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00:00I just spoke to his big brother, well, bigger brother, I should say, in stature,
00:04Lucas Koonin, because he came in second there overall in the 450s.
00:08I said, look, what did you sort out today that you can say to Sasha,
00:12this is what you need to do to get a good Moto2 result?
00:15And he said, I'm just going to tell him to calm down and enjoy it.
00:18Remember why we're here.
00:19We've been wanting to be here for a really long time.
00:22Go and enjoy it.
00:23He said, this track is going to bite you.
00:26And in those moments, don't make it worse.
00:28Just go out there, just ride, give it what it's got.
00:31Just essentially calm down a little bit.
00:33So that's what he said to his brother.
00:35Let's see what Sasha's got.
00:36Let's remember, he was second in the qualifying here this morning.
00:40We know that he has a measure of this track.
00:42We know he has the pace, but mistakes stopped him.
00:45So he's just got to piece that together, guys.
00:47Well, thanks, Will.
00:48And most importantly, he has a point lead to protect back at MXGP.
00:51So he doesn't want to get injured today.
00:53See if he can calm down.
00:54What else do they need to do?
00:56KTM key to the Moto.
00:57Well, kind of that calm down is managed altitude.
00:59And I'm not talking about conditioning.
01:01I'm talking about just with these bikes, these 250Fs, they're lower on power.
01:05So any mistake that you make in a corner is really exacerbated here at this racetrack.
01:11And you can kind of see it.
01:12So a start is going to be important.
01:14But also, as Lucas was telling his brother, you've got to calm down.
01:18Make sure you keep that momentum up.
01:19Keys to the race.
01:22Okay, so almost ready to go here.
01:24Let's turn it back down to JT.
01:25This guy may be a little under the radar for how fast he's going.
01:27JT.
01:28He is.
01:29And I have to be honest with you, Jason.
01:30I did not know if Cole Davies was going to be a championship contender in this series.
01:35There are a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of ups and downs in his very limited
01:39pro motocross history.
01:40But I think he is slowly starting to prove that he is worthy of being in that conversation.
01:45The one thing I think he still has to work on is his starting consistency.
01:50If he puts himself in good position, he can finish there.
01:52He can win motos like he proved last weekend.
01:55But if he starts 15th, it's going to be a much tougher battle to chase down those Monster
02:00U Pro Circuit Kawasaki's.
02:01Yeah, thanks, JT.
02:03That's it.
02:04Panegra has been lightning off of every start this year in the 10.
02:07And Chinchin, not quite as good off the gate, but has delivered multiple moto wins.
02:12And that might have been his best start of the year in that first moto.
02:15So he's moving further forward.
02:17Yeah, he's moving forward.
02:18And I also think, just shout out to Joe Shimoto.
02:21I think Joe wrote great that first moto.
02:22He obviously went down.
02:23But you heard him on the podium.
02:25Made quite a bit of passes, more aggressive.
02:27If he gets a start, I think he'll be here and compete.
02:30Same thing with Cole Davies and Lucas.
02:34I mean, Sasha Kunin.
02:35Yeah, Sasha, with the early crash, really wasn't in it in the first moto.
02:39Could be different this time.
02:41Although he won't have a very good gate pick.
02:42But he is a great starter.
02:44Might be able to overcome that.
02:46This is it.
02:4730 minutes and two laps.
02:4840 riders on the gate.
02:50First moto winner is Kitchin over Handmaker and Shimoda.
02:53Will they be the ones battling for the overall?
02:55Or can someone else like Davies get in the mix?
02:58Here it is.
02:59Rubs are up.
03:01Gates down.
03:07And it is Sasha Kunin.
03:09Oh, and Handmaker's down in a first turn crash again.
03:13Was that his teammate?
03:14I believe Levi Kitchin was down as with him as well.
03:17It was.
03:18So first and second in the first moto are nearly last and next to last here in the second moto.
03:26That's who's in second place, Nick Romano.
03:29Are you kidding me?
03:30Nick Romano, who is fourth in 0-1.
03:34Could he win today's overall?
03:37He's running second.
03:38But Sasha Kunin showing his start prowess in the lead.
03:41Yeah, this track is going to be a lot different than what it was earlier.
03:44They put some water down.
03:45So we saw in that 450 class how slippery it was.
03:48Got to be careful in this opening lap.
03:50But great to see him up here, JT, as he makes a mistake and gets passed by Nick on the
03:54inside.
03:55Unbelievable.
03:57Romano to the lead.
03:57Oh, almost throws it away.
03:59Sasha gets it back.
04:00All right, JT, what do you got?
04:02I was just going to say buckle up because this is what Sasha does.
04:05He is one of the best starters I've seen.
04:07And let's just give him a mulligan on that first moto start.
04:10But this is what he does well.
04:11But no one likes to push the envelope like Sasha Kunin.
04:16So let's see what he's got.
04:17Because you know after watching his brother get second overall right there, he wants to leave here with a win.
04:21Yeah, absolutely.
04:22And the one thing I was thinking about before the gate dropped, you know, how many times has Sasha probably
04:26started in first gear over in Europe?
04:29So maybe that first start was just him really getting used to that.
04:32Second one was definitely better.
