Motocross National 2024
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00:00Yeah, welcome to SMX Insider previewing the 27th round of the Super Motocross World Championship.
00:25That's Bud's Creek Motocross in Maryland, where the Jasons, Wygant, and Thomas.
00:30We go into Bud's Creek with some intrigue, which is pretty impressive to go 27 rounds
00:34and still not know quite what we have.
00:36But we come off of Unadilla, and JT, it was classic Unadilla.
00:40Big variants, some heartbreaks, also some great rides, to the point where I think you
00:44and I both identified two different 450 riders as the guys who can walk into Bud's with a
00:50little extra confidence.
00:51You saw something special starting with Chase Sexton in Moto 2.
00:55Yeah, perspective is everything when it comes to these things, and lots of riders leave
00:59a race like Unadilla with different angles and how they feel about it.
01:04They can all be true, but it all depends on which side of the coin you're on.
01:08So I think for Chase Sexton, he absolutely leaves there with a ton of confidence, more
01:12than he came in with, and he should.
01:14The way he attacked the racetrack in that second moto, the lead he was able to pull,
01:18and the speed he showed early on in that race, it's the first time I've seen anything
01:23like that from Chase Sexton on a Red Bull KTN, and you start to think big picture about
01:28what this sets him up for, not only for the last two rounds of this Pro Motocross Championship,
01:33but those playoff rounds that start in September when we have a full field again and he's going
01:38to chase that World Championship.
01:40What does he look like mentally and physically?
01:42Does he have the speed at the beginning?
01:44We know he has the fitness.
01:45It was just such a big weekend in the story of Chase Sexton getting back to his best self.
01:51And we'll get further into that as this show goes on, but on the other end, I'm saying
01:54if you're Hunter Lawrence, you took it to Sexton and beat him straight up in a moto,
01:58which had happened a few times earlier in the year, but had not even been close to happening
02:03over the last month.
02:04So that's a combination of rest and time off and that new 2025 Honda.
02:08So even though he doesn't win Unadilla, he's got to be somehow more confident than he was
02:13going into it as well.
02:15I'm going to sum the whole thing up like this.
02:16At the end of the day, Unadilla, James Stewart, my colleague in the booth, says, man, I'm
02:21not used to the racing being this intense this late in the year.
02:25And I think we know why.
02:26The playoffs are looming now.
02:28Everyone is still trying to beat.
02:29They're still reaching.
02:30A lot of times people are just coasting this late in the year.
02:34You're right.
02:35These riders would not be coming back.
02:36I don't believe you would see Cooper Webb back.
02:38And I don't believe you would see Eli Tomac back without these playoffs on the schedule.
02:43So if you're a fan sitting at home and your favorite rider is racing in the month of August
02:47coming off an injury, you have one thing to point to and it's going to ramp up going into
02:52Charlotte.
02:53Yep.
02:54And then it's also everyone else that's in the field.
02:55They're still digging.
02:56They're still fighting.
02:57Maybe.
02:58Hey, Deegan wraps up the 250 title.
02:59We'll see.
03:00Do you want to watch it?
03:01Race day live coverage begins at 10 a.m. Eastern.
03:02That's our hour long qualifying show brought to you by motorsport.com and the racing starts
03:08at one o'clock Eastern.
03:09We'll be live all day on Peacock or the SMX video pass outside the United States.
03:14And there'll be a re-air Sunday afternoon on USA Network.
03:18Maybe get some people checking out the superstars of SMX this weekend from Bugs Creek.
03:22That's about a half hour outside of Washington, D.C.
03:25So if you're anywhere nearby, just come and check it out in person.
03:28So lots to come on this edition of SMX Insider, including a very big, big interview with the
03:34head of racing for Ducati.
03:36We're really going to get an update on their future plans to come racing SMX not too long
03:41from now.
03:4330-second board time.
03:46Hot topics in the sport.
03:48Hayden Deegan is always a hot topic, but this week, because of the points, JT, 70-some point
03:53lead over Levi Kitchen.
03:54So it's very, very likely he wraps up the Pro Motocross Championship this Saturday.
03:59Yeah, it's looking good for Deegan.
