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00:00But I can't wait to find out.
00:02I know you are, JT.
00:08Well, Hayden Deegan, you've been waiting for this day your entire life.
00:12There's a lot of pressure on you, but you put that pressure on yourself.
00:16To be fair, the biggest thing that matters in this race right now is the first 100 meters or so.
00:22If you get yourself a good start, you put yourself in a position to succeed.
00:25If you do not, it is going to be an uphill fight the entire way.
00:29The one thing I will say with Hayden Deegan, though, the last 10 minutes are typically his best.
00:34So if he is fighting anywhere inside the top five, watch for him to make a late push in the
00:38last few laps.
00:41And everybody wants to see this showdown between the guy you were just talking about there, JT,
00:47and, of course, the guy on the number one machine here, Jet Lawrence.
00:50But how important is this to Jet in the sense of beating him?
00:54Is this a building process for him?
00:56Well, according to his dad, Darren Lawrence, absolutely.
00:58They know that he's come off injury.
01:01They know that this is going to take time.
01:03And nobody's necessarily in his camp expecting the Jet perfection that we are used to straight off the bat.
01:09They are thinking championship.
01:10Absolutely.
01:11If the win is there, they want to take it.
01:13Does he want it?
01:14Of course he wants it.
01:15But they know that they are in a building process right now.
01:18What version of Jet will we get?
01:20We're about to find out here, guys, at Gate Drop.
01:24Well, his biggest competition might be his brother.
01:27What a breakout Supercross season.
01:29Almost winning that championship.
01:31And there was a lot of wonder, would Hunter be Hunter coming off that?
01:34Well, we've seen it so far today.
01:36Fastest qualifier.
01:37Hunter Lawrence might be the Lawrence that walks away from this victory.
01:40We're just going to start here on Gate.
01:42Well, it's been over 1,000 days since Eli Tomek has actually won an overall.
01:47He's one of the all-time greats in this sport, but hasn't won a race since this track at the
01:51end of the 2022 season.
01:54But Eli made it pretty simple yesterday.
01:56He plans on ending that real quick.
01:58It might even happen here today.
02:01Jorge Prado, we've got some making up to do for 2025, and no one wants to do that more than
02:07he does.
02:08He feels like he has a lot of people to prove wrong, a lot of talk about how he underperformed
02:14last year.
02:14He can start the road to redemption right here at round one.
02:17Yeah, JT, and he is one of the best starters ever on that number 26.
02:21Would not be surprised to see that Orange Red Bull KTM up front.
02:25Here it is.
02:2632nd board is up.
02:27Probably the most anticipated opener in this series, which has been running for 55 years.
02:32Partially because of the two names you see on the screen right now, Jett Lawrence, Hayden Deegan.
02:36But so many other greats on the gate right now.
02:40But the talk is over.
02:41It's time to go racing.
02:52Hunter Lawrence had it.
02:54But that is going to be Mikkel Harrop on the triumph to the lead.
02:57Did not race Supercross.
02:59Comes in ready.
03:00Battling Hunter now.
03:01Prado's third.
03:02Oh, we've got a pileup here.
03:03I don't know if there's any of our contenders.
03:05Always easy to have in that 180.
03:07But Hunter Lawrence, as you mentioned, I thought he was there first.
03:11Mitchell got around him.
03:12Nickel.
03:13Yeah, good start for the triumph, Prado.
03:15Oh, sorry.
03:16Jorge Prado is.
03:17And Chase Sexton fourth.
03:19He has struggled with starts on the Kawasaki.
03:21This is a pretty good one.
03:23And now Hunter able to lock it down.
03:25Yeah, I was getting confused.
03:25They were going all over.
03:26But Hunter Lawrence, when you're looking at him, the speed, the way he was doing it,
03:30and it's scary for everybody else.
03:32Great start by him.
03:33Great start by Jorge Prado.
03:35And another guy we really haven't mentioned that much, Chase Sexton.
03:38We know he always carries the speed.
03:39But does he carry the mindset to come in here and win and be able to contend?
03:43We'll find out here through this moto.
03:45Prado makes the move on Harrop.
03:47These riders used to battle over in Europe at MXGP.
03:50Prado not messing around.
03:51Going to second.
03:52And does not want Hunter Lawrence to get away.
03:54Yeah, well, you know, look at Dow.
03:56Jet Lawrence is running in 16th.
03:59So a bad start for a defending champ.
04:01Not sure what happened.
04:02He's got a long ways to go.
04:03And the one guy's out front.
04:05Might be the toughest is his brother.
04:06See what happens.
04:07He gets even worse.
04:08He is 20th.
04:10So the big names that everyone's talking about struggling.
04:14Hunter Lawrence starting to roll.
04:16And here comes Sexton now.
04:19Yeah, Chase going to try to follow these two guys.
04:21They have been the fastest guys of the day.
04:23Jorge Prado and Hunter Lawrence.
04:24So Chase wants to get up there.
04:26I'm not sure what his mindset is.
04:28Is he here trying to win?
04:29Or is he here trying to make sure his bike is good?
04:31Just get on that podium.
04:33Is that Tomac?
04:34Yeah, that's Eli and Marchbank.
04:37Oh, no.
04:38Big collision.
04:39And they are not quick to get up.
04:42Oh, man.
04:43Tough break.