04:34Now he's out front.
04:35You can see in that box there, you've got the two Kawasaki's in green.
04:39That's Panbaker and Kitchen trying to make their way forward.
04:43Trying to figure out where they are looking at timing and scoring.
04:46It is 27th and 28th, at least for the moment.
04:50Yeah, they're way, way, way, way, way, way, way in the back of the pack.
04:53But, yeah, I mean, you can see all the chaos in the small box.
04:56Not only they've got to deal with the ruts, they've got the riders getting cross-rutted.
05:00So you've got to be careful to make your way up.
05:03And if you're Levi, just stick with that number 10.
05:05And in front of him as he's making a bunch of passes.
05:08So Sasha Kunin, 14th in Moto 1 and quickly getting away in Moto 2.
05:14What an impression, a first impression, that the Kunin twins are leaving on Pro Motocross today.
05:21Romano, DiFrancisco, Gordon, Shimoda is fifth.
05:25This could be an opportunity for Shimoda to get that much-needed first overall win of the season
05:33because he's going to have to deal with Romano, who's the overall leader right now.
05:36And Kichin and Havag are our way back.
05:38Yeah, they didn't make a mistake.
05:39So Levi's actually ahead of Seth.
05:41So he's made the pass on him and a few other positions.
05:44But, I mean, you've got to think, Sasha's out front just smiling.
05:49His brother's smiling out here.
05:50Long ways to go.
05:51But I would say so far, the visitation to America has been successful.
05:58No doubt about it.
05:59Even if he doesn't finish off for the Moto win, they have shown how well they can ride
06:03and what talents that they are.
06:05Will?
06:06Yeah, I just want to let you guys know, I'm actually with Sasha's brother, Lucas, right now.
06:11He's just watching the monitor that we watch the racing on.
06:14He's like, I'm loving this.
06:15I'm loving the fact that I can watch him out there.
06:17I don't think any surprise right now seeing what his brother is doing, but he's watching very close.
06:22He hasn't gone anywhere.
06:23He's moved about 10 feet from the podium.
06:26Yes, very interested spectator there.
06:29Expect to see them back at Southwick and Ironman get to a sand track.
06:35Southwick, they could do some serious damage there.
06:38You know, but at the same time, I know this is hard pack, but this track kind of reminds me
06:42of a sand track,
06:43meaning you've got to carry your momentum up.
06:45And with the bike being down on power, probably allowing Lucas, being on this hard pack,
06:50to kind of ride it, I mean, Sasha, that is, to ride it like he would sand, keeping that momentum
06:55up.
06:55I mean, look at this gap.
06:56He almost got five seconds within a lap and a half, and he's got his head down, just moving forward.
07:02And at one point, he'll realize, man, I got these guys pretty far.
07:05I'm pretty far out front.
07:08You can see Romano in the distance back there.
07:10Going to go back to the start.
07:11Got to show you what happened to Hamaker, who I thought might have the whole shot.
07:15And just like last week, ends up getting tangled in turn one.
07:19And Kitchen was down with him.
07:20There's Romano in second.
07:24And already, they got, like you said, nearly five seconds.
07:26Good start for Ryder D. Francesco on the Rockstar Husqvarna.
07:30There's Kitchen.
07:32He is into the top 20 now, 18th.
07:35And now we'll show you the replay of the start as he tries to get around his teammate, Drew Adams,
07:40back here.
07:42Yeah, Drew probably didn't recognize that it was Levi behind him.
07:45But here we go.
07:45We've got Levi highlighted.
07:48Now, it looked like kind of got clipped.
07:50Somebody gets clipped, they start leaning towards the other way.
07:53So, I believe the, it was a Kawasaki rider that got hooked on Seth.
07:58I don't know.
07:59Was that Levi?
07:59And pulled Seth down.
08:01I think it was Levi that pulled him down.
08:02But the question is, what happened to Levi?
08:05Something must have hit him.
08:07Yeah, when the corner is going right, these guys start going left.
08:11It never ends well.
08:13Man, Kitchen is making an evincement of this field.
08:15So, he's already passed about half of the riders 17th now for Kitchen in six minutes.
08:24Yeah, that's good.
08:25Seems like with the track, it's gotten to a point to where the ruts are going to be the ruts.
08:29So, wherever it's flat, it's pretty much going to stay that way.
08:32So, I think it's opened up the passing opportunities for these guys.
08:36It looked like they made some smooth mitts on the racetrack.
08:38So, they were able to hit some of the outsides.
08:40But, nonetheless, Levi's doing good, JT.
08:42Yeah, it is.
08:42And, Weege, I love what you did there with the Kitchen mints me thing.
08:45But it is a little, I think, reassuring for Kitchen when he sees Handmaker down with him in the first
08:51corner.
08:51Now, that doesn't help his points or his scoring position in this moto.
08:54But at least he knows that his championship rival up to this point is in the same dire situation that
09:00he is.
09:00So, it's not going to be as much panic.
09:02He's going to work forward, get every single point he can.
09:04But there's just that tinge of like, oh, okay, well, it's not as bad as it could be.
09:09I think it moves in a hurry.
09:11Gage Linfield here on the 5-11 tryout, the 74.
09:14Catch back up to the lead group.