04:02And really, if you look over the course of the season, he's been the best guy, but it's
04:05almost been the lack of poor motos.
04:08He's overcome so much adversity.
04:11So I think it's easy to point to him as the deserving champion for his good rides.
04:16But as Ricky Carmichael would say, you win championships on your bad days, and he simply
04:20has not had bad days.
04:23Had to be a celebration for triumph.
04:25Now, Jaleek Swole goes 6-4 for third overall.
04:28That seems weird.
04:29Actually, we don't think it's that weird, and we also think that's huge for this brand.
04:34Yeah, this was a feel-good moment all the way around.
04:37You look at the struggles that Triumph has had between Joey Subac and Jaleek Swole this
04:41summer.
04:42After a fantastic Montreal Supercross season, it just hasn't been an easy road this summer.
04:48So I think everybody, especially on their team, they've breathed a sigh of relief to
04:53see Jaleek up there.
04:54But these are the celebrations you need to have as a first-year brand.
04:58And for them to be up on the podium against brands who have been in this game for a long
05:02time developing that 250 motorcycle, I think it's another testament to the effort that
05:07Triumph has put in around the world to immediately get to the front of this class.
05:12Seeing red, man, well, it could have been a great day for Honda, and the 250 class ends
05:16up being the worst day.
05:18Both their riders, Chance Hymus and Joe Shimoda, end up not finishing the day.
05:21We hear it's a broken collarbone for Shimoda, he's going to get it plated.
05:25Not sure when he'll be back.
05:26I think Hymus is good for this weekend, but man, this is such a horrible crash.
05:31Yeah, to me, the most shocking part is you see Hymus' crash there, and he's the one that's
05:36relatively okay.
05:38And then Joe Shimoda has somewhat of a tip over it.
05:41It's still a motorcycle crash, and you never want to downplay that, but it doesn't look
05:45like it was this crazy big crash that we're so used to seeing, and he's the one that leaves
05:51in a swing and is going to miss some time.
05:54Just the way motorcycle crashes are sometimes, they can be a little bit deceiving, but yes,
05:58for the 250 class, for Honda HRC, it was a difficult afternoon.
06:03Quick shout out, though, early in the day, Hymus was going next level, and that leads
06:08us to our next topic.
06:09So he dominates qualifying, probably dominates at a higher level than anyone in the 250 class
06:14has done so far this year.
06:15He was dominating that first 250 moto.
06:18Now let's get to his podium interview after qualifying with you, JT.
06:22Listen to these words closely, everyone.
06:23Yeah, I'm feeling really good.
06:25First time here.
06:26I'm just trying to cook out there.
06:27That's all I'm trying to do.
06:28So yeah, I'm feeling really good.
06:29Two-week break was good on me, so I'm excited to go racing.
06:32Okay, so now you heard what he said.
06:34He's just trying to cook.
06:35That's all he's trying to do.
06:36Let's look at Hayden Deegan's social media posts.
06:38Sunday, it's the exact same words.
06:43This battle between these two has been brewing for a while.
06:47Yeah, and you really can't say that either of them is innocent because they keep poking
06:52the bear, right?
06:53For Hymus to go up on the podium and use or reference things that Deegan had been saying
06:59is not diffusing anything.
07:00So for me as a fan and wanting to be entertained, this is awesome.
07:04I love every bit of it.
07:05But yes, it seems that both of them are leaning into this confrontation.
07:10Okay, now time for our SMX medical update.
07:12We're bringing on Dr. Joe McGinley from the McGinley Clinic.
07:15We're going to talk Ken Roxson, who's coming back from a leg injury, and I talked to him
07:19on Friday.
07:20But Doc, the odd thing was, he didn't injure his knee, but the knee is the biggest thing
07:24holding him back now, not the leg.
07:26Yeah, it's great to see him back on the bike.
07:28He mentioned that he had a fracture of his tibia.
07:32It was nondisplaced at your lower leg bone.
07:34So that was all good news.
07:35There were no soft tissue injuries within the knee.
07:37Ligaments were intact.
07:38Meniscus was intact.
07:39So he had essentially seven, eight weeks off the bike.