04:44And last time we saw Eli race was the same kind of incident there.
04:48Just a rotting incident.
04:50I believe Gary was on the outside.
04:51The four-time champion, Tomac, getting together.
04:55You're right.
04:55That is eerily similar to a couple of the crashes late in the Monster Energy Supercross campaign for Tomac.
05:01We go back to Prado, keeping Lawrence in sight on lap two.
05:06And that's a bummer to see.
05:08Certainly not just for Tomac, but Marchbank, who's very quick in qualifying as well.
05:14But it's going to be Lawrence Prado, Haram, top three, lap one.
05:17Here we go.
05:18Yeah, you can watch Eli right here in the middle.
05:21And then you got Marchbank on the outside here.
05:25Watch these lines.
05:26Eli's going to get in there.
05:26I don't know if he's going to pop out of that rub, but Marchbank's come.
05:29Racing incident, but tough hit for both of them.
05:32Gary went down really hard in the face of that jump.
05:36Oh, man, that's hard.
05:38Yeah, you hate to see it for both of those riders.
05:41Prado just inching up ever so slightly on Hunter early.
05:46Sexton is now third ahead of Haram.
05:48And Justin Cooper is fifth.
05:50Mr. Craig, Barsha, Plessinger, Webb round out the top ten.
05:54And there's Jet Lawrence, mired in traffic.
05:57He just made the move, we hear, on Cooper Webb.
06:00That'll move him to tenth.
06:01As I said with his teammate in the 250 class, Joe Shimoto, Jet was struggling earlier,
06:06so this might be a good thing.
06:07Takes that mindset off of even trying to win this race, get in that form,
06:11really get that race craft going.
06:14To be up in that top five, you have to make some great passes.
06:16So let's see if he can keep moving up.
06:18Is that Deegan behind him or?
06:21Oh, no, it's Cooper Webb.
06:22Yeah, it's Deegan's teammate.
06:23But I'll tell you what's crazy.
06:24Jet Headland, 91 straight laps at this track until the first one here with the bad start.
06:32And Cornelius Tongle right there making moves, battling Webb uphill behind Lawrence.
06:38Just passed it two, three times two across champ out here.
06:45I think Deegan's about to get into this fight as well.
06:47He's at the bottom of the screen, battling Webb now.
06:50Let's go to JT.
06:52Well, we're going to try to get a replay of the start.
06:55I watched Jett Lawrence, and he started right next to Jorge Prado.
06:59We're going to come up on the screen right here.
07:01Watch Jorge Prado and Jett Lawrence next to each other.
07:03They are side by side.
07:04You see Prado finally get the drive.
07:06Right there, you see Jett get squeezed out by Cooper on his left and Prado on the right.
07:10That is what got him to start.
07:12It was so close.
07:13But that last, when they grabbed third gear, the pull there with Prado got him to second,
07:17and Jett fell back to 14.
07:19Yeah, and truthfully, that's probably a little bit of timidness by Jett because he hasn't raced all year.
07:23And I know when I came back from injury, that's one of the scariest parts, being around a bunch of
07:28people.
07:29So I think Jett probably shut off a little early and was just trying to stay up.
07:32And when you do that here, you go from top 10 to in the back of the pack to looking
07:37back,
07:37and you got Hayden Deegan on you.
07:39Well, here it is.
07:40They're hooking up in a battle.
07:41Maybe not the positions that people expected.
07:44This is a fight for 10th and 11th between Lawrence and Deegan.
07:50Yeah, this is a scary position for Jett because he wants to be able to work his way in,
07:55and he's got guys in front of him, so he probably won't be able to run his lines.
07:58But then you got Hayden Deegan just railing it, scrubbing it behind you.
08:01He knows he wants to make the pass.
08:03So it's going to be scary.
08:05I'm interested to see what happens.
08:06I believe if Hayden comes in, Jett will probably let him by and try to follow him, maybe repass him
08:12later.
08:12Meanwhile, bottom box, Jorge Prado all over.
08:15Hunter Lawrence for the lead.
08:17Prado came to play as expected.
08:18Now Jett Lawrence makes the move on Barsha.
08:22That'll move him to 9th, and Barsha now between Jett and Deegan.
08:27Yeah, Jett's just got to keep moving forward, keep that gap in that 38 as Hayden Deegan makes his way
08:32around him.
08:33As I said, Jett wouldn't be able to run his line, so he might get slowed up,
08:36which will allow Hayden Deegan to come in.
08:39I think Barsha made a pass back on him.
08:43Well, that's what makes it so fun, this field here.
08:46You can go back to 10th and find some riders who will not just roll over.
08:51Marshall will fight you as hard as anyone.
08:53Up front, the yo-yo game.
08:55Prado able to close in.
08:57Hunter pulls it back out.
08:58And vice versa between the leaders in that bottom box, and Sexton lurking as well.
09:03Yeah, I think all these guys are just kind of, like we saw Levi Kitchen, just kind of letting this
09:08race play out.
09:09If you get close to him, try to make that pass.
09:11And body language, there's not too much of a rush for all three of these guys.
09:15Jorge was standing up, and then when you attack, he'll close in on Hunter.
09:19Hunter knows he's going to be there, so this race is just a chess game at this point.
09:23Except you're just going 60 miles an hour while playing chess.
09:26Exactly. It's faster than most people could go.
