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2025 Motocross of Nations MXoN Ironman Raceway MX2 Qualifying
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00:00The MX2 qualifying race here at the 78th edition of the Monster Energy FIM
00:05Motocrosser Nations here at Ironman Raceway in the USA. Sasha Kunin taking
00:09some massive deep breaths. Cooper was fastest in the free practice session
00:15earlier from Kaida Wolf, Sasha Kunin, Perez and Webster. Who would it be that comes out on top
00:19here though when it matters for the qualifying race? Simon Langenfelder
00:24sweeping across the outside number seven and down in the first turn we've got all
00:29kinds of riders one of those was Andrea Adamo Webster somehow stays up. Justin
00:34Cooper all the way to fighting for second that that is the kind of start from
00:38the outside that Team USA needed. And that is a sigh of relief for them as well so
00:42they know that they can do that from anywhere if they need it in the next
00:44race with RJ Hampshire but it's Langenfelder who leads Kunin second, Cooper
00:49third, Harup I think in fourth place on the 32 from Denmark and then Kaida Wolf
00:55there in fifth then Webster sixth of Australia as they sweep through these
00:59turns. McClellan for South Africa, Perez Spain, Valland France nine and
01:04Rachel is ten, Walsh of Great Britain in 11th and then Nakajima of Japan in
01:0712th place. So a frantic opening lap here in MX2 qualifying it usually is and look at
01:16these two Red Bull KTMs as they have done on so many occasions this year. Kunin
01:20almost knack-knacking his way over that single somehow stays on the two wheels.
01:25Yeah I see Langenfelder cut off Justin Cooper there up the face but I don't
01:30think you really meant to it's just the lines kind of converged but those Red
01:33Bull KTMs that you know the Carly team has had those bikes out front all year
01:37long and we're gonna see if Kaida Wolf can maybe exact some revenge here. He was so
01:42close to winning his second consecutive MX2 World Championship. I want to see a
01:46replay of the start when we get the opportunity because there was a handful
01:49of riders that went down in that. I think Pekelai was one of them for sure Adamo
01:54but not too many of the bigger names apart from that then. With Adamo side by
02:01side Kaida Wolf and Cooper. Justin Cooper almost running out of track there Kaida Wolf from
02:07the Netherlands in orange. He'll go to the inside he gets held up behind Langenfelder shuts
02:11the door on Cooper who switches back the opposite direction. DeWolf now up into
02:17third and Jay Coop number five Team USA looking to find a way past the number eight of the
02:24Netherlands. No one rider who'll be looking intently at this will be Hayden Deegan of
02:29course the original choice for MX2 broke his collarbone a couple of weeks ago in
02:32SMX and then apparently these two had a bit of bantz friendly bantz I'm not so
02:37sure between Hayden Deegan and Kaida Wolf but the language that was used I would
02:42say probably wasn't too too complimentary put it that way so I don't know how
02:45friendly they are. DeWolf now up in a second. With that move on Langenfelder.