07:42And then when he was coming back in an interview he did a few weeks ago, he mentioned quad
07:46weakness and pain at the kneecap really as his main obstructions to getting fully back
07:51on the bike.
07:52So it's interesting to hear those comments and see him back on the bike this weekend.
07:56What do you attribute that quad weakness to?
07:59This is a guy, when you look at him, he is a physical specimen.
08:02So to look at him and think that any part of his body is weak is shocking to me.
08:06But what do you attribute that quad weakness to?
08:08The body is a fascinating structure.
08:10So when you injure the knee, there's a reflex response within the muscles.
08:14It's called AMI, or arthrogenic muscle inhibition is the medical term for it.
08:18Essentially, it's the knee muscles shutting down because they sense an injury of the knee
08:22muscle.
08:23And so when you look at him, he's a physical specimen.
08:25So to look at him and think that any part of his body is weak is shocking to me.
08:28Because they sense an injury of the knee to protect the knee.
08:30So those muscles become weak.
08:32They'll become fatigued.
08:33So you can't just go back out and further injure the knee.
08:36He's had the time off on the bike as well.
08:38So seven to eight weeks off on the bike.
08:40That's going to create some stiffness from not moving it, not using it.
08:43But likely, AMI is contributing to this factor as well.
08:47And this can happen with any knee injury, whether it's a fracture, meniscal tear,
08:51ligament injury.
08:52It can power down those quad muscles.
08:54And it can be frustrating for the rider trying to come back from that.
08:57Okay, so now that we have the medical facts there from Dr. Joe,
09:00let's talk about the on-track performance of Roxton and Webb.
09:04What do you think?
09:05Fortunately for Ken Roxton, JT, I think the standard's so high.
09:08I think there's a belief he could show up anywhere on podium or battle for the win.
09:11But that wasn't quite happening.
09:14Yeah, for Roxton, I thought the second moto was indicative of what the expectation was.
09:19Speed, ability to run up front.
09:21But yeah, the fitness not quite there yet.
09:24The first moto, he just looked uncomfortable all the way around.
09:27So I'll kind of give him an incomplete but a passing grade maybe on top of that.
09:33For Webb, again, I think it's the big picture play here.
09:37He's trying to get ready for Charlotte.
09:39And we'll have to see what the extent of that injury is now.
09:43It puts Charlotte in jeopardy.
09:44But he was trying to work back to get ready for these playoffs.
09:49It didn't matter what place he got at Unadilla.
09:51I don't think he even cared what the result was.
09:53It was a stepping stone to getting back to 100%.
09:56My theory is if Cooper Webb had to do it over again, he wouldn't have done it at Unadilla.
10:00He would have come back like Tomek at Bud's.
10:02That's just such a tough track, such a tough track to be coming back from that type of an injury.
10:07And he probably wishes he could have made that decision a little differently again.
10:11But hopefully we have him back and it's not too, too bad.
10:15Great is the review for the 2025 Honda.
10:19I was surprised that Honda pulled this off.
10:21We don't often see this.
10:22We have a few times.
10:23A new bike being homologated.
10:25You have to have production bikes on the showroom floor before they can race them.
10:29Hey, whatever they did, it worked, man.
10:31Great ride for Hunter Lawrence.
10:33Yeah, and usually I don't like to take riders at their word so much
10:37because you just have rider speak and you don't really get a lot of information.
10:41But when you hear a rider talk so glowingly about a new motorcycle,
10:46they don't really have to.
10:47He could just say, yeah, we're going to race this bike.
10:50And I wanted to kind of be ahead of the game.
10:52He didn't.
10:53At every turn, he talked about how much of a step forward this motorcycle was.
10:58And he backed that up in that first moto.
11:00So in this situation, I'm taking Hunter at his word.
11:03It seems like it is a big step forward.
11:05And if you're Jet Lawrence, you have to be sitting back going, man,
11:08when I do come back, I'm going to be in a very, very good situation on a brand new motorcycle.
11:13So I think the future looks great for Honda.
11:15I think they, as to Hunter Lawrence's words, they knocked it out of the park with this 2025
11:20and it sets them up very nicely moving forward.
11:22And maybe they'll even be a notch better.
