- 5 weeks ago
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00:00And I just love how this format plays out in terms of the points.
00:05Yes, Shane has been brilliant.
00:07He's been brilliant in every session today.
00:10But guess what?
00:11If he doesn't get it done in this final moto
00:14and Max Anstey comes out and wins this race,
00:17he loses that overall.
00:19I love how this format sets up.
00:22And tonight, this has been best case scenario.
00:24We're going into both of our final races
00:26with everything to play for.
00:30And for Anstey, he's been amazing off the gate.
00:33But the first turn has not worked in his favor.
00:36Last week, Enzo Lowe shot up the inside and took it.
00:39Ran away with the win.
00:41Shane McElrath has done the exact same thing now twice tonight.
00:45So as the gate drops here in about a minute and 15 seconds,
00:49the crowd's getting into it.
00:51My eyes will be on the 99.
00:52And his execution in the first corner
00:56where he has lost these last three races,
00:59two of them to Shane McElrath,
01:02one to Enzo Lopes.
01:04One final time, a minute to go.
01:07Chase, let's drop the gate one more time in SX2.
01:10I just can't believe it's over.
01:12These nights happen so quick.
01:14These championships are over so quick.
01:1660,000 kilometers, five different continents,
01:19and it all comes down to this.
01:21Anstey, McElrath, Thompson, first three gates to the inside.
01:26The right-handed first corner has played a role in all the action tonight.
01:33See Enzo Lopes, Colin Park in gates four and five.
01:36Watch Cody shock.
01:38He's one gate outside of the box.
01:40Still in a fight for second overall in the championship.
01:43So multiple battles going on at once.
01:46One for the night for the overall between 99 and one.
01:49And one, of course, for second overall in championship points
01:53between Rick Ware Racing's Cody shock
01:56and quad lock Honda's Shane McElrath.
02:00One final gate drop for SX2.
02:03Let's do it.
02:07Shane again.
02:09Wow.
02:09That was his best start.
02:12Perfectly executed in the first corner.
02:14Cody shock from the outside gets the big three, one.
02:17But McElrath is going to lead the way.
02:20Shock second.
02:21Ante third in the battle between the top three.
02:23And points is on.
02:24Shane McElrath had that hole shot from the moment that gate dropped.
02:29He has been unbelievable tonight.
02:32But I'm guessing we're going to have a final race showdown between these two.
02:37Max hammering the whoops up the inside.
02:40He's in the second place.
02:42Hits the block.
02:43Shock goes out to end.
02:44Uses the 90 to his advantage.
02:46And I'll tell you what, Cody shock has been best this year in raise threes.
02:50But he's going to have to fight back on Anstey now.
02:52So clean from Max, but so aggressive.
02:55And you've got Hicks there on the stock.
02:57He has had an unbelievable season as well back there in fourth.
03:01But it is all about these two up front once again.
03:06McElrath is out of there, dude.
03:08He is checked with that clear track.
03:10And he's just came into the weekend with a different attitude.
03:13You can see a fire in his eye.
03:15And he has executed every single inch that has mattered.
03:20But now he's going to have to go 12 laps against the 2025 World Supercross champion Max Anstey
03:26with 11 wins on the season.
03:28Maybe one more big one here if he could take the one.
03:30Lock in, guys.
03:31This is going to be a chess match.
03:34These two have been the class of the field tonight.
03:37Class of the field in the championship.
03:39If it stays like this, Shane is going to wrap up second.
03:42Max obviously getting that championship.
03:44Let's just enjoy the next 10 laps of the two best 250 riders in the World Supercross championship in 2025.
03:57McElrath leads 1.6 over Anstey.
04:01Shock is third.
04:02Hicks is fourth.
04:03Colin Park sitting in fifth.
04:06And Shane McElrath has been absolutely flawless tonight.
04:10Looking back on race number two.
04:12Anstey threw everything he had at a mid-race.
04:15Came up short.
04:17Settled in for second.
04:19And then made a last lap charge to get back to him.
04:22And you know Shane McElrath noticed.
04:24He looked over his shoulder.
04:25He saw him there.
04:26He said, all right, let's go.
04:27We got one more to do this.
04:29And that battle is closing up now.
04:301.6 turns to 1.5.
04:32Different lines there again through the rhythm section.
04:39Those guys have been choosing that different option all night.
04:43It's so hard to tell whether that's faster or slower.
04:45That's such a well-built rhythm section on this track.
04:48Shout out to the track crew who have had work to do tonight.
04:50Oh, Enzo Lopes.
04:51You're going to see his name drop all the way down to 14.