02:49Yeah Kaida's on the gas here you can just see how aggressive he is at the moment and
02:53you know he's coming here with the points proof right he effectively felt like that
02:59was his championship to lose this year you know I would argue that it was
03:02probably his own inconsistency that got him there but this is a chance to leave
03:06the 2025 campaign on a positive note and he's already kind of attacking in that
03:10thing that way. Yeah and that's the thing you know before you get ready to go into
03:13the winter training testing you've just had that disappointment of losing the
03:16world championship but at least come out of this with a good result just to get
03:19that head back high again you know. I see Jacob trying to make a move on
03:24Langenfelder here. Succeeds as well into turn 12 that left hand up got the big
03:30number eight of Kaida Wolf the new well the last year's world champion just ahead
03:36of him wants to test himself against the number eight Langenfelder trying to
03:40lean on the American here at the top of the hill as they fight over that third
03:42place but it's Cooper hanging on on the number five machine. Yeah Jacob's only got
03:47about three days on the 250 here so some of those old things take time you know
03:51carrying more momentum you can't rely on the power before 50 anymore she's got to
03:56pick the intensity back up and I think that will come back to him if it hasn't
04:00already but it does take a little bit of time to find the pace on a 250. That's
04:03nice and then you got and actually how he picked his front wheel up there and
04:07dropped down the other side triple out that is a Jet Lawrence line but he wasn't
04:10able to do that he went double single into that turn did the number eight of
04:13Kaida Wolf but the gap between the first four riders at the end of that first
04:18official lap there remember finish line to finish line Sasha Coon and a 2036 he's
04:22one second clear of DeWolf. DeWolf though the fastest lap 202.7 pretty much a
04:26second quicker than the Belgian. Jacob is up to third 2039 1.3 behind the
04:32Dutchman and then Langenfelder down to fourth 4.2 seconds separate the first four
04:36riders and that's them just heading into turns two and three. Rider down on the
04:41exit of the final turn back onto the start straight there didn't quite see who that
04:45was it might have been the 53 of Camden McClellan if that's the case that
04:49McClellan may be down out of eight place see Kyle Webster go through there you know
04:55I think for Justin Cooper that passed by DeWolf woke him up a little bit you can
04:59see the intensity return I just stole all's there you see Matisse go and go by
05:09and I think for Kyle Webster this type of rides okay right you see him closing on the
05:14reigning MX2 world champion that's the type of performance if Australia can get a
05:18ride like this out of Kyle Webster on Sunday it will be very very difficult to
05:24take that championship away from them in 2025. Well lap two then and Sasha Coon and
05:29continues to lead Kyder Wolf those two separated by 1.3 but Team Australia the
05:33defending champions Kyle Webster in this one on the number two and all Honda HRC team
05:40just like it was last year Webster in that fifth place Langenfelder less than a second
05:45ahead of him as they re-emerge over at the GoPro hill but back with our leaders 47
05:52Sasha Coonan oh heavy landing there almost folded the front back came around on him
05:57DeWolf will see that and he'll think you know what I've got this kid rattled stretches out there comes up short did he run out of real estate
06:04because there are two quick successive mistakes there was another one just after
06:08the next double I mean he's still there but he might have had to take a visit to
06:12the berries farm
06:16now he's under pressure all of a sudden
06:20nine tenths the gap between Coonan and DeWolf so interesting when you talk to Sasha Coonan about crashes like this
06:28he never remembers them take a look at the start all eyes over to the left-hand side three gates out on the number five
06:35Justin Cooper
06:37but also Adamo here in the thick of it there's Cooper's light gate all the way across here and then watch the bottleneck going in
06:43Handle full of riders maybe six or seven guys down Adamo at the bottom of it for Italy he's now up in the twelfth place
06:50And you saw the game plan there for Justin Cooper get the jump and then you've got to drive deep watch how far he drives all the way when they let off he's still
06:58drives deep deep deep and then he finds real estate on the outside there so that was there yeah a
07:04great line
07:06for
07:08Justin Cooper as he got across everybody
07:11I
07:13think he was up the inside of
07:15Francesco Garcia in the red and yellow
07:17where is Garcia for Spain actually
07:20I'm sorry yeah not not Garcia it would have been Perez
07:25C.J. Cooper's now latched on to the back of the wolf that's what I was kind of mentioned I think it will come up a little bit and
07:33It helps when you have someone to kind of latch on to and chase
07:37You know it's it's difficult I think for Jacob to really know what the pace is because he hasn't raced the 250 in a few years
