11:10Prado might make a pass instead of getting passed.
11:15See what he does right here. Cooper's going to have the inside. Smart racer.
11:23Well, you're talking two of the smartest right here, multi-time champions with Webb and Prado.
11:27Now, when you watch these guys, when you talk about that rabbit in front of you, just look
11:32at their body language and how they attack it. Jorge was somewhat, say, you know, a carrot
11:37dangling on the stick. He had RJ behind him, and then all of a sudden, Cooper Webb was right
11:41in front of him. Then he starts, you know, whipping the bike, moving forward. So, he has a...
11:46Oh! Jet stalled! How does that affect it? There goes Hunter, and I'm going to assume
11:51Plessiger further up the road.
11:54That was a weird, weird incident. He stalled the motorcycle, but easy to happen.
11:58So, guys are sliding in the corners, and I'm assuming he probably slid in there and hit
12:02that soft stuff, but he's kind of sitting up at this point.
12:07Instead of the crowd. Okay, let's take us through it, James.
12:09Yeah, all looks good here. He's got his own line, hits that, and comes in here and probably
12:14just stalls it. He'd see him hit that slick spot. That's a weird move right there.
12:20Didn't he look like he was on the brakes?
12:23Yeah, obviously, there's two ways you can stall. The rider can make the error, or the
12:28machine itself. That doesn't seem like an area where that would happen by mistake.
12:33Yeah, well, I think it was a mistake by the rider, because he just, yeah, back up, and
12:37if he felt like the motorcycle, if the motorcycle would quit, then he wouldn't be staying close
12:41to Hunter. We talked about this last weekend with Hayden Deegan and his motorcycle. Riders,
12:45when they feel like it's a bike problem, they'll start jumping with the front end high.
12:48So, to me, that just tells me that he didn't have his hands on his clutch. He just tapped
12:53the rear brake, and with these factory brakes, it's easy to stall. Just looks like he had
12:57to put the bike in neutral, which made it look like it worse than it is, but Jet's back
13:01on the pace.
13:02Oh, yeah, he definitely is now. So, when you saw him standing up at first, that was a few
13:06corners to get it dialed in.
13:08Well, yeah, he's back big time.
13:09Yeah, well, when he was standing up, I was thinking that it was something with his motorcycle,
13:13because he was being, you know, patient, but that's the way this kid rides. He probably
13:17knew at the end of the day, I'm going to just get my goggles and all that straight. I'm
13:22going to pass older brother on the inside right here. Oh, no. Hunter. It's been a little
13:27difficult. Did you not take the trash out of what? Because Hunter ain't letting you through.
13:32You should have the pass mate right here. If you get through it, be back on the inside.
13:36Hunter's digging. Can he protect the inside?
13:39And Jet has it. Shades a couple years ago in the 250 class where these two brothers
13:48went at it. One of the best 250 races you'll ever see between them at high point. Jet's
13:54got to go, though.
13:56Yeah, Aaron's still right. I mean, it's 17 minutes up in front, and if you notice that
14:00same section that Jet stalled the bike, there's a little bump that comes in that corner, and
14:04I bet what happened is, is the backhand was off the ground, wasn't thinking about it.
14:07He hit the rear down brake, not thinking that, look, sometimes you don't have to have your
14:12hands on the clutch when you're moving so fast, and that thing just stalled on him.
14:15But look, as quickly as he was behind a lap ago, he's doubling, making his supercross section,
14:20going down the hill, and he can see that number seven in front of him.
14:22And you can also hear this crowd loving the seven leading it.
14:31Wait till they get back in view.
14:37Oh, you hear it everywhere he goes.
14:38Now, this is a dubious stat for Plessinger.
14:45Out of all the riders that have ever won the 250 pro motocross title, he has the most career
14:50450 starts without a moto win with 54.
14:54JT.
14:55Well, you know, AP got a little help there from Jet, but regardless, this entire 2025 pro motocross
15:02campaign, I've been so impressed by the level we have seen from Aaron Plessinger.
15:06He's really elevated his game, and I think what I'm maybe more impressed by is his demeanor
15:11through this whole thing.
