00:11Tension starting to build. There goes the 30-second board. We're ready to go racing here in BC Place. Drop the gate!
00:21Headed to Carpe, turn number one. And it's Tomek out front, but boy, he slipped right in the middle of the corner.
00:27Everything broke away at the rear end of the Red Bull KTM, and Anderson, on the 21, comes up the inside to take away the lead.
00:34And that came from gate number one, way inside the safe gate, Jeff, but he pushed everybody wide, cut under, takes the lead. What a start for Ombre.
00:44Tomek back to second place as he fights hard to get there, but Vince Friese got a tremendous start.
00:49He's in front of Tomek now, just by a hair on that start. So it's the start versus the KTM as they come at you here.
00:57And there's Justin Cooper, the 32 on the Yamaha, the wild card for this event, has made his way past Friese.
01:05Also, Christian Craig's in there.
01:09Watching Tomek on that Red Bull KTM. Cooper right behind him now.
01:14Here's Anderson blasting through the whoops. Where's the start? There it is.
01:19Christian Craig up here on the 28 as well. He's holding down fourth right now.
01:23And Friese has slipped back to fifth. Roxen trying to come up as quick as he can. He sits in sixth right now.
01:29Well, and for Ken Roxen, Jeff, the sweep, the perfection, everything going your way.
01:37Well, he's being challenged right now. He's going to have to be his very best in a quick, quick race
01:41and go through Craig and Cooper and Tomek and Jason Anderson, who is taking off with a 1.6-second lead.
01:48Again, this is another short eight-lap race with 10 points up for grabs for the winner.
01:54Well, Ken Roxen at 94 there, the red plate. He's your points leader.
01:58This is the most adversity that he's had to face so far in this young championship.
02:04Oh, Savace off into the tough blocks, but he keeps it going.
02:07Yeah, and you see Friese's dropped back quite a few places.
02:11He got a good start, but everything was happening way too quick for him.
02:14Roxen is closing on Craig. That's quickly going to become a battle for fourth
02:18as we continue to watch Anderson getting hounded by Tomek.
02:23Tomek a little bit higher up on that burn.
02:24It's a great drive off into this next rhythm lane as they come to the finish line jump.
02:28Anderson knows he has company. Tomek on the inside.
02:31New leader here in D.C. Place, and the crowd comes to life here in Canada.
02:36Yeah, Anderson tried to cut down and kind of counteract what Tomek was doing,
02:40hit some tough blocks. Luckily, he didn't go down.
02:43Now, one of those tough blocks kind of kicked out in the middle of the track,
02:46so the other rider is going to come around to turn and have a little surprise.
02:50Roxen up to fourth very, very quickly.
02:52Now up to third on Justin Cooper, so that early race pace that he has,
02:56he is using it, and he better, because now Eli's got that clear track.
03:00Kenny's got to get by Jason Quick.
03:02He's got his teammate in front of him on the other PMG bike,
03:05the other Suzuki.
03:06Anderson right there on the 21, then Roxen.
03:10Cooper on the 32, and Craig coming inside of Cooper.
03:12Put him in front of that.
03:14That's going to move Christian Craig up to fourth,
03:16and Cooper slides back to fifth.
03:18Yeah, how do you got to feel if you're just a Cooper, you went out in one Super Bowl,
03:23then all of a sudden now here in race one, you're getting shuffled back a little bit.
03:27But again, that's the difference between one lap and a whole race, right, Jeff?
03:30And we're halfway through this one, so there's still plenty of time for Roxen.
03:34If he can make another pass here, get around Anderson quickly,
03:36he might have a shot at Tomek before this is over.
03:40Let's go get an ad from Kristen Feet right now.
03:45Jason Anderson with a pressure being applied by his teammate, Ken Roxen.
03:49Now, remember, after taking three months off earlier this season due to health issues,
03:53Jason Anderson is still rebuilding his conditioning.
03:56He sees the physio four times a week.
03:57He receives hyperbaric treatment, and now on this new bike,
04:00he's not just adapting in terms of the chassis,
04:01but also trying to get his conditioning back.