07:43So he's guessing a little bit as what do the intensity needs to be what the pace needs to be this is giving him a good gauge now
07:49But excuse me at the same time when you've been on a bigger bike
07:53You just have the tendency just to want to wring the neck off it don't you so
07:55Absolutely
07:56Four strokes are very very similar power so just to get on and it's just a matter of
08:01I think it's just the gear shifting isn't it you know what I mean because you can rev the nuts off it and go nowhere
08:05But at the same time when you love this section through here
08:08When you get that gear shifting right that gives you the drive at the rear wheel just to keep propelling you forward
08:14And it's just those little I don't know idiosyncrasies if you like that make the difference
08:19He'll figure it out by the end of today though with race mode
08:22And there's some muscle memory going on there as well right it's gonna get easier as the weekend goes on
08:26But I just think finding someone this is the best pace on the racetrack now
08:31He knows what the expectation and he knows what the pace is
08:34And now I think you start to see him settle in a mistake there from Kai
08:37But I think he's comfortable with the situation now
08:41So Kai DeWolf then under pressure from Justin Cooper all of a sudden Cooper a couple of years off of the 250
08:46As Jason Thomas says that muscle memory coming back pretty quickly
08:50Knows he's got a great machine underneath him underneath him with that star racing Yamaha is Jason
08:55It is Hayden Deegan's machine that he's riding pretty much jumped on maybe positions and levers
09:00That's about it because there's nothing wrong with that bike in outdoor competition we know that
09:06And that's got to be good as well isn't it you know you go on there so the good news is
09:11The bad news is you you've got like four days to get yourself ready for the nation's the good news is you're gonna be riding the star
09:17Star Yamaha the better news is it's probably one of the best bikes if not the best bike on the grid out there
09:22Yeah, and they all practice together same facility they all live within a you know 15 kilometer radius of each other
09:28So they're all acutely aware of bike settings team changes technicians
09:33They all work in conjunction all the time
09:35So if you're looking for a fill-in at the last second this is about as good as it's going to get
09:39Sasha Coonan impressive ride for him at the moment
09:41You know what only three and a half seconds separate the first three Coonan DeWolf and Cooper
09:46So Coonan not getting too far away
09:49We'll find a rider out there any moment now there he is that's Coonan
09:53How smooth was Jet Lawrence's line round there up over the plateau on the downside
09:57Yeah, I mean it he was really pushing into that berm a little bit scary
10:02But the time savings there right like he doesn't really take outside risk which would tell you he probably is very comfortable with that line
10:09But those little things like that you don't again. They won't kind of make a headline
10:14They won't be on the highlight reel, but those are the places he makes up time
10:17Yeah, Sasha Coonan going off track there just before he went under the bridge after that monster jump a moment ago
10:21Had a bit of a pitch he was leaning forward went off track went round about three markers before getting back on track again
10:28Would have cost him a little bit of time not too much, but this is his first ever motocrosser nations
10:32He should have been a 250 rider last year, but then he got injured towards the end of the year
10:36And he wasn't really in a place to go racing
10:39So Lucas Coonan was brought down from a 450 to a 250 that massively reshaped the team
10:46And Lucas Coonan could have had his fantastic opportunity
10:50He crashed down race one whilst challenging fourth place and the lead 250 guy remember at Mattelie Basin that wrecked his collarbone shoulder
10:57So, uh, Sasha Coonan hoping just to get through and be the best Coonan here this weekend and the best MX2 rider
11:03Pretty amazing. This is the first time in America for either of the Coonan brothers
11:07To be this good at this level of racing you would have thought they would have come over for an amateur race or to visit even even to visit with sponsors
11:14This is the first attempt to for Sasha to be performing like this
11:18I think speaks volumes about what his capabilities are long term
11:21Yeah, and he's stabilizing that gap as well increasing the gap to more than two seconds over
11:25Kaida wolf
11:27Here's the number 11 Spaniard of Guillaume Perez on that monster energy triumph
11:31He's got Yanis Rachelis on the 29 the Latvian just behind him these two fighting over sixth position at the moment
11:40Mattis Valan behind him in eighth place about another second or so back then heart of Denmark and Camden McClellan in 10th place
11:47So three triumphs in that sort of lower part of the top ten sixth place
11:54Ninth place and tenth position for them
11:58No stranger to racing in the US of course Guillaume Perez
12:01Yeah
12:02But what was it two three years ma just just by injury after injury and then he's taken a route back to the
12:08MX2 world championship this year had some success
12:12Well, it's really all started on a tryout, right?