15:12When you talk to guys like Jet or Hunter or Eli Tomac, you can feel the weight of the pressure
15:18and the expectations upon them to win races and chase the championship.
15:22Not so much with AP.
15:23Like, he feels like he got, like, a golden ticket from Willy Wonka to be here.
15:27Like, he is so excited all the time with a smile on his face.
15:30It is completely different than everybody else around him.
15:32So just, you know, different personalities, different contrasts, but a completely different
15:36different characters than the rest of these guys.
15:38No, that's an excellent point.
15:39And, yeah, you're right, JT.
15:40And I think that's the way, usually, if you get beat so many times, it eventually gets
15:45to you.
15:45But I think with Aaron, he is that way.
15:47It is the Willy Wonka, you know, factory ticket.
15:50And I think that's just the confidence.
15:51And I'm with you, JT.
15:52The way he's showed up in his outdoors kind of somewhat surprised me how good he is.
15:57The only problem for him is that the 18 is closing really quickly at this point.
16:02But I also believe Aaron's probably a little bit more comfortable being the chaser because
16:07if you're not used to being out front, it's just a whole different position to be in.
16:11So we've got a race on our hand, and it looks like some rain is starting to come down as
16:15well.
16:16Oh!
16:18Halfway through this race, Monster Energy available now at BFS Foods.
16:23Lawrence is trying to gang up on Aaron Plessinger.
16:27Man, I can't believe Jett was able to gain when we saw Plessinger on that lap.
16:32He looked unbelievable.
16:33Yeah, I like Jett's lines, though, because he's actually making the track shorter.
16:37Like, right here, he'll just go a little bit farther out, but he was a little bit farther
16:41on the inside that next lap.
16:42And, again, the way these off-camera corners, if you just start to shorten up this racetrack,
16:47it helps.
16:47And that's where Jett's making the time.
16:49All of his passes, all of his lines are really tight, really short, keeping that momentum
16:54up, Katie.
16:55Yes, Stu.
16:56And, you know, we were all talking about this earlier in the week is how and who can
17:00rattle Jett Lawrence.
17:01And I asked him that.
17:02I said, how do you get rattled?
17:03He said, well, I'm overall pretty easygoing, but the best way I can compare it is that
17:07it's to golf.
17:08You might like that one, Stu.
17:09You can't control where the ball went or where it's going to go, but you can control
17:13your swing.
17:14And that's how I think about this in racing.
17:16And, in fact, like you're saying right now, Stu, his lines look good.
17:19He looks good on the bike.
17:20Can't control what happened before, but he can control moving forward just what he can
17:24control.
17:25Yeah, and he's figured it out.
17:27And, you know, as bad as a golfer as I am, it's the only thing in the world that the
17:32worse you are, the more chances you get to do it.
17:34So I get a lot of time to play a lot of golf.
17:36The game ain't that good.
17:37But, yeah, if you look at Jett Lawrence and his lines, as I mentioned, he's shortened the
17:41whole racetrack up.
17:42Even just hopping down that hill, because he hops another foot, he misses all those breaking
17:46bumps.
17:46He just stays the course.
17:48He's on a little bit farther on the inside.
17:49He's able to miss the bumps going up.
17:51And, look, he's already over to number seven that quickly.
17:55I notice when you talk to Jett face-to-face, you really talk about how good you are at
17:59golf.
18:00But when he's busy racing, suddenly you admit, maybe you're not as good as you've been telling
18:04him.
18:04Hey, look, man, he's beating everybody else out here.
18:06I can't let him know he can get me at golf, too.
18:08So I've got to show my confidence.
18:10I'm the golfer that shows up with the new clubs and all that.
18:13I want to make you think I'm that good.
18:14And he's making Plessinger think he's good, because Plessinger's riding well, but Lawrence has
18:18caught him.
18:19Yeah, made a mistake.
18:21Hand came off, but, man, the way this racetrack is, if I said an opening lap, if Jett can
18:26build a racetrack that was set up, a practice track, it would be this one, because there's
18:30so many opportunities, and this rider's so talented.
18:34He's in a line that he doesn't want to be in, but what you notice with him, there's no
18:39rush.