04:55And for a rider who is sitting third overall on the night, that's going to cost him a chance at the podium.
05:01He is out.
05:03Max just went purple with that last lap.
05:05That means he has the fastest lap time of this main event so far.
05:13McElrath, Anstey, two champions.
05:16And as you said, two great people.
05:19Competitive, aggressive when needed.
05:21But ride clean.
05:24We are in for a good finale here between two of the best 250 riders in the world.
05:28You're defending champ and you're newly crowned champ.
05:33And that gap is now down to 1.3.
05:40Carbon copy of everything that we've seen tonight.
05:43We've got eight laps to go.
05:45Let's see if Max can turn the tables on this.
05:49Remember, as the points run, Max would get three points for a win.
05:53That would give him the overall.
05:55But right now, Shane has just been four.
05:57And he answered with a 54.1, the fastest lap of the race.
06:04And there's been a lot of that little call and answer between the two.
06:07When one goes fast, the other goes faster.
06:11We haven't seen them together just yet.
06:13If Max can get a little bit of close that gap, put Shane into place where he has to play a little defense,
06:19this whole thing may change because we have not seen that gap get under one second yet tonight.
06:24The last main event, it was around 1.5 the whole time.
06:26Right now we're at 1.3.
06:28You're so right.
06:29We have not seen these guys force each other to take themselves offline or do anything different.
06:35This is just heater up, heater up, heater up, heater up, heater.
06:38Call and response is exactly what's happened to all of these main events.
06:42And he's now at 1.4 down.
06:45And that is a sweet spot if you're Shane McElrout.
06:48You do not have to play defense or adjust your lines.
06:51You hear him back there.
06:53You know he's there.
06:54But you get to do your business up front.
06:56And if Max can close that gap, Jace, that changes everything because the board changes.
07:01And now you've got to play with the track.
07:03And they seem to be matching each other inch by inch.
07:07Max is going to have to find something here.
07:08He just hasn't been able to close down the gap two laps in a row.
07:12It just goes back and forth.
07:13Yeah, but now we're down to one second.
07:14So he has found something.
07:16I don't know whether there's a section that Max is faster or if they're just kind of yo-yoing lap by lap.
07:22The track's obviously going away from them now.
07:25But Max has got this down to basically bang on a second.
07:291.0 is the gap.
07:34McElrout with a 54.6.
07:37Anstey with a 54.6.
07:39That is so hard to nail these laps back to back to back.
07:44They both are.
07:45I mean, just think about the mental side of this too.
07:47When you're just giving it everything you have and nothing is changing.
07:51It's, I mean, it's going to be the first to break mentally.
07:53And for Michael Hicks, you said it.
07:55What a rat season he's had at different times.
07:58The speed has been there.
07:59It's been a great showing for Hicks in the Stark future.
08:02And if you've never ridden a Stark, these are conditions where these bikes excel.
08:08So connected.
08:09You have such a different feel.
08:12Throttle to ground connection on these electric motorcycles than you do on a gas bike.
08:16Look, they have an advantage in certain places.
08:19They might have a slight disadvantage in others.
08:22This is the track that is really going to suit the Stark future, this section right here.
08:26So connected to the ground on that flat, hard surface.
08:31And the bike looks good when you put a talented rider on it.
08:33I mean, the one area of the track where they do struggle a bit at this point is in the whoops.
08:38But you saw Hicks blitz his way to the end, then drop in, triple out.
08:41I mean, that comes from skill set, awareness, knowing your own machine, strength and weaknesses.
08:46And I think we're just seeing a guy who has dominated an arena cross, which is smaller racing, tighter racing,
08:53who is starting to excel on the big stage.
08:55And I think it's confidence.
08:56He's got a team now in Stark future that believes in him.
09:00And you've seen him get better.
09:01We're going back to this battle for the lead.
09:03It's at 1.1.
09:05Throw a blanket over him once more.
09:08But Max just not quite in position enough to make a real dive.
09:13You know that he's going to keep it clean.
09:15But even if he was going to go dirty, he's just not close enough to get up the insider shade.
09:20I think the challenge is for him to show a wheel and really, like, I guess, present himself into a battle,
09:28he would probably have to take a line that doesn't work.
09:30And if it doesn't work for a pass, you end up losing time.
09:33So he's stuck.
09:33He's really stuck doing the same thing.
09:37And they're so evenly matched.
09:40It is getting tighter, though.
09:41I mean, you can hear him now.
09:42If you're Shane McElrath, that bike's gotten louder.
09:45I think it's exactly what you said is about to happen.
09:47He is hearing Max now.