09:16You got Davies who has now moved from 6th to 4th.
09:19Shimoda.
09:19Shimoda has the overall win right in front of him.
09:23But he's actually drifted back a bit.
09:25And it's going to help Romano's cause.
09:27This would be an unbelievable story if Nick Romano, the fill-in rider for Pro Circuit, could get the win.
09:35There he is on the 141.
09:36But he's under fire from Di Francesco.
09:39Yeah, I'm assuming Joe must have went down because he was up there.
09:42Or maybe my mistake.
09:43But, yeah, the one you've got to watch for is the guy in fourth right now, Cole Davies.
09:48I do believe, like, he showed a lot of pace.
09:50He was second fastest.
09:52Actually, he was your fastest on the racetrack.
09:54But almost second over Rotter D in front of him.
09:58So, he has the pace and he just came through the pack.
10:01So, Joe better catch a toe.
10:04Okay, Joe is back going behind Davies.
10:07Shimoda's going to need a couple of passes.
10:09Got to get to Romano and beat him in this moto.
10:12Because he only beat Romano by one spot in the first moto.
10:15So, Romano would have tiebreaker in position if he finishes ahead of Shimoda.
10:21So, at least right now, the overall win today is a battle between the green 141 of Romano and the
10:27red 30 of Shimoda.
10:29And there's a pass by Di Francesco.
10:31Yeah, Nick got caught on that outside.
10:33And you can't go the long ways around and make that mistake.
10:36Rotter D was able to slide up the inside.
10:38Great pass.
10:39Listen, good to see him up here.
10:41Promising Supercross season.
10:42A couple crashes this outdoor season.
10:44But make no mistake, this kid has a lot of speed.
10:46He just needs to be up front and he can show it.
10:50Do you think Romano has any idea he's leading this thing overall?
10:53Probably.
10:54You think so?
10:55Knows his teammates down.
10:56Oh, there goes easy pass.
10:58Easy work there for the 37.
10:59Davies.
11:00Yeah, I don't know if he's pumped up.
11:02Oh, no.
11:03Davies.
11:04Goes down.
11:05Oh, no.
11:06That's going to be tough in the shower later on.
11:08That arm.
11:09You can see a little road rash up there.
11:11But that just shows you the traction or the lack thereof on this racetrack.
11:15He was pushing it.
11:16Both tires starts pushing.
11:17And he goes down.
11:19Oh, bummer for Cole.
11:21So we think Shimoda might have gone down at one point.
11:23Now same thing for Davies.
11:25It is all sorts of mixed up.
11:28And Davies now back to seven of the young Australian,
11:33Caden Menear, who got in front of him.
11:35And then there's Menear at the 99.
11:40Deacon Denno, another rookie, had a good start last week on the 5-11 Triumph,
11:45looking good on the 199.
11:47Then it's Davies.
11:50Carson Mumford, who was quick last week.
11:53Yeah, looking at the points.
11:55Nick and Joe tied on points.
11:57Ryder Dees in third.
11:59There's two CF classes making it difficult on my math problems right now.
12:02I can't deal with it.
12:03It's like the single digits.
12:05Levi Kitchen's going to be in a position here in a little bit for an overall victory still.
12:10How many people struggle with that?
12:12Five out of four, baby.
12:14We're going to give you the update here on the fly racing riders in this field
12:18as Davies goes to work on Denno.
12:22Just a moment.
12:23We'll give you that update.
12:24Been in a struggle today for Haimus, again, who was the race winner here last year.
12:29He's in 13th.
12:30There's the pass.
12:31Yeah, good recovery by Cole.
12:33Probably takes him a few corners to settle back up.
12:36Hopefully, his mechanic probably told him,
12:38hey, we're still in this thing.
12:40We need to fight.
12:41Levi's in the back.
12:42He doesn't understand that.
12:43Still got 20 minutes left, plus two laps in this race.
12:46Kitchen's the 14th.
12:47Let's hear about that rookie, Deacon Denno, JT.
12:50Yeah, and Jason, it's not so much just about Denno.
12:52It's really about the youth in this top 10.
12:54Look, you've got Sasha Kunin making his first ever pro motocross race winning here.
12:58You've got Landon Gordon in, what, his maybe fourth or fifth ever pro motocross race.
13:02Caden Muneer with a similar number in sixth.
13:04Deacon Denno, his third ever pro motocross race.
13:07So, the youth is really showing up.
13:09And Carson Wood was 10th, now 11th, in his first ever pro motocross race.
13:13So, the youngster's really showing up in moto too.
13:15Yeah, Wood is just 16 years old.
13:17The plan for now is for Wood to race a couple of these, but not so many that he loses
13:23his amateur eligibility
13:24and then go to the Monster Energy Championship at the red lens for amateurs.
13:28But if he does really well, the team might just keep Wood on full time, running 11th right now.
13:34Yeah, how good these amateurs are these days.
13:37It's probably not much easier than racing amateurs.
13:40We've seen these kids come out and especially the next program and compete next weekend.
13:47How about this?
13:49Sasha Kunin wheeling away and looking for the moto win.
13:54Now, not his first race in America, but he was part of the Belgium team for the motocross of nations.