09:28Oh, man, you see there on the left side of the screen, right side of the track,
09:33towback still being attended to after that hard crash on lap one.
09:37You hate to see it.
09:39Christy Craig is next on the charge for Jett Lawrence,
09:44and here's Deegan following him through.
09:46Yeah, still a great ride by Jett.
09:48He's starting to pick up the pace, making his way up,
09:50so maybe what he's going to do is he knows that 38's behind him.
09:54Maybe that's what's pushing him forward,
09:55so he's not thinking about anything else besides getting away.
09:58And while he's doing it, he's closing in on the guys ahead of him.
10:01They might all meet out the front the way it's going right now,
10:04so that'll move Jett up to 8, Craig 9.
10:07Craig and Deegan are very close.
10:09Actually, Craig was working with Deegan as a bit of a coach about a year and a half ago,
10:14and they're still pretty tight on the track,
10:15but every man for himself out on the round one pro moto cost opener.
10:21Yeah, absolutely.
10:23When you think about Jett Lawrence, I mean,
10:25how long has it been since he actually raced?
10:27I mean, six-plus months.
10:28Yeah.
10:29You look at last time he goes back, and, you know,
10:31so just going back to what happened in that first corner,
10:33it's easy to happen.
10:34A mistake right there.
10:35Oh!
10:36All this takes a look over.
10:37And Deegan already passed Craig, so he's right there with Jett.
10:42Yeah, let's see what happens here.
10:45And I don't think Craig put up too much of a fight on Deegan.
10:48Deegan around the outside!
10:49Side by side!
10:51Lawrence and Deegan!
10:53Yeah, Craig trying to let him go by because he's like,
10:55I want to see what happens right here with, uh,
10:58Hey, Deegan, and Deegan makes the pass on Jett Lawrence,
11:02and now going after Plessinger.
11:05Yeah, that mistake by Jett obviously allowed Hayden to go,
11:08and Hayden wants to make that pass and make his way forward,
11:12so I thought Jett would do what he did, played a long game,
11:15be smart, hopefully the errand slows Hayden down
11:18so he doesn't go and he has an opportunity to go by, but...
11:21No, he might.
11:22He's right back to the rear wheel of Deegan.
11:25Now, the cool part when you watch these two guys,
11:27like, their contrast in style, like,
11:29Hayden Deegan really runs it in a lot,
11:31and we know how patient Jett Lawrence is,
11:33so when you're watching him on the racetrack, you'll see...
11:36There it is!
11:36Jett got him back!
11:38And the crowd responds!
11:39Simple as that.
11:40One mistake, Hayden goes to the outside, Jett sneaks in,
11:43and that's the difference between the 250 class and 450.
11:47These guys attack.
11:48We know how much they want to win, all of them.
11:51Great pass by Jett Lawrence.
11:52Let's see what Hayden responds back to.
11:57Woo!
11:58I didn't think it would happen quite this quickly.
12:01First ten minutes of the season, it's already on.
12:03We're not going to wait for anything.
12:04It might be for ninth and eighth and ninth,
12:06but the battle is here.
12:09And Plessinger, who's returning from some vicious injuries
12:12in Supercross, just ahead of him.
12:14Deegan, another attack!
12:15Going to run it around the outside!
12:17And Lawrence ran him out of room.
12:19Yeah, just going back to my point with these two riding styles,
12:22what you're going to see, Jett relaxes going in the corner.
12:24Hayden really attacks it,
12:25so it's easy for Hayden to make up a lot of time
12:27entering the corner.
12:29In some of these parts where you get these split lanes,
12:31he'll have a lot of opportunities to pass Jett.
12:33Jett carries that momentum,
12:34but Hayden will always close that gap by the way he rides.
12:39Looks like we lost Chase Sexton.
12:40He was in third.
12:41Now Justin Cooper has moved up.
12:43Yeah, Sexton is now fourth.
12:46And that's the battle out front,
12:47with Prado just stalking Hunter Lawrence from second.
12:52Yeah, these guys just ran 218,
12:54so over two seconds faster pretty much
12:56than everybody else on the racetrack.
12:57So they're picking that pace up.
12:59You see Jorge standing up.
13:01It don't look like they were too big of a rush
13:03compared to his brother, Hayden Deegan.
13:06Great start for all these guys.
13:08It's looking good, JT.
13:10Yeah, he looks great.
13:11And don't forget, guys,
13:12there is no love lost between Hunter Lawrence and Jorge Prado.
13:15They've had a war of words.
13:17They kind of talked back and forth.
13:18There was the body Spanish comment by Jorge Prado.
13:22And even a couple weeks ago at the finale in Salt Lake City,
13:25Jorge Prado was the one putting pressure on Hunter Lawrence
13:28that you could argue forced that mistake.
13:30So it's one of the most underreported rivalries
13:33that we have going right now,
13:34but it's about to heat up.
13:35Well, yeah, because now it's one-on-one for the lead,
13:38and those two at the bottom
13:39as Lawrence and Deegan are making moves off Plessinger.
13:42The other Lawrence and Prado are long gone up front.
13:46Yeah, I love the contrast.
13:48Our drone shot right here is giving you an ideal
13:50of Hunter Lawrence and Jorge Prado.
13:53Just the line selection,
13:54how many different lines are on this racetrack.