12:14A tip was given to the monster Yamaha star racing trainer their girls wanna pull said hey, let's give him a shot comes over and presses and
12:22And the rest is history. He's been on factory equipment ever since
12:27Ross beaten they're just grabbing that scaffold pole brother of jet beaten is very instrumental in the junior world championship program for team Australia of course
12:35And just a little bit extra backroom backroom staff for team Australia's team management there of Michael Byrne and Gary Ben as well
12:43Just a widely experienced individual been around the job many many years late 70s
12:50And still looking as young as ever and it's enthusiastic as ever Gary Ben for Australia
12:56Such a team effort to see Tommy there that normal mechanic for chance hymas becomes Kyle Webster's mechanic as
13:03Kyle Webster has a full factory Honda HRC bike probably the best equipment he'll have all season long and
13:09The same bike that Joe Shimoda rode?
13:10Absolutely, yeah, yeah, it's a big effort from them
13:13I was told they produce seven works bikes for this race across all the teams and riders and countries so
13:18Honda HRC representing this weekend
13:22Wow
13:23Battle for the lead then starting to reshape
13:26Seven minutes plus two laps to go first and second Sasha Coon and Kyda Wolf
13:30Jay Coop Justin Cooper now 3.7 seconds behind the Husqvarna rider from the Netherlands number eight
13:36So he had a bit of a go had a bit of a stab so whether he made a small mistake here and there and just lost that impetus and
13:44Looking around thinking you know what third is going to be okay
13:48We've got a nine from Eli in race one if RJ Hampshire can go out and get a better result than a nine
13:53Obviously they'll take Jay Coop's and RJ's scores into the qualifying just depends on how that will be
14:00As it stands right now look with
14:03Jet Lawrence winning the MXGP qualifying race and Kyle Webster fifth in this race at the moment
14:09Australia on six points
14:12Germany are also on six because Kenny Roxen had a second
14:15Langenfelder a fourth so a two and a four six points
14:18And then Belgium are third with a six and a one so that sixth place in this one point with Coonan at the moment
14:25Propelling them up into that third place
14:27Spain would be fourth France fifth USA with a twelve nine
14:29Sorry at nine three giving them twelve points. They would be sixth gate pick as it stands right now
14:35Although they would qualify six going into the races on Sunday, but still one more race to come
14:39Yeah, and my bias is probably showing but I truly don't think there's a huge difference there on the gate pick especially at this particular racetrack
14:46So yes, what would American fans want to see Team USA win on Saturday?
14:50Sure, it's great for momentum and sentiment and all those things but when it really comes down to it on the starts tomorrow
14:56First gate pick versus third fourth fifth gate pick it really won't matter a whole lot unless you specifically want to be next to the doghouse
15:05You know the the starting box there outside of that not a whole lot of advantage
15:09You think they will go to the doghouse or you think they'll be a little bit more sort of mid left?
15:13I think I think some riders would the riders like Hayden Deegan have typically gone there
15:18Of course, he's not there this weekend, but you just have a little bit of room for error
15:21If you don't get the jump you want you can they can really lean into the power that that Yamaha has and use that to pull themselves forward with the extra room
15:29So it's really personal preference, but this is one of the races and there are so many
15:35Races racetracks around the world where the starting position is so critical. This just happens to not be one of them
15:39Mattis vanette going after Yanis race list the 2025 European 250 champion
15:45One two five champion as well two years ago
15:48So the number 29 over on the right side from Latvia a little tight through there and that out. That's it. The
15:55The binders
15:58Things get dicey tomorrow. That's a place we can see some contact. We've seen a few people
16:01Sasha Coonan now the land a few people up the inside there with some ill intentions that they lock the brakes on one
16:09The ruts on the face of that single on the the bumps that are hiding lurking beneath on that part of the racetrack
16:16They're the kind of things that we don't necessarily see from by a drug camp there
16:20But they're definitely things that suspension guys and riders feel and that you know
16:24They look at that to fine-tune that don't they those kind of parts of the track? Yeah, and especially as the bumps you see how soft and supple the bumps are on other parts of the racetrack
16:30They're getting really hard and that really jars the riders
16:34They want to soften the bike a little bit up add some suspension there
16:38Valang trying to get alongside racialists. It's going to be bar to bar as they head back down the straight under the tunnel