13:59Kunin was fast that day, made some mistakes, was fast in the first moto, made some mistakes.
14:04But so far, he's got it right now.
14:07Yeah, but I would say this is his first race, only because of the destinations.
14:11You end up racing against 450s and stuff.
14:14So, like I said, with his brother, there's 10 reasons why this shouldn't be possible.
14:18But these kids got a lot of heart, a lot of determination.
14:21It is.
14:22Wow.
14:24Making that Roger DeCoster fly racing gear look good.
14:28Kunin's first.
14:29First, you look at the fly racing riders.
14:30Hymas, we mentioned before, 13th.
14:32Boland, 17th.
14:33Turner, Ross, Timbo, and Schwartz on the Bar-Ax, Toyota, Redlands.
14:37Yamaha's out there as well.
14:39So, yeah, the gear here that fly racing came up with is designed to look like the man.
14:43Roger DeCoster, the superstar of the sport in the 1970s.
14:47A Belgium native as well.
14:49And he manages K-10's racing operations.
14:51So, it's great to be able to work with these riders.
14:54Roger is 82 years old.
14:56They are 19.
14:56So, I cannot say they grew up as Roger fans necessarily.
15:01I mean, luckily, you're still in it.
15:03Luckily, they still watched you growing up.
15:04So, you're 19.
15:06Yeah.
15:07You still respect it.
15:07I'm glad you threw out Roger's age because that saves me.
15:10I feel way young.
15:11But, I mean, you're watching a little grown man out here and whatnot.
15:15Somebody's putting it down.
15:17Kids are teams coming over here and doing work.
15:20It looks like Shimoda has the gap to Romano down to one second.
15:24That would be the battle for the overall win today.
15:27You see the event points on the left side.
15:29And here is that battle.
15:30They're currently tied.
15:32Romano would have it.
15:34Second photo is a tiebreaker.
15:36But for how long?
15:37Yeah.
15:38When you ask me that question, does Nick know?
15:41You're about to find out.
15:43Yeah.
15:43It depends on how he fights Joe.
15:45If Joe gets around and does he run a wheel back in on him?
15:49But overall, I would do a lot of things.
15:50And I'm sure Nick will be able to get his first one.
15:53Joe's had one before.
15:54An opportunity for him.
15:58Unbelievable for Pro Circuit.
16:00If Romano holds on, they have the first three wins of the year
16:04with three different riders really showing how strong these motorcycles are this year.
16:10Here's Kitchen.
16:11More work.
16:12He is Croft Climus.
16:13Yeah, I was looking at it.
16:14He's been stuck at 14 for a little bit now.
16:17But he had to make up a little bit of time on chance.
16:21He's got to keep pushing for.
16:25And with the work Kitchen has done,
16:28he would actually take over the championship lead by one point at the moment.
16:32He throws the field over Hamaker.
16:34Seth a little further back.
16:35He is in 19.
16:37And Darren Kelly here.
16:4077 on the MX6.
16:43Sons of our fathers, Kawasaki.
16:45Here's Kitchen.
16:47Yeah, Levi's doing really good.
16:49And it just shows you how impressive this ride is if he can continue.
16:52Because it's really hard for anyone to come up through this field.
16:54Look at Seth.
16:55I mean, he's kind of been stuck in that same position.
16:57How difficult this racetrack is.
16:59So, Cole Davies, the same thing.
17:02Really impressed that first motor with the passes.
17:05Uh-oh.
17:05It's Joe's time.
17:07That's right there, James.
17:09Looking for the move of Romano.
17:10It's for the overall, the bottom box.
17:12Yeah.
17:12Now, if I'm Joe, I want HRC to let me know that this is for an overall with Nick.
17:17So, you know, hey, don't leave that corner open.
17:20Maybe some races Nick wouldn't come back in.
17:22But, like I said, you do a lot of things for an overall victory in this class.
17:27Oh, yeah.
17:28Kitchen.
17:28Meanwhile, that battle with Hyman's had feet off the pegs.
17:31And the Rucks lost a ton of ground to Hyman's.
17:33So, still stuck in 14th.
17:36Kunin leads the moto.
17:38DiFrancisco second.
17:39But this battle, Romano and Shimoda, it all comes down to this, JT.
17:43It does.
17:44And for Shimoda, you know, I was thinking, it's been a long time since we've seen Wasabi Joe show up.
17:49You know, it's a nickname that the Honda HRC guys use for Joe when he's in the zone.
17:54When he's feeling it and he goes to that other place.
17:57That's Wasabi Joe.
17:58We have not seen that.
18:00I don't know.
18:01Maybe all of 2026.
18:03So, if there was ever a time to break it back out, it would be right here, right now, to
18:06grab that overall win.
18:08Get some water.
18:09It's Wasabi time.
18:10I feel like Joe's here.
18:12And like I said earlier, the first moto, he rode good.
18:15But looking at Levi Kitchen, our points leader, Seth, it is just very, very hard to make passes in this
18:21field.
18:21And as you get up, the passes get even more difficult.
18:24So, Joe's riding really good.
18:27Stucking his hair from the roost.
18:29Getting the overall victory.
18:31That's probably a lot of people's bingo card, for sure.
18:34This is the battle for the win.