13:56Hunter swings on the outside, cuts the corner.
13:58Jorge is going more straight in but banking off.
14:00So different ways to get it done,
14:02and they're literally running the same lap time,
14:03but at 218.6 for both of them in the last lap.
14:06And we hear Tomac is being helped off the track
14:09by the Alpine Stars medic team.
14:12You hate to see that
14:13for the four-time champion of the series
14:15so early in this campaign.
14:18There's Prado continuing to shadow Hunter Lawrence, Will.
14:23Jason, we were talking in the booth just earlier, James,
14:25we were talking about this exact scenario, right?
14:27We may well see a Hunter Lawrence, Jorge Prado,
14:30one and two here battling.
14:31And these are the two guys out of the entire field
14:34who are not coming off injury.
14:36They have plenty of momentum from superpowers.
14:39Yes, Jorge switch manufacturers,
14:41but as I just spoke to team manager Ian Harrison about,
14:44that's a grey area.
14:45He's gone back to Red Bull KTM.
14:47He's gone back to a bike ring that he's extremely used to.
14:50So he doesn't think that counts.
14:52So we were talking about two guys really who are baffling nothing else
14:55apart from themselves right now.
14:56And I asked, well, hey, hang on a second,
14:58but you only just like these tracks
15:00and you were doing it in a kind of a non-competitive way last year.
15:04You were doing it at the back of the pack.
15:05And he said, that's probably my only thing that I have to deal with here.
15:09James is the line selection from last year when he was, you know,
15:1210th and further back to being up front and running up front.
15:16It's a very different experience for him.
15:18Yeah, it is.
15:19But at the same time, Jorge is used to winning, you know,
15:22and this is where he's more comfortable at.
15:24And I think with him, when you're a rotter that's won at so many times,
15:27you've got to have a little bit of naive about you.
15:29So I think in Jorge's mind, last year was last year.
15:32I know what the problem was.
15:34I changed that problem.
15:35So I'm going to go back to being what I am as he's closing in on Hunter Lawrence.
15:40So I think it's more about this is more normal for him
15:42compared to where he was last year.
15:44And so far, he's making his way up.
15:46Now look at the different lines.
15:47Hunter switched his line up this time.
15:49He was a little bit farther on the outside,
15:50but you can see the difference in that corner.
15:52Works out the same, but...
15:55Anyway, top off's Jet Lawrence trying to get around.
15:59Harrop, the Danish rider, doing very well in the triumph,
16:01but a little mistake hitched in the corner,
16:03and that allows Jet to move by him for sixth.
16:06Prado and Hunter so close up front.
16:10Yeah, great ride.
16:11I like what I see from Jet.
16:12I think this is helping him, as I said earlier.
16:14You know, it's got to reset the focus.
16:17I'm not going to lead any more laps here and make possibly this moto.
16:20So get back out here.
16:22Hey, Deegan, put the charge in here.
16:23So it made Jet have to race, and they're both picking up their paces.
16:26And this game up front, this is seriously a chess match.
16:30This is what Jorge does.
16:31I mean, he's very technical.
16:33He's going to work on Hunter Lawrence and try to make some pass.
16:36So he'll drop back.
16:37We're not even halfway in this moto.
16:39Long ways to go.
16:40Both these guys are in a great position.
16:43Jorge Prado 2.0, much better in his second year in America.
16:47It was a disappointment last year.
16:49He had switched not only moving from Spain to America,
16:52but then switching teams to the Monster Energy Kawasaki squad.
16:56That did not go well by any measure.
16:58Got out of that deal.
16:59Came back to KTM, the brand he rode for when he was a youngster in Europe,
17:03and it has paid massive dividends.
17:05Very good in Supercross,
17:06considering he does not have much experience racing in stadiums.
17:09Now he's comfortable on his types of tracks,
17:12and he's riding well in second.
17:14Here's Jorge on his goals and his expectations for the motocross campaign.
17:22So my expectations for the 2026 Pro Motocross Championship,
17:27basically it's to win.
17:28I really hope I can get it done this year.
17:33Like I said, I feel very good with myself and with the bike,
17:36and I don't see a reason why not to be able to clinch the title
17:40or even fight for the title.
17:43That's what I'm aiming.
17:45So yeah, that's my goal.
17:49Well, he's never been shy about his own abilities.
17:53So even that quote doesn't surprise me at all.
17:56He's been a championship guy his whole life.
17:57I don't think he expects anything different,
17:59although at the moment, Hunter has gotten a drop on him
18:02and opened it up to about three seconds.
18:05Yeah, again, this is a game of chess right here with these two guys.
18:09This race is just beginning.
18:11And then you got Justin Cooper, Chase Sexton up here.
18:16I believe Chase went down, Jason.
18:18I see.
18:18Yeah, one bad lap.
18:19Must have been in.
18:21And he's close back in.
18:22We're halfway through this one, by the way.
18:24A reminder to stock up on Monster Energy drinks at Stater Brothers.
18:28So still plenty of racing left for this fourth place battle.
18:31You got Justin Cooper third, Sexton fourth,
18:34and RJ Hampshire is lurking right behind them on the Rockstar Husky.
18:38Yeah, great to see RJ back out here.
18:41And kind of, you know, thinking about star racing and I guess Monster Riders,
18:46you got Justin Cooper in third, Chase Sexton fourth, Cooper Webb 13th, March Paints.