18:39There's no rush.
18:40He's not going to try to make any mistakes.
18:42If he's off, just look, I'm going to just take my time, because I believe I'm going to
18:45catch this guy if I just put a clean lap together.
18:48It was not clean through there, and Plessinger able to stretch it back out.
18:54Now, meanwhile, this is Prado battling with Hampshire.
18:59R.J. is like, welcome to America over here, but, yeah, he's got on that, and R.J. is just
19:07lean, because we saw a few laps ago they got that close, and R.J. wasn't able to get the
19:10pass, but Aaron's got to keep doing exactly what he's doing.
19:15I mean, if anything, just put Jett, maybe make him start missing his marks, because as
19:19clearly as he does that, look how much there's a gap, and that's when you start breaking down
19:24the race if I'm these guys.
19:25When I'm getting beat, and sometimes Jett just has better lines, because you just mentioned
19:30earlier, he missed his mark, right?
19:33Now, look at the gap that Aaron has.
19:35Now, Jett was able to hit his mark.
19:36He was able to close that gap, so it really just comes down to the line selection, and
19:40Jett figures that part out, I think, better than anyone around this racetrack, and that's
19:43why he's always so strong during the motos.
19:47Man, look at that gap.
19:48Now, by the way, Eli Tomac, out of nowhere, has just put in the fastest lap of the race.
19:52He went 2.05, 2.07s for the majority of the group up ahead.
19:58Tomac is in fifth.
20:00Now, you see the gap is nearly 10 seconds, but this track is changing in a hurry, and just
20:04as quickly as we thought we saw rain coming down.
20:06Now, it's bright sunshine.
20:08Let's watch this with the 18.
20:10Whoa!
20:11Yeah, and that's what you got to do.
20:13That's easy, but those guys are getting, because they're jumping up on that step up, that corner
20:17is getting wider and wider, and what Jett ended up doing, he got up on that ledge, that
20:22back tire slid out.
20:23That was a close one, but again, he's going to calm down the number seven.
20:27When all that stuff is going on, number seven is right in front of him.
20:30And Eli Tomac, James, the 2.05 was the fastest.
20:33Now, this lap, he's gone 2.04.
20:36The fastest lap anyone has turned in in this race is by the number three.
20:39He is on fire now.
20:41Yeah, and man, this is going to, Eli Tomac's a guy who rides with confidence, and yeah,
20:45he could see, I'm sure his mechanics would tell him, look, they were right in front of
20:49you, and back in the day, this race would be far from over with the beast mode.
20:54If it was anybody else outside of Jett Lawrence in this field, I'd be like, Eli's going to
20:57win this race.
20:58So, let's see if he comes to life, and if he's able to get around his teammate, man,
21:02that number three is coming straight up to the podium.
21:06Give you a check-in with our Oakley-backed riders, and that includes the leader, Plessinger,
21:10then these two, Cooper and Tomac, and then Hefshire in sixth.
21:15Can Tomac keep this pace going?
21:17Something has happened in the second half of the race for the three.
21:20Yeah, and as you mentioned, I mean, he was almost three seconds faster than our leader.
21:24That was Aaron Plessinger.
21:25Eli Tomac is rolling at this point.
21:29Oh, yeah, I love that.
21:30Just rev it up to him.
21:32Justin probably can't hear it because his bike's just like, yeah, you see that?
21:35You hear that.
21:35Uh-oh.
21:36Jett has caught Aaron now in a battle for the lead.
21:39That's where Jett made the mistake a lap ago.
21:41This time he's clean.
21:43Oh, he's on the inside, James.
21:44Not enough.
21:45Yeah, but you could see how much shorter that track was, and he's going to get Aaron here.
21:50Aaron may be going.
21:51Nice move by Jett.
21:52Just jump on the outside.
21:53He was being nice.
21:54Aaron could have really, he could have closed Aaron off, but.
21:58Oh, can the seven send it down the hill?
22:02Not enough.
22:03Jett Lawrence locks down the lead.
22:04Yeah, nice move.
22:06But a lap ago, he was, Aaron had about a three-second lead on you, and on Jett.
22:10Clearly the line.