18:36Halfway mark of the moto.
18:37Reminder to stock up.
18:39On Monster Energy.
18:41Shimoda versus Romano.
18:44Will.
18:45As I was talking to, Ben Griffiths, Joe Shimoda's mechanic, Shane Drew, the crew chief over there for the two
18:51teams.
18:51He's just asking kind of where Joe's at, you know, because the results have been relatively consistent, but not consistently
18:57on the podium up front.
18:59And they both said, this is about the starts.
19:01There's been a big focus this week on those starts.
19:05It was a bit so-so once again there in moto to imagine the world where Joe has got these
19:09starts.
19:10Because he has been the most consistent rider, really.
19:13And they said, also, we have to remember back-to-back injuries for Joe.
19:17He had that very serious upper back there, neck injury.
19:20And then, of course, you know, he had the leg, his broken leg there.
19:24So, they said, that's a lot of time away from the bike.
19:26That's a lot of, you know, gate drops.
19:28A lot of confidence knocking.
19:29So, the message really coming from them was, once we get a start, just watch this space.
19:34Because they're very happy with the way Joe's been moving through the pack.
19:37As you've noted, James, and we're seeing it happen again.
19:40It might result in a no-board, but we still haven't seen him go out in front and get that
19:44win on the moto.
19:45But it's just kind of helping the minutes coming.
19:47Yeah, and just going, expanding on that a little bit more, when you talk about the injuries,
19:51I felt like with Joe coming back, because he has some gnarly injuries, you know, just having that confidence in
19:56yourself,
19:57I actually believe, because he hasn't been getting bad starts, it's probably why, once he does get it, he's able
20:03to ride.
20:03Because, to me, the way he looked at first race, if you were to put him out front, he might
20:08have not erode like this.
20:09But because he had bad starts, and he had to just let loose and race and pass these guys,
20:14probably let his instincts come back, found his racing form to where now he's back.
20:18But he's got a bigger problem.
20:19His motorcycle's smoking now.
20:21Smoking Joe.
20:22He's smoking Joe right now.
20:23Look on the right side of that bike on the bottom part.
20:28Oh, wow.
20:32This is it.
20:34If the bike holds on, it's the battle for the overall.
20:36Romano hanging tough.
20:37He has improved so much on the late race endurance compared to the first weekend of the year at Fox
20:44Raceway.
20:45But has he improved enough to hold off Joe, who is maybe the toughest rider in this field late in
20:50the race?
20:50Oh, that's why he's smoking a lot more now.
20:52Yeah, it's smoking, and hopefully, maybe it's just because it's overheating.
20:56I can hear Joe revving that motorcycle up.
20:58But we're at altitude as Joe tries to go around the outside.
21:01The bike's running hotter up here because they're starving for oxygen.
21:04So easy to happen.
21:06I saw it happen yesterday and even earlier today.
21:09So Joe's going to have to keep this thing and try to manage it.
21:12But I doubt he knows at this moment.
21:15JT.
21:16Just remember, guys, remember Hayden Deegan last year.
21:18Oh, that's the pass, JT.
21:20He makes the move there.
21:21But Hayden Deegan basically had to milk his bike all the way to the finish line with a similar issue.
21:26Over revving the motorcycle, using the clutch too much.
21:29So nothing that dramatic yet for Joe.
21:31But he could be there if he doesn't take it easy.
21:33Yeah, and I'm looking at it.
21:34It's coming out to a drain plug down there.
21:36So that's actually a good thing because that is overheating.
21:39It looks like overflow.
21:42Yeah, the overflow, which said that bike is hot.
21:44So he might have an opportunity.
21:46It's going to be hard because he's battling.
21:48But maybe try to cool that thing down.
21:52A little bit interesting to see if they put on the pit board to stay off the clutch.
21:56Because when the smoke's coming out there, as a rider, do you even know it?
21:59Do you even see it?
22:00No, the only time you know it is like if there's a big puff or you start feeling like the
22:03antifreeze or water getting on you,
22:05you start sliding around and not gripping it.
22:08That's when you'll look down.
22:09But Smoking Joe don't know he's smoking right now.
22:12Back with Kitchen.
22:13So Shimoda, at the moment with that pass on Romano, has taken the overall lead.
22:18Kitchen is digging for a podium today.
22:24Yeah, hopefully these guys in front of him get Levi back in here because I believe he's got an opportunity
22:32to make a few passes.
22:33It's only about, you know, six seconds behind Cole Davies running in ninth place.
22:40Cole must have went down again.
22:42Well, what's wild is, first of Kitchen can make this pass on Wood and put him on the overall podium.
22:47Not bad for the first turn crash.
22:49But the serious points right now, Kitchen would have a two-point lead on Hamaker and a four-point lead
22:55on Shimoda.
22:56And Beaumare, who's been solid all year, would be down only 12.
23:00So every point is big for any one of these riders.
23:04And if Shimoda's bike can't hold on, that would be an absolute disaster.
23:07Will?
23:09I just spoke to crew chief and mechanic for Joe Shimoda, and neither of them have heard over their radios
23:15that Joe's bike is smoking.
23:17So they have not made him aware because, essentially, right now, the team is unaware that there's potentially any bike
23:22problems.