18:51We saw him earlier with Eli go down.
18:55But I think a lot, I felt like it was going to be a good day for Justin Cooper.
18:59You go back to last year, a strong first moto, really kept Jet within six seconds,
19:04but pulled away from everybody else.
19:05And just seeing the growth of him this Supercross season,
19:08he's starting to believe that pass he made on Eli Tomac, that second triple crown.
19:13Ever since then, Justin Cooper has been a different rider,
19:15and he's riding with an attitude.
19:17So I like what I see, and I think good things are going to happen for the 32.
19:21I love it.
19:22It doesn't matter who you throw in there.
19:23The field gets deeper every year.
19:25Justin Cooper is always going to be right around those podium positions.
19:29You can set your watch to it, and that's where he is right now.
19:32Yeah, that's good stuff.
19:34Going back to the opening, what I said, all these guys got motivation out here.
19:39You know, obviously they want to do good every year,
19:41but there's a lot to prove for each one of these guys.
19:43You go through the top ten.
19:44So good for Chase.
19:47I think this is a good thing for him.
19:48Supercross, let's not be shy.
19:50It was a rough year for Chase.
19:52Even though he's got two wins, it wasn't Chase Sexton.
19:55And we were wondering him coming to this motocross, you know,
19:58where would the bike be at?
19:59Where would he be mentally?
20:00I felt like this first race he needed to have some positives,
20:02whether that was with speed or the bike going in the right direction,
20:06because we know Chase Sexton, when he's on,
20:08he can beat any of these guys any day of the week.
20:12Well, that's why he's the champion of this series just two years ago.
20:15And then you see Hampshire back behind him.
20:17JT, what do you think?
20:18And watch for the number four at Sexton.
20:19I agree with James so much.
20:21He needs a fast start here because it just felt like if things went awry at the opening round,
20:27we could snowball the wrong direction really quickly with how Supercross went.
20:31But when you come out here and he's battling, maybe you can get on the podium in this moto.
20:35He comes off winning the last race of Supercross in Solid City.
20:38Now you're on a little bit of a roll.
20:40So it just really felt like momentum was going to build.
20:43You just didn't know if it was going to be a positive or negative way.
20:46And the last note I want to add, guys, working in the background behind Hampshire there,
20:50Jet Lawrence has entered the picture too.
20:51So don't throw out a last few-minute charge here.
20:55All these battles starting to close in on each other.
20:59Sexton and Cooper, then Hampshire.
21:01It's like Jet Lawrence has pulled away from Deegan a bit now.
21:05But he might be able to go after Hampshire and Sexton.
21:08Yeah, it's a big thing.
21:10And JT's spot on with him, with Chase.
21:13And I believe that number one starts sniffing, and he's going to close up on these guys.
21:18And Jet's getting confident every lap.
21:20He's going to get faster and faster as this moto goes on.
21:23He's feeling that foot out, feeling good, maybe working some kinks with the motorcycle.
21:27Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up close to this podium at the end of the race.
21:33Hampshire on the gas here.
21:36Missed almost all of Supercross.
21:38Had a pretty routine crash with a handlebar.
21:40Went right to the top of his foot.
21:42He said there was a chance.
21:44He was healed up enough where he maybe could have come back for the last Supercross or two.
21:47They decided to keep the focus on this.
21:49Point being, he's healthy.
21:51He's had plenty of time at the motorcycle.
21:53And it's showing right now.
21:54I mean, you go back to last year.
21:55The guy would have surgery within 10 days, and he came out here.
21:59So, like Justin Cooper, as you said, being around the podium.
22:03When I see RJ, I expect RJ being RJ.
22:06A guy that's always fight, never gives up.
22:08And when he stays up, he's up there towards the front.
22:14Jet Lawrence started to take time out of everyone.
22:17He just ran a 219.
22:18The only other riders that went that fast, Deegan and Hunter Lawrence up front.
22:24It's like Jet's starting to put it together here.
22:25Yeah, he's starting to put it together.
22:27Now he has that rabbit to chase with those guys.
22:29And, hey, Deegan has the rabbit to chase in the rabbit himself.
22:33But I like that.
22:34Jet Lawrence, you know, that line right there.
22:36This is starting to remind me of who I am.
22:39God is getting these creative lines.
22:40And, you know, the lap times don't lie.
22:43He's been getting faster.
22:44So let's see if he can continue that through the rest of his moto.
22:47Because if not, the number 38 would love to get back up there and get to him.
22:51And he's closing in as well.
23:00Guys, talking to Dr. G, Harold Gubinick there, who is the physiotherapist.
23:05So a lot of the guys in the planet.
23:07But obviously Jet and Hunter Lawrence.
23:09I got to have a good chat with him about what this injury, what the sort of implications of it
23:13were long term.
23:14And he was very transparent with me.
23:16He said, look, this is likely never going to be 100%.
23:20He said, that's just how that injury goes.
23:22It's very complicated.
23:23We've talked about it quite a bit.
23:24There's not much blood flow to that talispone.
23:27He said, so we're not expecting that.
23:29We've been honest with Jet.
23:31As a team, we've been honest.
23:32Don't expect this to ever.
23:34He's like, we'll get the full range of motion back eventually.
23:36But it will never be the same.