04:04I'm curious if that will play a factor late in this race.
04:07Taking a look at these lap times, Ken Roxen fastest lap with a 54.5.
04:13Eli's just one-tenth slower than that.
04:17So really, those are the two fastest riders on the track.
04:20Visually, though, it looks like Christian Craig there sitting on your screen on the Kwanlock Honda.
04:25Something is definitely working right for him.
04:30Currently setting back and forth, but I keep my eye on that number 28 also.
04:34Tomek was even quicker than last lap.
04:36Ken Roxen extended the gap to two seconds between him and Anderson,
04:41but Roxen is closing the gap between him and his teammate.
04:44Here they come, Anderson on the 21, Roxen right behind him on the 94.
04:48And this might be a sprint race, but these races now count towards your overall and the championship.
04:54So for Ken Roxen, if he wants a shot at that overall, every pass is going to matter.
04:58So you can't just settle into third and then kind of speed your way into the final race.
05:03This pass might matter when it all is said and done.
05:06But Eli Tomek looks great.
05:07Anderson looks way better than he did a week ago.
05:10And Ken Roxen is dealing with that adversity pretty well.
05:12He's made moves, but now he's going to have to find his way around his teammate on the PMG Suzuki.
05:16All right, so where's Roxen going to get him?
05:18He has caught Anderson.
05:19He's right there looking inside to the next corner.
05:22Anderson beats him there.
05:23There's just a couple of bike lengths between the two of them.
05:26Working on up seven.
05:27This one is just about done.
05:29I like the whoops section, even though Roxen is pretty quick through this tighter section at the end of the track.
05:35There he comes.
05:36Roxen looking inside.
05:37Not enough.
05:38Not enough, no.
05:39Anderson does a good job of fending him off for now.
05:42And that's where he got Cooper.
05:43He was in that corner doing that same rhythm, but Jason was a little bit further ahead.
05:47So, Jeff, maybe it's these whoops.
05:49Here we go.
05:49Here comes Tomek through those whoops.
05:51What do you guys think of how that KTM is handling for him through that tricky section?
05:55Yeah, he looks great.
05:56Like, yeah, Tomek has definitely dialed in.
05:58No, Roxen's still in third.
06:00And Anderson has cut the gap between him and Tomek by a hair.
06:06All right, let's take a look at these lap times.
06:09Tomek goes by at a 56, Anderson a 55, and Roxen a 54.9.
06:15So, obviously, Roxen fastens right on the track.
06:18Now, he's switching up his lines.
06:19Can he inside?
06:20Trying to figure it out.
06:21Closer than he's been through this entire race, and we're on the final lap.
06:26Anderson's got to hold him off one more lap.
06:29And a big bobble by Roxen's going to cost him, and that might be enough for Anderson.
06:34Well, and Anderson has reeled in.
06:35Tomek, he might have backed off just a little bit, but the pressure from Roxen was forcing
06:41Anderson to pick up his pace, and it's tightened up quite a bit with just a few turns to go.
06:46Back into the whoops again.
06:47Here comes Tomek.
06:48Final couple of corners.
06:49Boy, he rode that front wheel those last few, didn't he?
06:51Oh, yeah.
06:52Nice and smooth through here is the reigning world champion, Eli Tomek, final corner.
07:01He comes to the finish line, jump, and Eli Tomek lights the candles here in the Canadian
07:06GP.
07:07Anderson will hold off Ken Roxen.
07:09So, Roxen, for the first time in 2025, doesn't see the checkered flag first.
07:15Well, and as I look at timing and scoring, you know what is really interesting to me?
07:195.4 seconds separated first and fifth.
07:25First, that's almost wheel to wheel.
07:27Great start for all of them.
07:30I mean, everybody has something positive to take away.
07:32Even Justin Cooper had the fastest lap of his motor on that last one, so it's a little bit
07:36of a turnaround after a rough seven laps here.
07:38At least he can try to carry that into sprint race number two.
07:41Yeah, and maybe just getting warmed up a little bit.
07:43He'll be better.
07:43And he was better in the final races last week also.
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