22:12Oh, he just dialed in a 2.05.
22:15Did Lawrence, as we go back to this, Tomac in lap traffic trying to get Justin Cooper still.
22:21Oh, no, that's going to be frustrating.
22:23I don't know what happened.
22:24He lost a little bit of time, but Eli signifying to his teammate, move out of my way, just shows me that he has the pace.
22:32And the only thing you worry about, Eli, if somebody stops him.
22:35It used to be back in the day when he got in that mode.
22:37The only thing that you have to do, if Eli passed you, you have to pass him back instantly because you have to slow that momentum down.
22:44And if you could, now you're starting to see the mistakes, and then he's starting to get frustrated.
22:46The same thing that happened to First Moto last weekend.
22:50We've got to hopefully get back up there, JT.
22:53Well, yeah, and Justin Cooper, he's a New Yorker.
22:55He's from Long Island.
22:56So I'm going to imagine Eli Tomac revving.
22:59It's like honking your horn.
23:00You ever been to New York?
23:00Everybody just lays on the horn.
23:02That's exactly what Eli Tomac was doing.
23:04And realistically, he's trying to break his concentration.
23:06He's trying to say, hey, man, I've got to go, and hopefully you make a mistake along the way.
23:11But I think it almost kind of worked backwards.
23:13Like it almost maybe fired Justin Cooper up here because Eli Tomac lost his toe here.
23:18Well, guys, while we were all eating our lunch, Justin Cooper was actually standing by a fence by our TV compound of all things,
23:25just checking out the track, doing the little extra homework to understand what the track was doing.
23:30He was telling me, of course, I had to go over there and ask him, how's this going?
23:33And he said, this track is so racy, I just want to understand it more.
23:37And that is something that we have to make sure these guys know, obviously, is how the track is going to come together.
23:42And he's holding tough.
23:44Katie in that fourth-place spot under fire from Tomac.
23:48That Hunter Lawrence there in the bottom box.
23:52Yeah, as I mentioned, Hunter, he has only had one moto podium, but this race last year, he went on podium both motos.
23:58So something about the home cooking.
24:00And I feel like with Hunter Lawrence, he's a start dependent.
24:03I wouldn't say start dependent, but if he's out front close to the lead, he's fast enough clearly to be on the podium.
24:09And then his bike seems to be working a lot better this weekend.
24:12So I like what I see from both HRC, Honda's JT.
24:15Yeah, I mean, they both look great.
24:17But I'm more worried about what's going on with AP here, James.
24:20Like his lap times have dropped off significantly.
24:23He's down to a 209.
24:25That's two 209s in a row where everybody else around him is 207, 208, or better.
24:30You know, Jett threw in a 205 that lap to get the lead.
24:33So I don't know if he sprinted and now he's trying to recover, just maybe kind of overdid it there, right?
24:39But he's certainly lost the pace he had early on.
24:42Yeah, I think a little bit of that.
24:43It doesn't look like he's tired, but sometimes, like, when you're in Aaron's position, like, all right, look, you got in that second place.
24:50Jett was starting to get away from you.
24:51Then you got handed the lead, and then you were watching behind you.
24:54You would pull away.
24:56You didn't know what was going on, but that Jett was making mistakes.
24:58It's easy to think that now that Jett got past you that now you've got to pick up the pace because he's just going faster rather than understanding where Jett's making his time up.
25:07It's not going faster.
25:08It's really his line selection, so I think at the end of the day, Aaron's probably starting to override the racetrack, which he's starting to lose even more time because he's thinking he needs to just charge harder.
25:18So he needs to just calm back down and, you know, look, the 18's still in front of him, Katie.
25:23Yeah, Stu, it's interesting.
25:24His team down here in the pits are saying, hey, learn.
25:27AP, the pit board says learn.
25:29The team is saying a couple of lines that he was running have been going away as the track is changing.
25:33So now as he's sitting behind Jett, the team is encouraging him to learn something, take it all in.
25:38And, of course, if it's not this moto, take it into the next moto.
25:41Thanks, Katie.
25:42I just got an update.
25:43Brad West, at number 334, cut the first turn.
25:46They're penalizing him 10 positions.