11:24Now they got some data on the bike for this weekend at Bud's.
11:27They're going to have to be because Chase Sexton,
11:29we mentioned at the top of the show, really unlocked something.
11:32We've definitely seen him progress with the Red Bull KTM all year long.
11:36The last piece, the starts had still not been very good.
11:39The early laps had still not been very good, but he nailed those aspects in Moto2.
11:45Yeah, and we don't really know.
11:47You know, they held at the gate for longer than normal for that second Moto,
11:51and it threw a lot of riders off.
11:52There was flinching from some riders.
11:54So there was a lot to put together for that second Moto.
11:57We'll see if he can back that up going into Bud's Creek.
12:00But to me, the riding was, it was the standout moment of the day.
12:04We have not seen speed like that from Chase Sexton in a very long time.
12:09The differential of what he was able to do against Ken Rockson on the first lap,
12:14that is an integral part of this, is that Ken Rockson is a sprinter.
12:18His best laps are early. Chase Sexton gapped him over five seconds on the first lap.
12:23That was a big, big moment in the story of where Chase Sexton will go from here.
12:30It's SMX Facts time. We bring in our statistician, Clinton Fowler.
12:34Let's go to Chase Sexton. And JT, I think you prompted this one.
12:38I want to see just how strong he really was in that second Moto.
12:42Yeah, I mean, incredible in that second Moto, Weege.
12:45He, in the first lap, was 5.76 seconds faster than the entire field.
12:52Absolutely incredible.
12:54The amazing part here, guys, is that that's consistent in the second Moto for him.
12:59If you look at the top ten lap gaps of the season in the second Moto, he's got nine of the ten.
13:05Now, the even more impressive part is he does it in the second half of the second Moto.
13:10So it just shows that his fitness is absolutely incredible.
13:15Yeah, and for me, the fitness I think we'd already seen, right?
13:18He had just been leaning on these guys and leaning on these guys late in the Moto,
13:22and he would gap everybody. So we knew that was there.
13:25To me, that first lap where everybody's fresh, everybody's going flat out to build that much of a gap,
13:31that was the big moment, right?
13:33So him being able to put both of those two things together,
13:37that's a step we haven't seen Chase Sexton take at any time, in my opinion, in 2024.
13:43That's why I believe it was the biggest moment of the day.
13:47Okay, and he's maybe closing in on the title himself.
13:50Not as big a point lead as Deegan.
13:52Real quickly, just give us some of the data behind how good Sexton has been this year.
13:56Yeah, I mean, he's really having the best season of his career right now.
14:00He's got 10 Moto wins. He's got 5 overalls.
14:04You compare that to his previous best season, 9 rounds in, or for the whole season,
14:09he had only had 8 Moto wins and 4 overalls.
14:12So he is for sure having the best season of his career.
14:15The interesting part for me, JT, he's doing it on the new bike.
14:18We heard during the Supercross season there were some struggles with setup.
14:21We haven't heard about those struggles throughout the season.
14:24And then on top of it, he's doing it with a sixth at the white line,
14:29which is mediocre from the start.
14:31You compare it to a Hunter Lawrence who is second at the white line.
14:34So he's doing it on a new team, a new bike, and he's doing it with mediocre starts, JT.
14:39Yeah, and that's worked out for him so far.
14:42Remember, Jet Lawrence exited the series. That is a big part of this puzzle.
14:47But I do wonder if that trend continues where he is sixth across the whole shot line
14:53when we go into the SMX playoffs, what does that look like?
14:57It's much more difficult to pass on these SMX tracks than it will be at a pro motocross race.
15:03The fitness doesn't play as much of a role. The confines are tighter.
15:08So if you're asking me, where is the hole in his game?
15:11What could really derail this in September?
15:13I think you nailed it with that sixth place across the stripe.
15:17That is still a problem. Maybe he fixed it in Moto 2. Maybe.
15:21But I need to see more before I'm going to say that's not a liability.
15:24Yeah, right. So we're going to be watching those starts and also the bike.
15:28As you said, Clinton, much smoother transition in the KTM and motocross than Supercross, but SMX is both.
15:34So this could be difficult on him when the playoffs begin.