23:24That could be good.
23:25That could be bad.
23:26Yeah, and the reason that is, because some places it's not smoking, which goes to me, it's more about it
23:32overheating.
23:33It seems like when the slower parts, it starts smoking.
23:36Like, right here, you can see it.
23:37But when it gets going, it opens up, and they cannot see that.
23:41So as long as Joe's smoking, he's all right.
23:44That bike could continue to run.
23:45It's when it stops, that might be the issue.
23:49Hopefully it cools down.
23:53So Shimoda in control of the overall.
23:55But here's the podium attempt for Kitchin in the bottom box.
23:58If he can make the move on young Carson Wood.
24:03Carson, both of his grandparents are here this weekend to watch his pro debut.
24:07They're very happy.
24:07He has been flying out the test track.
24:09So that's why they're giving him a shot as a pro.
24:12He is right behind Mumford.
24:14He's been riding very well as of late on the AEO KTM.
24:16That's the three-rider battle in the bottom.
24:18What a line by Levi.
24:20The same line he was using that first moto.
24:22That was even more impressive how rough it is.
24:24So now you can start to see the aggressiveness coming from Levi.
24:27He sees these guys in front of him.
24:29So if he can get these two, that's going to change things.
24:31And who knows how far he can go up.
24:38Wood really applying the pressure to Mumford.
24:43Yeah, this is going to help Levi out.
24:45These two battling.
24:48Trying to catch him while they're battling each other.
24:50Sneak a little sneak attack as Carson looks like he makes the pass.
24:54So the 16-year-old Wood showing some toughness.
24:58Oh, but he had a rough ride through that corner.
25:00Mumford trying to get him back.
25:02Not able to do it.
25:07I love this team in class because there's battles all the way down.
25:11I mean, we're down, what, 11, 12th?
25:14Yeah, 10th, 11, 12th.
25:16These two are battling.
25:17Levi makes that pass.
25:18And is that enough for the overall podium for Kitchen?
25:22Well, this is going to help.
25:23He just made it two for one.
25:26Logo time, Levi.
25:28So he's around Wood.
25:31Where is Handmaker?
25:3216th.
25:33And it is enough.
25:34Yeah, Kitchen will go to second overall, though.
25:37Yeah, you got Cole Davies in front of him.
25:40And it's kind of strange.
25:42Yes, I agree.
25:44Yeah, the way he's riding, you're starting to wonder, does he have bike issues as well?
25:49We heard him that first moto last weekend.
25:53Yeah, I'm not sure what the issue was last week.
25:55When I talked to Davies yesterday, he just said, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say.
25:58We had a problem.
25:59He got 11th in that moto.
26:03Yeah, less than that.
26:03And there he is.
26:04It's not that's true to get into a good story.
26:07But Kitchen is definitely reeling him in now, James.
26:09You can see Davies right there.
26:11Yeah, and if I'm Levi, I know this is going to be one of the guys,
26:14and I'm going to have to fight for this championship.
26:16So that's even more motivation to try to get him.
26:18And, yeah, if he can get this pass, he's already in second overall at this moment.
26:24Is it conceivable that he could make up four more points, four more passes,
26:30and actually somehow get the overall win despite the crash?
26:34Yeah, it's going to be tough.
26:36He's got about 10 seconds to gain.
26:38But I did say he's going to be, at the end of this moto,
26:41possibly fight for his overall victory.
26:43Now, as for Hamaker, here he is.
26:45If it ends like this, he'll lose the red plate to Kitchen.
26:48But he is digging as well.
26:51He just got around Dudley for 15th.
26:56Kitchen in hot pursuit of Davies.
27:00Yeah, really.
27:01I mean, those two were down together in that first corner.
27:03So I'm sure Seth, you know, he did a good job at fighting back.
27:07Probably going to be a little bummed once he looks up and see how far Levi was able to climb
27:11up
27:11because he just did it last weekend, so I didn't lose that points lead.
27:15But the number 47 has been right great all day long.
27:18Very impressive.
27:19He continued marching his way up.
27:21Kitchen is 10th.
27:23If you've got Davies, that'd be one point.
27:25Denno, Menear, Bomair.
27:27He would need to get there, I believe.
27:28And I'm literally counting on my fingers.
27:30You can verify.
27:31I'm doing it right in front of you.
27:31To get to the overall win, that would be unbelievable.
27:35One pass at a time.
27:36And he's going for it around the outside.
27:39Got it.
27:40Yeah, no, he looked like he had it.
27:42Almost like he hit like a pothole and he kind of knocked his hand off the throttle
27:47and kind of stalled out there.
27:48But nonetheless, yeah, Levi's, no matter how he finished, I think this is a win today.
27:55The way he rode that first moto, to be able to come up
27:58and then ultimately, like, take over the points lead
28:00if he's able to finish this thing out with his second place after going down to the first corner.
28:05Levi's solid.
28:07And he has officially taken the measure of Davies.
28:11Again, second overall.
28:12He needs three more positions to be able to knock Shimoda off of the top overall spot.
28:20And what can you say about the moto?
28:21Oh, is that a mistake there for the 47?
28:24Yeah, he probably wanted to get to that end time, so it looked like he stalled it out.