23:38So what we are dealing with now is working around it.
23:42He has to adapt.
23:43He has to compensate.
23:44He has to slightly change his riding style for certain things, especially at the moment, without full range of motion,
23:51that he can't do.
23:53And Doc G said, that's the thing that's frustrating Jet most, is he's not able to do anything that he
23:59wants to do.
24:00And he said, that will improve and it will come.
24:01But he also said, most notably, that he's incredibly impressed with Jet and how he's been able to adapt.
24:08And that, James, is probably just due to his level of skill, but he's been able to work around it
24:13very quickly.
24:14Oh, absolutely.
24:15And I got the same info as well.
24:17And for most people, I mean, this could be not only just career ending, but the way you alter your
24:22life on just your every day.
24:24So the fact that this guy came out just shows you how mentally strong he is.
24:27But I will say one thing.
24:29He's got the right team of people around him.
24:31He also has the right riding style to be able to get away with an injury like this, being very
24:36patient.
24:37You've got to change and adapt your riding style.
24:39And Jet Lawrence is one of the best ever to do that.
24:42And, you know, from what we saw that first practice to this, you know, he was really aggressive.
24:47Things start, that clock starts rushing really fast when you look at how fast your brother is.
24:51Jet Lawrence has got the right bodies tight, the right mindset to come back from injury.
24:55And he's only going to get better throughout this season.
24:59We have now heard that Eli Tomac is awake and alert, being transported, though, for further evaluation.
25:05So a big bummer there for the legend, number three, Eli Tomac, going out of this race on the first
25:11lap.
25:11Certainly, we hope the best for him as Lawrence is now right there with Hampshire.
25:18Hampshire is riding well, but it's almost like you see Jet just improve a little bit almost each lap of
25:23the race.
25:23No, he is.
25:24I mean, we were sitting here watching practice earlier.
25:25You know, he was really rushing things.
25:28And I had a chance to speak to Jet, and he said that that's so easy to happen, whether it's
25:32an injury or not.
25:33That clock runs really fast when you get in this race, you know, race atmosphere.
25:38And a guy that's been off for all that time.
25:39But I believe this is a very important couple laps for Jet because if he's able to get around RJ,
25:45he might have an opportunity to get on the podium.
25:47But even more, he doesn't want to get stuck behind him and then let that 38 close in because all
25:52the stuff that he's been doing, he's going to have to be worried about him.
25:55So great route by all these guys.
25:57But these next couple laps might end up.
25:59Uh-oh.
26:00Hampshire, I think, stalled it in that corner.
26:01Maybe hit neutral.
26:02Lost speed.
26:03Here comes Lawrence.
26:04Yeah, let's see if Jet scrubs this.
26:06If he just runs it up the inside, he should have this pass because he'll be able to close that
26:10gap.
26:11But RJ's going to fight, though.
26:14Not enough.
26:15Just camera angle.
26:16Great pass by him.
26:17Let's see if he can now keep that momentum up and go towards Chase Sexton up in fourth place.
26:24Got to check in on that leader because he's all by himself at this point.
26:29Hunter Lawrence, almost six seconds out front.
26:32I mean, Jason, what can you say?
26:34I mean, I'm just impressed to see him out here fighting at this level considering how difficult that championship was
26:41a couple weeks ago.
26:42He looks great, JT.
26:43He does.
26:44And if you looked up the word resilience in the dictionary, you might find a picture of Hunter Lawrence next
26:49to it.
26:50Think about the heartbreak that this guy went through.
26:52I had the pleasure and also torment of interviewing him right after he lost that championship to Ken Rockson.
26:59And you could see the heartbreak and the pain that was going through him.
27:03It was palpable down there on the floor of Rice Sexton Stadium.
27:06And for him to bounce back three weeks later and to, I don't want to say run away, but he's
27:11pulled a five and a half second lead now out.
27:14Think about how much he's had to summon himself, find himself, and bring his best effort to this race.
27:20I don't have enough good things to say about what we're seeing from Hunter Lawrence right now.
27:23I agree.
27:23And the cool part about that, JT, he stayed down there to allow to be interviewed.
27:28And that just shows you what kind of person it is.
27:29But even more than just, you know, being resilient, I think this is what this says.
27:34The way he's raced this first moto, what it tells me, and I'm sure Hunter's thinking that, what happened in
27:39Supercross isn't a fluke.
27:41Because this is what we saw in Supercross.
27:43Like, he was just steady, made it look easy, just pulled away from those guys.
27:47And at one point of that whole series, he was the best guy.
27:51And it wasn't even really close.
27:52So for Hunter, I'm coming back with all that, you know, heartbreak.
27:56At least I come back out here and it feels just like I left a few weeks ago.
28:00And that only looked well for him moving forward.
28:04Go further back.
28:05Deegan now has Hampshire in sight.
28:07So the rookie here is 7th in his first 450 pro motocross race.
28:11Can he make up any more positions?
28:13Hampshire will be next.
28:14And then Jett Lawrence up the road.
28:16The gap between Lawrence and Deegan has stayed around a 3-4 second mark for about 15 minutes now.
28:23There's Lawrence.
28:24There's Hampshire.
28:25Here's Deegan.
28:26Yeah, I think this is where Hayden, when you talked earlier about he wants to win, but also that backup
28:31plan.