15:37Yeah, good news for Chase. He's going to go in with a three point advantage.
15:41Last weekend in Unadilla, he locked the number one seed in the Supermotocross standing.
15:46So he's at least got that three point advantage over the field.
15:50And it looks like he's probably going to have a nine point advantage over Jet Lawrence.
15:53So he's got the points going in on his favor.
15:57We're going to talk Hayden Deegan trying to wrap up pro motocross this weekend.
16:01What we really want to talk about is what is the celebration going to look like?
16:04But you're the facts guy. So just give us the facts of how to wrap it up first.
16:09All righty. Just the facts, Weege.
16:11He needs to score 30 points to secure his first pro motocross title.
16:16Guys, that's as simple as a 7-7 in the motos,
16:20which, if you look at his season, would be the worst two motos of the entire season.
16:25Right now, his worst is a six, the second moto at Red Blood, and that's when he crashed.
16:30So it seems like it's almost a lock.
16:32JT, the question that I have is, does he go hard and try to clinch in the first moto?
16:38He's just going to need to score five points more than Kitchen to do so, to wrap it up.
16:42Or does he play chill? And there's a second piece in play here, too,
16:46where he scores seven points more than Levi Kitchen in the weekend.
16:50He clinches the top seed for Super Motocross. So which one is it, JT?
16:55I don't think he has a chill mode. I think he wants to not only win the championship,
17:01but I think he wants to stand on his throats. This is just who he is.
17:05He is ruthless when it comes to this type of stuff.
17:08So, you know, your opening statement where it feels like a lock, that's how I think he's looking at this.
17:13And I think he wants to go out winning every single moto along the way.
17:16So I'm expecting him to put his best foot forward on Saturday.
17:20Hey, Clinton, we stumbled upon a stat that we didn't even plan on running here
17:24about how unlikely it would be for Deegan to have two bad motos.
17:27His consistency has been shocking. I mean, shockingly good.
17:32Hit us with the number on how rarely he has a bad race.
17:35I mean, absolutely incredible. In the last two years, in 40 motos,
17:39he's only finished outside the top 10 twice. It's absolutely incredible.
17:43Incredible consistency from Deegan.
17:45We want to point this out. It's not just podium public time for AP.
17:49This is 630 p.m. in the pits. This is like an hour and a half after the race.
17:53He's still there smiling, signing autographs.
17:55This is really genuine what you get from AP and his enjoyment of the races.
18:00Yeah, he is. He's the people's champion.
18:03And I truly think had I let him keep going on the podium,
18:06he would have spoken on the podium until 630 p.m.
18:09instead of been out here signing autographs.
18:11But, you know, he wants to tell us everything that's going on.
18:14If I have to choose between riders telling us nothing or riders telling us too much,
18:18I'll take too much every time. And AP is just who he is, right?
18:22He doesn't hide behind anything. He's not scared to tell us what's on his mind.
18:26And I truly believe he's the best interview in sports, period.
18:30About anyone else, I would put him at the front.
18:32Wow. Big words. But you know what? I think it gives him motivation as well.
18:36I think the happier he is with this interaction, the better he rides.
18:39And those two things are coming together really well right now.
18:42OK, a couple more topics to cover here.
18:44Let's talk FanFest Fridays at the SMX Playoff events.
18:47The one-day format that we get at the regular Motocross and Supercross races.
18:52The thing you always find out behind the scenes is it's so packed. It's so short.
18:55It's over before you know it.
18:57Now we get to watch the riders ride and practice on Friday.
19:00The autograph sessions are Friday.
19:02Finally, the weekend gets a chance to breathe, and that's awesome for the fans.
19:06Yeah, it's a true two-day event at these SMX Playoff rounds,
19:10which is a big change from what you get at Monster Supercross or Pro Motocross.
19:15So I think for the families to get out and you get to camp at the Charlotte event
19:19and spend the entire weekend amongst the riders and the teams.
19:23And there's going to be events, as you mentioned, going on throughout Friday,
19:26into Friday night, and then all day Saturday.
19:28So it's a unique thing. We're in year two of it,
19:31and I really think we're going to see a big jump.