16:44Rachel is hanging on for now. Guillaume Perez just ahead of them
16:49So Perez in that sixth place racialists in seventh in the burgundy and white the lamp 14th for France
16:55He's there in eighth place McClelland about another one and a half seconds further back
16:59He didn't pass this lap his best lap a lap ago McClelland there he is on the 53
17:03And then we got har about another 12 seconds behind him
17:07Now there's a line in that section. We just watched those two going side by side and
17:11Hayden Deegan was the only one here last August to actually jump it out
17:15I'll be interested to see if anybody pulls it out a rider like jet someone that really wants to find some pace could use it
17:19I'll try to point it out to you next up around. It's big, but it is incredibly quick
17:25Horrible couple of corners there everyone trying to sort of stay very very high to that outside
17:31But it's almost looking more problematic than anywhere else. Yeah, and I think the track has gotten really hard over there
17:37You heard RJ Hampshire talk about how hard it is versus the typical setup here
17:42So some of those sections, especially that's what they call the GNCC section, which is where you see riders headed towards right now
17:48It's it's the hardest area of the racetrack
17:50Adama we just saw a flash of him. He's in 11th place for Team Italy Italy are going to be qualified 8th at the moment with 8th and 11th
17:57Oh, Sasha Koenig again
18:00Just testing the boundaries in more ways than one
18:05Perez just out of these two and there's McClellan closing back in on France and Latvia top of the hill
18:12Three riders in shot as we come back the opposite way Latvia, France and South Africa
18:15Africa
18:22Volant trying to soak up that little single keep that rear wheel on the ground as much as possible gained him a couple of bike lengths
18:31Still pretty decent though for Yanis Raceless
18:35Can he hang on though? He's got another minute and a half or thereabouts plus two laps
18:40In which to do so
18:42Jaycoop all of a sudden
18:44Fastest lap of the race 2-0-1
18:463-8-5 on lap 8
18:48He's got to get back down to 2 seconds
18:50So this is the section D going to land in the hole
18:53There, there, yeah
18:55They carry all that speed all the way through here and then all the way around the outside
18:58It's a lot of risk
19:00It's a really far jump you have to get correct
19:02But I'm telling you the speed gained through there
19:04He's probably going 10k faster an hour through there, so
19:06And then over the finish line jump as well when he does that?
19:09Yeah, he was
19:11Maybe the first to ever jump that so
19:14There's some Deegan-esque lines around this racetrack
19:18But this is the battle for 7th, 8th place
19:21The rider in red and yellow Spain just ahead of them
19:23Then we've got McClellan just behind them on the 53
19:25Yeah, two EMX 250 champions going bar to bar and it's the, the former champ Valan finds his way past
19:37Yannis Raceless, the latest to do so
19:40Nervous look over the shoulder though for the Frenchman as he messes up on the exit
19:44Didn't want the Latvian to come back by him
19:47But instead, McClellan has now found his way past Raceless as well
19:52So we've got Ferez in 6th, Valan 7th, McClellan 8th, Valan and Raceless down to 9th place
19:59Game on at the top end though
20:01This was a lap of go
20:05Just untidy through there
20:07Yeah, loses the front which causes him to lose the rear
20:11Pretty much made a mess of the entire corner
20:13And I wonder how much that mulch that they put in there as well
20:16That sort of wood chip and bar actually held him up in some respects as well
20:20Because when he broke traction and then shut off, that just pulls you in, it sets you in a little bit more
20:25Got a little depth to it
20:27Righty-o, here we go, two lap board getting ready to go out
20:30Who's going to be crossing the line as a winner though?
20:32Is going to be Sasha Kunin or Kaida Wolf
20:35Because as they hit the line at the end of lap 9
20:38The gap between these two is half a second
20:40But it's the Belgian leading the rider from the Netherlands
20:47And just lurking in the background, another 3 seconds further back, Justin Cooper
20:53Dropping into that inside rut, traffic keeping to the outside, out of the way
20:56The Wolf with a new lap record, 2-0-1-1-5-3 eclipsing what Justin Cooper did a lap ago
21:07With a 2-0-1-3-8-5, so a couple of tenths quicker than the American
21:14As he gets his claws into the Belgian, Sasha Kunin
21:18Just under two laps to go
21:20Impressive ride this though from both of them
21:22Yeah
21:24Certainly the leader
21:26And really, you know, these two have been really hot late in the season
21:29Sasha Kunin winning some GPs there, so
21:31Shouldn't be a surprise, but I'd be very curious to see if Sasha can hold off Kai
21:35But you come into your First Nations, a lot of expectation, a lot of pressure
21:38You wouldn't realize that though, watching Sasha Kunin, would you?