09:50This is the closest that he has been all night, except for the last lap of that last race.
09:54But we still have three laps to go.
09:57Anstey making a final push at Shane McElrath.
10:02Heartbreaking if he takes this overall.
10:04Shane has been perfect.
10:05And now this is going to come down to it.
10:08Under a second, eight-tenths.
10:11Right behind him.
10:13He heard you, dude.
10:14Oh, he heard you.
10:15And he hears the 99.
10:16And I'll tell you what.
10:17Shane McElrath, though, this is a seasoned veteran.
10:20He's won a lot of races in his life.
10:22That's why he has a number one player.
10:24Exactly.
10:24And he's built for moments like this.
10:27But he's going to have himself a fight with an absolutely dynamic competitor in Max Anstey,
10:33who's won 11 races this season.
10:35And he wants one more.
10:36And he's close enough now to make some noise.
10:38Oh, and Shane makes a tiny mistake in that rhythm section on that first jump.
10:43Watch this change of lines right here.
10:45McElrath covers the inside.
10:47Anstey rips the outside.
10:48He's going to slingshot off this berm.
10:50Oh, and he's right there.
10:54And the crowd is into this race.
10:58He is running out of time.
11:00But Shane, dude, Shane has done just enough.
11:03He's answered the call every single time.
11:06He is so stubborn right now in this moment.
11:12Won't give an inch to Max Anstey, who is throwing everything he's got at the number one machine.
11:20Shane, I'm watching the whoops.
11:22Can he get close enough in the whoops to use the different line?
11:26It's maybe one of the only places on the track where they're different, but he's got to be closer.
11:30He made that pass on Enzo Lopes in the first race in that exact spot.
11:34He's committed to that outside.
11:37Rails that berm.
11:38This is it right now.
11:39He's going to go to the right of these whoops.
11:41Try and slingshot.
11:42Now, Shane, just that was clinical.
11:44That was such a great run.
11:46Shane needed that run through the whoops right there.
11:49It is so hard as a racer to play defense for this long.
11:54And he's opened it back up to one second.
11:57We're coming up on the last lap, don't we?
11:59Yeah, last lap.
12:00Shane McElrath has done everything right to this point.
12:06But he's going to have to be perfect one more time around.
12:09Yeah, one more sprint lap for these guys.
12:11They've been throwing sprint laps down all main event off.
12:14And a big mistake from Anstey.
12:16Big mistake from Anstey.
12:18Anstey loses the back tire in the rhythm.
12:21The gap goes to 1.4.
12:24And at this point, you just got to give credit where credit's due.
12:28Shane McElrath came into the final round and said, I have to end on top.
12:33It's been the Max-Anstey story all season long.
12:36I'm sick of it.
12:37I'm going to come out and sweep this thing.
12:40He's been absolutely phenomenal.
12:42This is a sweet victory for Shane McElrath.
12:45He needed this.
12:46He had this in him.
12:47This is what he is capable of.
12:51Shane McElrath.
12:51Yeah.
12:52Ride this one home, brother.
12:53You deserve this win tonight.
12:55Shane McElrath wins the Cape Town South Africa GP.
12:58Going 1-1-1 on the night.
13:03What a race.
13:04Phenomenal showing.
13:05What a race.
13:06Cody Schock sits third in the race.
13:09He'll finish third in the championship.
13:11Throws a big whip for the crowd.
13:13And look at these two.
13:14They're just like, what could we have done any different?
13:18I mean, everything they had.
13:19And I got to give Shane some credit there.
13:22That pressure.
13:24Endless pressure.
13:25Knowing it's him of all people.
13:27And he's there.
13:28And he never broke.
13:30Yeah.
13:30I mean, that was honestly.
13:32That is such a great ride from Shane McElrath.
13:35And I wondered in that first moto.
13:37I'm like, does Max even have the speed in that moto?
13:40You take the championship out of it.
13:41Does Max even have what it takes to beat Shane in that first moto?
13:46I think Shane just answered.
13:47He was the man tonight.
13:49Yeah.
13:49Great ask on your part, too.
13:51Is this circumstantial due to Anstey's championship situation?
13:56A lot of noise.
13:57Once we get that out of the way, then what happens?
13:59And McElrath leveled up.
14:02I mean, he just leveled up.
14:04Took the pressure.
14:05Anstey threw everything he had at him.
14:06And the defending champ gets the final word on the season.
14:10But that man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:13Oh, and Max.
14:14That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:18That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:18That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:20That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:21That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:22That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:23That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:24That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:25That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:26That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:27That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:28That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:29That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
14:30That man right there will take the one in the 2026.
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