28:31And I think people might look at it as like he's, you know, making excuses.
28:34But I think what Hayden is, he's very, you know, he understands how great these guys are.
28:40And to sit here and be like, I want to win and kind of overlook the fact that they're that
28:44good is not what he does.
28:45He's got too good of a team around him.
28:47So you hear Hayden, when he says, I'm here to learn, he's really giving props to the guys around them
28:53because he knows how deep this 450 class is.
28:55And so he understands that races, if you don't get stars, you might end up in seventh place with a
29:01good rod.
29:01So Hayden's smart enough.
29:02Looks like to me, he's sitting back, just learning, and hopefully finishes top this moto off solid position.
29:09Yes, because for all the bluster, all the top of Hayden Deegan, the one thing he has been mentioning lately
29:15that he takes the most pride in is he never missed a single 250 race due to injury.
29:21So there is a method, even though it looks like pure madness, there is a method to that madness as
29:26far as consistency and building and learning and then coming back the next time.
29:31And it's awfully close now.
29:33You can still see Jet and you can see Hampshire right there.
29:36Here's Danger Boy.
29:37Yeah, and we know, what do we know about Hayden?
29:40Torso's in the race, and man, this guy never lets off.
29:43And I go back to what I said a couple laps ago with Jet Lawrence.
29:45That pass around RJ was very important because of who was behind him.
29:49If Hayden smells that blood, I don't care if it's his first race or 300.
29:53This guy will not give up.
29:55And you give him an opportunity, he's going to try to seize it.
29:58So Hayden Deegan's doing a great job.
30:01He's always going to be there, and he's learning as we, you know, every lap that goes by.
30:06All right, he's putting in a charge right now.
30:08Two minutes and two laps to go.
30:10The fans barbecuing up at the top of the hillsides.
30:13That's motocross tradition.
30:14Getting up close to the action.
30:16Look at that crowd there.
30:17And a lot of them wanted to see this.
30:19They got a little Lawrence versus Deegan in this moto.
30:22Is there anything left in it?
30:24Yeah, it ain't done with.
30:25All that smoke up there, I was thinking it was Cooper Webb from last year.
30:28He was smoking, but yeah, the one thing with Hayden Deegan, as he's learning,
30:33because of how great he's been and some of the comments that he's made,
30:37you got to look at him when he's making passes.
30:39I think it's like the defending Super Bowl champion.
30:42You get the best from everyone.
30:44So when he's making a pass on RJ, anybody else?
30:46Oh, no, that is Chase Sexton.
30:49Ah, bummer for Chase.
30:51Yeah, so now he slits down to seventh right there.
30:55Wow.
30:57I don't know if he stalled it or whatnot, but...
31:00Yeah, is he back underway?
31:01I think he did come across, so eventually got the bike going.
31:05Well, he was third.
31:06Then it looked like it was going to be a fourth.
31:07And then he'll drop the 2024 champion in the series back to seventh, as mentioned.
31:14And Deegan is definitely digging down the stretch now.
31:17Yeah, he's digging in, but he's also coming up to a guy who's kind of like him as the race
31:22goes on.
31:23RJ is the same way.
31:24He never gives up, really strong, and, you know, still a good ride by Hayden.
31:29Sixth, if he can get past RJ, top five.
31:31But the main thing is he saw Jet Lawrence.
31:34He saw that pace.
31:34And if you can keep it on two wheels, there's always something to build.
31:39So I'm sure he's going to be disappointed that he was ahead of Jet at one point and got past.
31:42But he's also taking notes while that was going on?
31:45Yeah, I mean, he has to take notes.
31:47And that's what I was saying back to my point.
31:49You know, I think Hayden understands that as much as he talks, these guys are generation.
31:55Jet Lawrence is Victor Wimbiana.
31:57He's a freak.
31:57He's an alien out here.
31:58So you're not just going to roll over.
32:00So once he made that pass, Jet was going to come back.
32:02So Hayden knows that, or if not, I'm sure the guys that start racing will let him know as he
32:07makes the pass on RJ.
32:09Quick work of RJ there in that roller section.
32:11So now Deegan is going to be fifth.
32:14Jet Lawrence up to fourth.
32:16Pots away.
32:17Jet has finished top three in 51 of the 54 motos he's competed in this class.
32:24He's not too far back at Justin Cooper, but might not get a podium in this one.
32:28Yeah, as dominant as this guy's been, Jet Lawrence, especially at this race,
32:32because he's never lost.
32:33Come here, if you finish on a podium, it feels like a failure compared to all this other success.
32:37But I think this is a great moto for Jet.
32:40He's gotten better.
32:41He looks a lot better.
32:43And he was able to hold off Hayden when Hayden was going, if he can finish this thing off.
32:47And the one guy that's out front, at least is your brother, so you understand how good he is.
32:52We know how good Jorge is.
32:53So I think it's all right for Jet Lawrence.
32:58And that gap stays about the same, that two to four second range between Jet and Deegan
33:03as they followed each other from outside the top ten to in it.
33:07And Justin Cooper, as he always does, hanging strong around those podium positions.
33:11The rider out of New York on the Yamaha, a steady third.
33:16Prado stalking Hunter for the first half of this one.
33:19And Hunter got away.
33:20Does Deegan have a charge in him?
33:22Can he get to Jet one more time with two to go?