21:41Well, you know, he's such a rider that I don't think he over-think situations
21:45He really just turns the throttle on and lets, you know, that take care of itself
21:48So that, this type of race, I think if you over-think it, you put too much pressure on yourself
21:53It can really work against you, and I really never felt that with Sasha
21:57Up, over the GoPro step-up, tricky turn 13 there, around that tree
22:03A lot of the tree rips that you can't see
22:04Yeah, Sasha kind of losing the front there every single time, just wonder if he needs to slide forward a bit there more, if it's line selection, but
22:12Consistently having an issue in that corner
22:14Back markers coming thick and fast, as he has another heavy landing on that part of the racetrack
22:18A couple of laps ago, he went off track there just before this jump
22:24Kinda Wolf
22:26Good on this part of the race
22:28Was, until that moment
22:31That's where it helps to be tall
22:33Yeah, pushing his weight to the back
22:37But going into the final lap then
22:40Another moment for Kunin
22:41And the gap this time around as they hit the line
22:44Lappers are going to play a goal here
22:46Four tenths, and the lappers are going to come thick and fast
22:49Kunin thinks right, do I do this, do I do that?
22:51Kai de Wolf can read the situation behind him
22:58Dropping both into that inside line
23:01Back markers completely unaware that the leaders are coming through here
23:04So, de Wolf has to go outside, inside
23:06Again, tall, able to use that frame to keep himself on balance
23:09But this is advantage at the moment for the 47 of Sascha Kunin in Belgium
23:14Back markers falling his way a little bit better than they did for the rider number 8 from the Netherlands
23:19Especially some of those lines, you see Kai have to come to a complete stop on the inside
23:23It really doesn't work for him
23:25Just watch this here, you see, you work your way into the double
23:29And then you say, right, we're going to just pop over the top and he just kicked
23:33Just stopped that too early
23:34That's nice, just a little, right, just lets the foot drop in and hook out
23:42Sasha's making a lot of mistakes, but I really like the way he's putting the track together
23:46You see, he's inside, outside, he's really not ever breaking his momentum
23:51And he's making his line choices according to that
23:54Where I've seen Kai, not necessarily that he wants to, but trying to take an alternative line
23:58He's gone to the inside, which is causing him to come to complete stop and have to rebuild all that momentum
24:05See, another mistake there
24:08It's almost like the front, he's getting on the gas too early and the front's getting away from him
24:11And then he's kind of contemplating where that front end will dip
24:15Yeah, it's almost, I think maybe if he was a little bit more patient, slid a little bit more forward
24:19And then roll through the corner
24:21It's easy for me to say that when I don't have the pressure of trying to leave the race
24:24But when you have a mistake that's happening every single lap, time after time, there's clearly something going on there
24:30Right, triples his way through the turn, wheelie double
24:33Good momentum this, but it's only two corners to go before the checkered flag flies
24:36And it will be a win for number 47, Sasha Coonan
24:42First time at the Nations, takes a win in his first ever race
24:45And it's the qualifying win for the number 47
24:51Can breathe a sigh of relief now
24:582.8 seconds in the end, DeWolf realized once he got through that sand section, the waves
25:02And out of that left turn, there was no way he was going to find his way past
25:07Unless Coonan went down, so he's just backed it right off, 2.8 seconds
25:10But Cooper third, and as it stands right now
25:13Australia lead the way, going into the final race today in the qualifying stages
25:18Six points, same as Germany, Belgium on 7, France on 11, Spain also on 11, USA on 12
25:26And, okay, we've just got a disqualification for...
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