28:28Yeah, small mistake, but no harm, no foul.
28:31He's got to get a little distance.
28:33Oh, but by the way, he didn't just fly over from somewhere and he just showed up.
28:38Would look it.
28:38Yeah, he was just, like, riding in California a couple days ago.
28:41Unbelievable.
28:42Yeah, maybe first time at altitude, riding a bike on a team that he's not familiar.
28:46It's different to what he's racing.
28:47And I feel like I just saw him win last weekend somewhere else in a whole different country.
28:52And he comes over here and does it here.
28:54So far, it looks good.
28:55Yes, sweeping the motos last weekend in Latvia.
29:00And now looking for a moto win here.
29:02Now, this is Sasha Coon, and he's not going to make the overall podium because of a bad first moto.
29:06But what a performance here, JT.
29:09It sure is.
29:09And just thinking about their future plans, they're going to go back and they're going to go to Italy to
29:14race next weekend.
29:16The following weekend, they go all the way down to South Africa for a Grand Prix down there.
29:21And then they'll be back for Southwick.
29:23So what a travel schedule in front of them.
29:26And just going from South Africa to Southwick alone, that is enough to ask in and of itself.
29:30But I think there's a bright future ahead.
29:33It's pretty obvious from these results.
29:35Yeah, I think I'm going to agree with that.
29:37These kids can ride, no doubt about it.
29:39The 19-year-old twins from Belgium.
29:43And the other thing about Sasha, you only saw it in this photo.
29:45He is an unbelievable starter.
29:48And that will obviously serve him well.
29:50Now, a lot of the Belgian riders and the Dutch, you know, the neighboring country are known for the sand
29:54riding.
29:55But the Kunens, a couple of years ago, moved to France because they wanted to get more riding in on
30:01hard pack.
30:01Because they know they need to be more versatile than just being sand masters.
30:05So they're good on sand.
30:06But they do a lot of work on this type of terrain.
30:08And you can see it pay off today.
30:10Yeah, I mean, small alert.
30:11If you can ride sand, you can ride anything, to be honest.
30:14Because they're all kind of similar.
30:15Whether it's hard pack, you've got to keep the momentum up.
30:17Whether it's mud, same thing.
30:18And so I think sand is a challenge not only to learn how to shift the motorcycle, keep momentum, but
30:24also physically.
30:25It's really hard, too.
30:26So very impressed.
30:28But we did talk on the call this weekend.
30:31And what Sasha's doing, it's not surprising.
30:34He did say it wouldn't be surprising if he came out one in moto and had some troubles in the
30:37other one.
30:38But to me, listening to Jett Lawrence talk about how difficult the racetrack is, knowing how difficult after racing on
30:44it, I'm impressed for them to adapt.
30:47Because I know this track has not been the same each time they've been on the racetrack.
30:51Come to altitude.
30:52You know, there's a lot of pressure on him.
30:54But talking to him yesterday, knowing everything that's going on, I'm more impressed about them being able to handle all
31:00the adversity.
31:00And to come out and look like he did a week ago out front in his own series, that's what
31:06makes this kid special.
31:08Not what he's doing right now.
31:09We know he's fast.
31:10But it's doing all that the way he's doing it.
31:12Very impressive.
31:15Kitchin still trying to dig back there in nine.
31:21Oh, wait a minute.
31:22This is going to help Shimoda.
31:23He is starting to close on DeFrancisco.
31:25Could get a little insurance.
31:26Because right now, he's only two points ahead of Kitchin overall.
31:30But he's closing on DeFrancisco.
31:33DeFrancisco, by the way, would be looking at his first career podium overall in pro motocross.
31:42At least at the moment.
31:44But if he gets passed by Shimoda, he'll be bumped back.
31:48That JT has from Wasabi time.
31:50I believe he's here.
31:52Joe's heating up.
31:54Joe's been heating up by his bike.
31:55He's been heating up for a few laps.
31:57We haven't seen it in a bit.
31:58So maybe no more worries cooling down a little bit.
32:02All right.
32:02He's heating up.
32:03Mike's cooling down.
32:04He's caught Ryder D.
32:06He's been very good so far this year.
32:08He's taking steps on the Rockstar Husky.
32:12Wow, is this track brutal at this point.
32:14He just sawed it out.
32:14Those holes down there.
32:16Yeah.
32:17And this kind of goes back to my point, what I was saying with Joe earlier.
32:19Because he's had that start, he's learned how to race again.
32:22You know?
32:23And all that fear kind of goes away.
32:25Because there's so much chaos around you.
32:27I think that helped Joe in this situation.
32:29Because now he's following Ryder D.
32:31And he's like, man, I've been getting bad starts.
32:33I'm used to pushing all the way to the end.
32:35And we know how fast he is.
32:36And so if he gets that start now, I believe that riding matches.
32:39And Joe's been riding great all day long.
32:41And he holds on another two and a half laps.
32:45Going to be, what, third race coming into season?
32:47We wouldn't chalk that up on a good season.
32:49Only four points down.
32:51Four and five points down.
32:53Seven.
32:53Yeah.
32:53Seven now.
32:54Seven points down.
32:55Because Kitchens made a few spots up.