25:49So they're taking that one seriously, that infraction.
25:53We're trying to figure their way out around this racetrack.
25:56My choice of a different kind there.
25:58Yeah, that was a good one.
25:59And what Katie was talking about was kind of the same thing I'm saying.
26:02His team is telling him to learn, like, basically pick up Jett's lines because his lines are better.
26:08So learn from him.
26:09And if you can, then look, he's not pulling away from you as quickly as he was passing and got that gap.
26:14He's still right there.
26:15So it looks like AP is starting to do that.
26:17But at the same time, Hunter is learning off of him.
26:20And he wants to get some action as well.
26:23What a Father's Day present.
26:25Both those boys can bring to Darren if they're able to go 1-2 in his moto.
26:28So it's going to be a fight to the end.
26:32And Plessica responded.
26:33Got it back into the 207s.
26:35I heard JT mention he had run 209s.
26:38And then that big charge from Tomac had a 205, a 204.
26:42Now he's back to running 209s.
26:44So not sure what got going for the three.
26:46And it's drifted back away from him as he's stuck in fifth.
26:50Yeah, and when you look at Aaron, his last lap was a lot smoother.
26:54The last three quarters of that lap was smoother.
26:56So, again, the situation is not – sometimes you go fast around the racetrack.
27:00It isn't about charging going down the hill.
27:02It's about picking better lines, shortening up the racetrack.
27:06And one of the guys who do it well, we always talk about in Supergrafts, is Cooper Webbs.
27:09When that track gets beat up, he just shortens it.
27:11Finds the smoothest parts of the racetrack.
27:13And we saw Jett on screen doing the same thing.
27:15When he was trying to run down Aaron Plessinger, he was making mistakes.
27:19When he got in his lines and just did his own deal, he was able to close that gap.
27:23And that's what's happening right now.
27:27Man, it's almost cruel sometimes the way Jett does this.
27:30Just keeps that carrot right there.
27:32But when we saw what he had to go, what he could do.
27:37But once he gets the lead, then it's just stabilizing.
27:39And Plessinger can still see him in some of the longer sections of the track.
27:43Yeah, and I think that's the difficult part when we watch with Jett.
27:47It looks like he's like, all right, man, when he wanted to make that ground up, he was able to make it.
27:52But then at the same time, when you watch Jett ride, he was making mistakes behind Aaron.
27:57And it wasn't until he calmed down that he made up a lot of times.
28:01And sometimes this kid is so good.
28:03What makes him great is not being the fastest everywhere, but being the smartest and choosing lines.
28:08As Hunter goes up the inside, Aaron better turn down.
28:12For what?
28:12He wants to get it.
28:13Nice move.
28:14Oh, I believe Aaron should go around the single.
28:16There you go.
28:17Block that line.
28:18Makes you stay on the inside down here.
28:20But Hunter's going to try to charge.
28:21What you want to do with Hunter, get beside him, make him get nervous, make him trump the throttle, make him stinking out of this corner, which he does.
28:29And a nice line.
28:30He should have the inside to pass here.
28:32Long run to three, four turns to set it up.
28:35But the 96, Hunter Lawrence locks down second.
28:38Yeah, and the good thing with Hunter, he's been watching AP this whole time.
28:43That's why I do feel like Jett is great at Hunter.
28:45Anybody that can pass, sometimes you drift back a little bit and you study the guy's weakness in front of him.
28:51And when you get to him, you've got to attack him instantly because if he missed that pass, then you have Aaron Plesser blocking in the next lap.
28:58So nice move by Hunter.
28:59He saw the opportunity.
29:00He made it happen.
29:00Now he's got a gap that he doesn't have to worry about their favor being returned by him, by Aaron.
29:06Look at this battle here.
29:07Jorge Prado has drifted back to 10th.
29:09And Benoit Patrelle, the veteran out of France, these two have raced each other plenty of times through the years.
29:14He's in 11th of the Twisted T Suzuki.
29:17We talked to him yesterday about these tracks here in America.
29:22Yeah, it's a big difference.
29:23You don't have time to learn, and it's really quick.