19:33It's just people are more aware of what's going on
19:35and the things we have to offer on Friday as well.
19:38And hopefully for the first time, we'll see Eli Tomac racing in SMX Playoffs
19:42and the World Championship event.
19:44Should be back this weekend at Bugs Creek.
19:46But this is a cautionary tale now.
19:48We already mentioned that the return of Roxen and Webb was only mixed,
19:51so we don't know what level of Eli Tomac we're going to see this early.
19:56Yeah, I would temper expectations.
19:59And maybe he comes out and makes me eat those words,
20:01but when I looked at when he started riding,
20:04typically how long it takes to get back to race shape,
20:07you think about what the asks are of Pro Motocross.
20:10And also remember Bugs Creek is one of the hottest,
20:12most humid events of the series.
20:15The track, I think, is a good setup,
20:16but everything else surrounding it is a very difficult challenge for Eli Tomac.
20:21So can he come back and be inside the top 10, press the top five?
20:25Yes.
20:26But I think asking a podium, it's asking a lot.
20:28He's superhuman.
20:29We know that.
20:30It's Eli Tomac.
20:31He's surprised and impressed for years.
20:34But this one, I think, is going to be more about baby steps
20:37and getting back to form than it is going to be some sort of incredible performance.
20:41Yeah, and let's not forget,
20:42he didn't even race Pro Motocross due to injury last year.
20:44So that's a long layoff.
20:46This motorcycle is totally different than the one he won the championship on in 2022.
20:50So this is a building process.
20:52He'll be ready for September, though.
20:54We know that.
20:55As for Buds, JT, this is one of your favorite tracks,
20:57or maybe your favorite track.
20:59Take us through it.
21:00It was.
21:01To me, the dirt, this is some of the best dirt we have.
21:04And I know Red Bud and Spring Creek get so much limelight.
21:06But for me, this is the type of dirt I grew up on.
21:09Now, it is challenging.
21:10There's a lot of off-cameras.
21:11Much of the racetrack is built on the side of a hill.
21:14But I think it's one of the tracks that the riders really look forward to.
21:17Unadilla is challenging.
21:19I think everybody goes in and grits their teeth.
21:21Buds Creek, I think that those grit teeth would be opened up to a smile.
21:25It's a really fun racetrack.
21:27And practice is fun.
21:29The motos, there's enjoyment.
21:31Yes, it's serious.
21:32But it's one of those racetracks where everybody's like, all right,
21:34this is going to be a good weekend.
21:35I'm looking forward to racing my motorcycle.
21:37And I think you'll see that play out on Saturday.
21:42Well, it's big interview time.
21:43Wow, we scored a good one here at Unadilla.
21:46Pablo Ciabatti, the general manager of Ducati Course Off-Road.
21:50And that's big, because Ducati, legendary in street bike and road racing circles,
21:55but now off-road.
21:56And they put, we might say, their best man on the project.
21:59We're excited about having a motocross bike in Ducati colors coming soon.
22:03And the first part, we've seen Tony Carolli developing the bike,
22:06but he's going to race an MXGP round coming up.
22:08Yes, yes.
22:09Yes, yes.
22:10Next weekend, actually, in Arnhem in Holland,
22:12we will take part in the Dutch Grand Prix of MXGP.
22:16It's the first time we do an appearance in the world stage.
22:20Obviously, we've been racing the bike, mainly with Alessandro Lupino.
22:24He's leading the Italian championship.
22:25But the last round, a couple of weeks ago in Italy,
22:28Tony came back, and he won one of the two motos.
22:31So basically, he's still super strong.
22:34He's been training a lot, obviously.
22:36So can you give us a big picture view of where Ducati is looking to go
22:39with this program in the next few years?
22:41Well, actually, first of all, it was, you know,
22:45after 11 years in MotoGP, quite successfully,
22:48the last, I had a target, actually, to say,
22:50OK, before I retire or whatever, I want to win a world championship.
22:53So we won the championship in 2022
22:56and won it again with Pecco Bagnaia last year.
22:59Seeing this opportunity for Ducati to go a little bit outside the comfort zone
23:04because Ducati, as I said, is dominant in racing
23:07and is dominant also in the hypersport bike segment.