32:57But, yeah, for what seems to be a slow start to the year.
33:01Seven points down after six motos.
33:03Yeah.
33:03And I would say probably all his championships, this is probably the closest he's been after three races to the
33:10lead.
33:11So, in all, you know, hindsight, it's actually a great start to the season for Joe and HRC if they
33:17can hold this thing off.
33:18A couple more laps.
33:19That's right.
33:20Joe, normally known as a closer, doing his best work late into the championships.
33:25All over DiFrancisco with two to go.
33:28So, the overall today, at least as a pal, would be Shimoda, Kitchen, DiFrancisco.
33:33It almost was the dream ride for Romano.
33:36He's still riding very well.
33:37But he'd be fourth overall.
33:40And then Sasha Kunin with the moto win.
33:42But the top 14th in moto one would be fifth overall.
33:48Ryder D.
33:48See what he's made of here down the stretch.
33:50Got to dig deep.
33:53There he is.
33:54Joe's got some good lines.
33:55You can see Joe's starting to work.
33:57Keep some of those outside.
33:58Keep that momentum up.
34:00Start making Ryder D guess.
34:01And he can make that pass.
34:06All this is going to help is just the points and close that gap to the championship.
34:10Because right now, he has overall.
34:12So, for him.
34:13But Joe doesn't know anything different.
34:15Ryder in front of us.
34:16Time to pass.
34:17This guy is so strong late in the races.
34:20So, this is not going to be easy for DiFrancisco.
34:24Saw Joe wanting to get to that inside there.
34:25He just missed it.
34:26The bike wouldn't hook up.
34:36Going to be white flag next time around.
34:40Nice.
34:41Joe struggled to get over that tabletop.
34:43It shows the lack of power on these motorcycles.
34:51Kitchen still going.
34:53Deacon Denno, though, solid at this moto on the Triumph at 8.
34:58Yeah, good ride.
34:59I mean, it comes down to a lot of these kids.
35:02We talked about it over the last couple of weeks.
35:04Sasha looks like she went off track.
35:06Hey, Graham.
35:07He had a pretty big lead.
35:10Yeah, he's all right here on the 109.
35:12About to see the white flag with a seven-second gap.
35:19Yep, racing in Lafayette last weekend.
35:23A couple of days out in California to get used to the American bike.
35:26And so far, so good, except for this.
35:29Yep, that's a double.
35:30Ooh, that was close right there.
35:32Yeah, great riding by him.
35:34No harm, no foul.
35:35Levi gets back on the track, but that could have been really bad.
35:38He looked like he bottomed out, cross-rutted, and saved the day.
35:42But back on Levi and Deacon.
35:45Like, a lot of these kids, I mean, it really just comes down to a start.
35:50Because they have the speed to do it as Levi makes his way up.
35:52But it's still a great ride by him.
35:54And both of these guys, Levi gets another point on seven.
35:58So now Kitchen would need two more points on this last lap.
36:01If Shimoda cannot get DeFrancisco, it's not quite over.
36:06If I look back there, can I see Shimoda still battling?
36:10And yes, Shimoda just made the pass on DeFrancisco.
36:14So that's going to make the overall map a little easier for Joe.
36:21Well, when we met these two yesterday, Lucas and Sasha, they were so happy, so pumped, especially to meet you.
36:28They came over here to say, can we get a picture with James?
36:31James, which is what the fans say.
36:32This guy's good enough to win motos.
36:34And I said to Lucas, I said, are you sure you're going to be able to lock in tomorrow?
36:38Like, at some point, it's got to get serious.
36:40And they were honestly a little concerned.
36:43But obviously, when the helmet went on, they knew what to do.
36:45Yeah, but I mean, Toma, you can come over.
36:48This has been a dream.
36:50Truthfully, both of them, I would have to say, they probably lived up to the expectation.
36:54This dream come true.
36:54Because Lucas understands after Rod here, I can come over here and compete immediately.
37:00So that's good.
37:02Same thing with Sasha, what he's doing in his moto.
37:05But man, I am really impressed.
37:08You guys hear me talk about these Rod.
37:10I'm impressed with all of them.
37:11But I get more impressed about what they do inside their head, all those challenges.
37:15And you can now face a lot of adversity in the different ways.
37:18And I can't say enough about what they're doing today.
37:20Yep.
37:22Transatlantic travel, a bunch of time zones, different bike, different series, tracks they don't know, formats they don't know.
37:28What worries?
37:30This one's just powered by the fact that it's the dream they want to come to America and win in
37:35America.
37:36And in the second moto, Sasha Kunin takes a moto win in Thunder Valley.
37:43And this should be enough for Joe Shimoda to take the win overall in Thunder Valley.
37:51Joe Shimoda's first win of the year.
37:53Congrats, Joe.
37:54But look at the points.
37:55Seth has made some passes.
37:57They're tied.
37:57Wow.
37:59Okay, so let's shake this all out.
38:01Shimoda made that pass on DeFrancisco for second.
38:03DeFrancisco third.
38:05Bomair got around Romano.
38:06But yes, Seth Hamaker never gave up.
38:09Got the 12th.
38:10And it should be a co-share of the point lead for the Kawasaki Riders.
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