29:26You need to be fast and quick because it's only 15 minutes, so it goes like five, six laps.
29:33But I enjoy a lot, and the tracks are amazing because it's so big, so wide.
29:40So you need to learn to explore every line and go outside, inside.
29:46So you have many choices to pass and many lines, so this you need to learn.
29:52No, that's cool.
29:53And he's probably going to pass Jorge.
29:55Like, man, you learned this track yet?
29:57You know, we're always trying to figure this thing out together because it's Jorge right in front of him.
30:00But, you know, still, it's a world championship.
30:03You have so many different countries.
30:05It's good to see all these guys out here.
30:06But, I mean, there's a list of them right there.
30:09Actually, this section of the track they're about to hit.
30:11They're going to go up this hill and then go back down those famous downhill rollers.
30:14They actually have flags from every country that's represented in the field today.
30:20I don't know if you'll be able to see that.
30:21It'll be just off the rider's right.
30:23There they are.
30:25Yeah.
30:26Thanks, guys.
30:27Appreciate the shot.
30:28Yep.
30:29And there's Prado out of Spain and the Frenchman, Patrerell, right behind him.
30:34So, some signs of life for Prado, but in the end, back to 10.
30:39And back to the leader, Jet Lawrence, JT.
30:42Guys, I want you to watch Jet right here.
30:44He's going to pass the mechanics here.
30:46And this is the corner that he made that mistake and installed it.
30:48Watch.
30:48There's a bump here, and he's jumping right there.
30:51Jumps across that hole into that line.
30:54Now, that's not the reason he's winning the race, but those subtleties where he was jumping into those bumps after the downhill rollers.
31:00It's little things like that.
31:02He's avoiding having to hit bumps that other guys are.
31:05Just little bursts of energy that he can save.
31:08And it's more of like being super creative and keeping his eyes open all the way around the racetrack to find out how to be just a little bit quicker.
31:14Yeah.
31:15And JT, that's another one.
31:17And he jumps in, and I do believe that is one of the main reasons he is winning the races.
31:21And that's why you mentioned earlier, Jason, that, you know, it must be frustrating to be Aaron Fletcher.
31:26And he's hanging that carrot right in front of him.
31:28But what he's doing is, again, his line selection, I was saying it earlier, I didn't finish him, his line selection is better than anybody else, you know, around this racetrack.
31:38And because he's just so patient and so calm at doing what he's doing as we were watching Eli trying to get back to his teammate, it's like he's not pulling away from you instantly because of speed.
31:48He just wears you down, and it makes you feel like you have a choice, but eventually he keeps jumping these bumps, and it's smoother, you're attacking, and eventually you start wearing out, and then that gap stretches.
31:59So I do believe that's why these guys are able to stay so close because he's not attacking it with speed.
32:04He's attacking this track with tactical moves instead of speed, and it eventually pays off in the long run, and he ends up winning.
32:11And back to this battle again, it's Justin Cooper and Eli Tomac.
32:17But one more thing on the jet thing, when he saves that much energy, when the rider does get to him, doesn't that just make him that much fresher to withstand that attack?
32:28Yeah, I mean, yes, yes and no.
32:29I think what it does is that when the rider gets to him, they, unless you ride like that, again, you're going to try to do your Eli Tomac.
32:37If you're going to blitz down the hill, you're going to try to go around him, and I think once you get close to jet, you get so excited, you try to go faster, and then you slam in a rut, and then he just rides past you.
32:48Eventually, that just mentally wears these guys out, so I don't know if it's jet saving the energy or these guys mentally get worn out that I had my chance, I didn't get it, and it's one of these scenarios that keeps continuously happening.
33:00It doesn't matter who's behind him, we end up in the same spot, and that's frustrating as a rider, and you can see the same thing happening with Eli Tomac.
33:06Like, he's faster than Justin Cooper, but we saw him, he didn't get his lines, he wasn't able to get around them, he stalled his pace out, and he went from a 204 to a 209 in the same lap, and that part's the same thing that happens with Jet Lawrence once he's out front, just butt strays these guys, and it's a skill that he's able to execute the best out of anybody, clearly.