33:25Yeah, I mean, Hayden ran this 2.19.7 that last lap compared to Jet, 2.26.
33:32But both those guys were, Jet was a faster, second faster, Justin Cooper.
33:37Hayden was two seconds faster.
33:39So that gap's starting to close.
33:41If Justin doesn't keep this pace up in the next lap and a half, he's going to have that
33:45number one all over him.
33:46Yeah, because there is a major carrot dangling in front of Deegan.
33:50You know he wants to get to Lawrence.
33:52Lawrence doesn't want to let him do it.
33:54And that's going to bring them closer to this 32 who is in third.
33:58Lap and a half to go.
34:00If you're Justin Cooper, you'd be like, all this hype, I'm the number one guy on the race
34:03team out here.
34:04That's right.
34:05You know what his team, but not, you know, not unexpected with Justin Cooper.
34:10He's really good.
34:12This next lap and a half or half a lap is going to tell you whether he can hold this
34:15off.
34:17Okay, here's the gap.
34:18That's a lap rider and another one.
34:20Cooper hits the top of that left-hander.
34:22Then there's Jet Lawrence.
34:24Then another rider a lap down.
34:27Yeah, Jet lost some time.
34:28So I wonder if he got stuff behind these guys or Justin picked it up.
34:33There's Deegan.
34:34He's still pushing.
34:35Oh, yeah.
34:37He kind of knows, like, if he's going to have any shot at Jet, it would have to be why
34:41he's
34:41stuck behind these lapers.
34:42But Jet seems like he's cleared it a little hard, but almost just a little over a lap and
34:47a half left.
34:47I don't know if there's going to be any changes now.
34:49White flag about to fly.
34:51Hunter Lawrence looking to start this season so well.
34:55Prado solid in second.
34:58And Justin Cooper doing what he does.
35:00He's way under the radar, not a lot of talk, no hype for this guy, but looking to put it
35:05on the podium.
35:05But he does.
35:07Talking to his team and his mechanic earlier, they say, honestly, in some ways, Jay Coop
35:11might actually almost be too smart.
35:13He's very calculated, very analytical.
35:16That's why he's been incredibly consistent in his career, but doesn't have as many race
35:20wins as the riders he's generally battling with on the track.
35:25Justin Cooper has never missed a pro motocross race since he turned pro, which is an astounding
35:32stat.
35:32250 and 450 class has never not lined up for a race.
35:37He's been able to stay healthy for the most part.
35:38And now one lap to go for the man who is the poster child for left brain thinking.
35:45The logical, analytical, unemotional 96.
35:48If there's anyone equipped to take a heartbreaking loss in Supercross, put it behind him and win
35:54two weeks later, it's this guy right here.
35:56Absolutely, absolutely.
35:58I mean, we could go on days about what makes Hunter Lawrence a Hunter Lawrence.
36:01I mean, yes, he has the talent.
36:02He has the team.
36:03He has a perfect system.
36:05But what he has is an understanding and, you know, realization on life.
36:09He has perspective.
36:11Yeah.
36:11And that guy, to be Jet Lawrence's brother, to be your younger brother, taking all this
36:16hype, finished second to him two years in a row, really close to lose another championship
36:20by one point when you could almost say he was the best guy through the latter, at least
36:25the second part of that season.
36:27But to always get back up and fight and to live through that, that's why he can come out
36:32here and have a board and race when we have all this hype of everybody else.
36:36This guy's been doing, shows up and does exactly what he did a few weeks ago in Supercross
36:41and made it look really easy to me.
36:43And technically, this will actually be two straight moto wins because Hunter won the final
36:47moto of last year, he was able to hold Jet off at Bugs Creek at the last race of the
36:52year and talking to some people at the team with Honda, including Trey Kennard, their test
36:57rider.
36:57I mean, he said that's a big breakthrough as Hunter was getting closer and closer.
37:01We saw him hold Jet off at the halfway point of the season at Millville, Minnesota.
37:06He has been getting closer and closer to that elusive 450 title.
37:10He don't get much closer than he was a few weeks ago in Supercross.
37:14Could this be the campaign where he gets it done?
37:17You can't start it any better.
37:20It looks good.
37:21As I said, during Supercross, nobody's raced this version of Hunter Lawrence.
37:25I mean, he hasn't seen this probably the best his whole career.
37:28And this is what you get.
37:29This guy has it all.
37:31And all is going to include the first moto win of the year.
37:35Maybe not the hype of everyone else.
37:37How about the results?
37:39Hunter Lawrence wins the first moto of 2026.
37:43And it's going to battle right down to the line.
37:46Solid run for Prado's second.
37:49And J. Coop is going to take it across in third.
37:52He takes a look over.
37:53Holds off Hunter or Jet Lawrence just behind Prado and Hunter.
37:57And welcome back to ProMotoCross.
38:00I don't think Jet Lawrence is 100%, but it's enough to score points in fourth.
38:05And Hayden Deegan will end up fifth.
38:08A great ride from our top five.
38:10Hayden Deegan as well.
38:11R.J.
38:14If I'm at the Lawrence camp, I'm very happy.
38:16We know Hunter.
38:17We know he's back.
38:18Jet looked better throughout that moto.
38:20A solid day for all these guys.
38:22Got anything for me?
38:24Good?
38:25It's on the line.
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