23:11You know, it was something which was, well, interesting for me
23:16to say, hey, it's an opportunity to do something new.
23:19It's a challenge, yes.
23:20It's something where it's not easy to succeed
23:25because we have many brands who have been here for many years,
23:28super successfully, with more experience than us.
23:31But we think on the technical side,
23:33we came up with some new ideas on the chassis,
23:36new ideas, obviously, on the engine because it's a Desmo engine.
23:39And then, you know, having been able to convince Tony Cairoli to join the project.
23:47This was my target last year.
23:49I was still working, obviously, very intensely in MotoGP,
23:52but then I started a conversation with Tony,
23:54understood that for him, at this point in his life,
23:58it was important still to ride the bike
24:00and joining a project of an Italian brand,
24:02time to come to the world stage with a motocross bike,
24:06would be an opportunity also for him.
24:08That is awesome, the success of MotoGP
24:11and to have Tony Cairoli, a rider of his caliber,
24:13developing the bike and racing.
24:15But yeah, there will be a time where the focus is just as much
24:18on SMX here and success in America.
24:21Yes, definitely.
24:22First of all, the U.S. market is the largest market for off-road motorcycles,
24:26so it has, obviously, a big importance for Ducati
24:30because the bike, the 450 MX,
24:33we're going to be producing next year, starting April, May,
24:37so it's going to be available at the dealerships
24:39sometime around June, July.
24:41Of 25.
24:4225.
24:43Wow, coming soon.
24:4425.
24:45But yeah, we know that we need a specific structure
24:49to develop the bike for the U.S. racing,
24:52for supercross mainly, but also for the outdoor.
24:55And we work on it.
24:56Well, this is an exciting time.
24:57It's going about 50 years in this game
24:59without any new manufacturers jumping in,
25:01and now they're coming in almost every year,
25:03Triumph, Beta, and now Ducati,
25:05which obviously is a huge name in road racing.
25:07It's exciting.
25:08Thanks for coming to the race.
25:10That speaks volumes itself.
25:11And good luck to Tony and the crew next weekend.
25:14Okay, well, someday in the future,
25:16we'll be previewing the Buds Creek National,
25:18and there'll be a Ducati factory team on the gate for those races.
25:21Not this year, but if you want to watch this year's race,
25:23plenty of other drama and intrigue, titles on the line,
25:26momentum, all that, Eli Tomac.
25:28Check it out.
25:29It starts at 10 o'clock on Saturday.
25:30That's Race Day Live, presented by motosport.com,
25:33and the motos start at 1 o'clock.
25:35You can watch all of that on Peacock
25:37or the SMX Video Pass outside the United States.
25:40Stay with us all the way through the post-show.
25:42We'll have plenty, and we'll also have a re-air
25:45Sunday afternoon on USA Network,
25:47so a lot of opportunities to tune in.
25:49I'm going right back to where we were at the start, JT.
25:51Rarely do you get to August and still have this many storylines
25:56and motivated riders.
25:58Yeah, it's incredible, right?
26:00I think in a normal season, pre-2023,
26:04these things just tail off.
26:06You see riders' motivation wear down.
26:08You see riders that are maybe nagging injuries.
26:10They'll just be like, well, we'll see you at Anaheim.
26:12Not so much anymore.
26:14It's like a ramping period versus a tailing off,
26:17and that is all due to the playoffs,
26:18so I think we're going to have a fantastic final two
26:21Pro Motocross Championship rounds,
26:23and then everything opens back up as we roll into North Carolina.
26:27Yeah.
26:28We'll be talking maybe Jet Lords coming back from injury before long.
26:31This is going to be great, as will this weekend,
26:34so join us at Bud's Creek, either in person or watch.
26:36Should be a good one.
26:38Yeah!
26:54Yeah!
27:08Yeah!
27:10Yeah!
27:12Yeah!
27:14Yeah!
27:16Yeah!
27:18Yeah!
27:20Yeah!
27:22Yeah!
27:24Yeah!
27:26Yeah!
27:28Yeah!
27:30Yeah!
27:32Yeah!
27:34Yeah!