33:28A reminder that every round of this Super Motocross World Championship, all 31, you can listen to it on Sirius XM Radio, the NBC Sports Audio channel, which is channel 85, so if you can't watch, certainly listen.
33:44If you're on the road during the summer months here, during Pro Motocross, lap rider falls down in front of Cooper and Tomac in this battle for fourth, two to go.
33:54Yeah, I do believe, you know, when you're Justin Cooper, you're like, man, possibly, he might, Eli might be on a different team, so I don't know if you even look at him as a teammate anymore, you know, if he switches team, who knows?
34:09For next year, for next year, possibly, so I think if it was Cooper Webb, Justin might have moved out of the way, but because all that scenario, and he wants to get his first ever win himself, it's not going to make it hard on easy for him, and I'm sure that's frustrating for Eli, as you heard him a few laps ago, about 10 minutes ago, revving his bike up.
34:29Yeah, the off-season rumor is really heating up, Yamaha, who had expected Tomac, by his own admission, to retire at some point, he set it at 22, 23, 24, 25, he wants to keep racing, they really don't have room anymore, they still have Cooper Webb, they still have Justin Cooper, Hayden Deegan will be moving up, we think he'll be at a 450 in this Pro Motocross championship next year, so it was a happy marriage between Tomac and Yamaha, but it might be coming to an end.
34:55There are rumors he might end up at KTM next year, now the Riders aren't going to tell you until the off-season, officially, speaking of KTMs, they caught one.
35:05Yeah, they caught one, and I'm sure it's going to motivate Eli, so now he'll realize that Aaron Pleasant is right here, if he can get in that third place, that changes the whole overall, so somewhat, as you just mentioned, as Justin Cooper goes flying past Aaron Pleasant.
35:19Woo! Podium position now for the 32.
35:23Now, again, as I said earlier, you see how these guys' body language, when they get that rabbit in front of him, that toe, Eli was all over Justin, it looked like he was eventually going to get past him, Justin sees Aaron, he goes flying past him.
35:35Oh, Aaron fights right back, there's some body language.
35:37Yeah, I mean, and look, and they were able to pull that gap from Eli Tomac, so I know you might get tired of me talking about that toe, but that's the toe that I'm talking about.
35:46These guys see somebody, they want to attack, and got to race for the podium at the end, look at both those legs come out.
35:53Legs off, worries off, doesn't care, fighting it out, Justin Cooper going to run the outside to inside here.
36:03Now, if I'm Eli Tomac, I'm going to try to close back in on this guy, because Aaron's going to be trying to block Cooper.
36:09Oh, there it goes!
36:10Sneak in and try to get Justin, I might be able to get me both of those guys.
36:15Not quite enough, here's the return fire from Plessinger a moment ago.
36:19Yeah, Justin loses the front end, he's not able to get over this tunnel jump, Aaron does, and then he gets on the outside.
36:25Pretty easy pass, that was all caused by Justin's mistake.
36:28Might be costly for the podium.
36:30It's the last lap, these three fighting for third.
36:34In the back section for the final time.
36:37Man, that's a pothole right there, I feel like if Eli can get close to him.
36:41We saw some passes being made, I like this inside line, this middle line that Eli has.
36:47Didn't like it right there.
36:49Meanwhile, Jet Lawrence should have the checkers inside.
36:55He's at the bottom of the hill, got to get to the top turn left.
36:59He's never lost a 450 moto here at high point.
37:04Keeps it alive, Jet Lawrence wins the first moto.
37:09At high point, 20-25, this battle's going to the line.
37:12Plessinger, Cooper, Tomac, third, fourth, fifth.
37:19Good ride by Aaron, about to hold on, good ride by both brothers to get it done.
37:24That was a good race, tough conditions.
37:26I'm sure Eli might be a little frustrated at fifth pace.
37:29Definitely had the pace to win this one.
37:31Did have the fastest lap of the moto, Eli Tomac.
37:35Hunter Lawrence, by the way, best result of the year for him with that runner-up.
37:40And Lawrence is our one-two on the Hondos.
37:42Eli Tomac is in the third.
37:45One-two on the Hondos.
38:08Come on in on in oncho.
Be the first to comment