Speaker: 0:08

Okay guys, we're back with another a DB podcast and today we have the Australian Supercross commentator. He's also the Primex commentator, the a EC commentator. He's the voice for Australian Dirt Bikes. It's Danny Ham Hammi. Nice to have you

Speaker 2: 0:21

lads. Great to be on here to have a bit of a chat with you guys. So, uh, let you know what I saw on the weekend while we're up in Redcliffe for rounds one and two of the Aex.

Speaker: 0:30

Yeah, mate, you had the best view, so that's why we're keen to talk to you about everything that you saw. Uh, it's all behind the scenes as well, and, and with us. We also have Briggsy, Jeff Briggs. He's our kinda resident, motocross and Supercross, uh, aficionado, I guess you'd say. Briggsy was over for MX of Nations. He used to race motocross, used to race off road, used to do a bit of freestyle, motocross, everything. So Briggsy, thanks for coming on today as well.

Speaker 3: 0:51

Anytime it's

Speaker: 0:52

good to be here. So man, that, that round that well the two rounds of racing, I guess you'd say. Um, I like, as a kid, I liked Dodger cards'cause you could just smash into each other and it was absolutely freaking mental. But I don't think I've seen so much carnage, um, you know, at one round. But before we get into all the carnage and everything that happened between, from like the fastest guys on the track, it wasn't just carnage for the guys who were gonna come fifth to 10th, it was the guys who were meant to lead this championship from day one to the end. Um, before we even get into that, let's talk, you know what, let's talk about. Injuries before the season started. They, they, every team kept this very quiet because they didn't give us much. We, we did a Supercross preview with Kurt Gibbs a couple of weeks ago, and I asked Gibby, have you heard anything? Are you seeing anything? I, I was texting Koski, I text dca. I said, what, you know, what's going on? It was around the same time they announced, um, Nicoletti, um, coming over for CDR and I really didn't get anything outta anyone. Then the day before we went racing, mossy was out. There's a whole bunch of guys out. Did you hear anything Hammi as to why?

Speaker 2: 1:58

No, I didn't hear anything either. Um, mossy, I found out when he walked past some press day, I thought he was riding. So yeah, those kinds of things always pretty much kept quiet. Um, I didn't know Nathan Crawford. I honestly thought Nathan Crawford was writing. I had no idea he wasn't writing either. Um, I heard Brody, Brody Cony on the day, uh, that he was injured. He didn't go out for the first practice, but he did go out for the second one. That's how I found out, as I'm sure I didn't see Connolly on the track. And then that's where it come to light. But yeah, he was carrying a bit of an injury as it turns out, from what we see, I think it's a skateboard injury now. Uh, been there, done that fun times. Um, but yeah, it's, it's a weird thing that they, they didn't let it out of the bag. It's not weird that we did see the injuries coming into the series. Um, it, it's a quick turnaround from motocross as far as if you are not a Supercross rider or a Supercross specialist, to be able to get on and be comfortable and push yourself to that point that you feel you're gonna be competitive. But it's a tough one where you've gotta be able to, um, be in the mindset that you can be balanced, uh, with the results that you're gonna get and, and not over push it, but still be happy that you're writing at the quality that you need to be. So, not a surprise to me, but, um, yeah, I, I've got some opinions on, on that as well. I'll let, brings me maybe see if he chimes in with anything first.

Speaker 3: 3:24

Uh, nah. I, um, I actually knew that Mossy had hurt himself. I was up at Brock's prepping the track for a few kids for, um, Darwin actually. And I ran into him and he was, he was limping around. He had a pretty big, big one, uh, that week actually. Um, but I thought he would've told everyone, unfortunately, he didn't. Uh, I think it's good to know. I actually prefer when we hear when riders are in or out and what's happened. Uh, the sport's fragile enough as it is at times, and, and it definitely helps to know who's doing what. Um, and then it gives it a bit more, uh, excitement when we know who's in really. But yeah, a shame, uh, it's a shame. It's. I like to see a, a field of stack as possible. Really.

Speaker: 4:06

Yeah. Do you think Hammi, you know, having raced Supercross for as long as you have and won as much as you have, do you think it's an issue where we have six weeks between when you finish prom X in the middle of August, let's say late August, and then you're meant to race on a Supercross track in October, whereas in the US they get from August, essentially through to a late August, all the way through to January 10th, whenever it is now a one kicks off. That's a lot of time to prep. Is it, is it not enough time? I mean, like, like you said, it's probably too much to go into now, but is it, do they need more time?

Speaker 2: 4:36

Um, no. Sure. Back

Speaker 3: 4:41

in, back in the day there was, what, 30 or 26 Supercross races in Australia as well as motocross rounds every other weekend. Mm. Like the, like they used were racing like 40 rounds a year, weren't you?

Speaker 2: 4:53

So that, that was, uh, exactly leading into the point I was going to make. Uh, look, you're a Supercross rider or you're motocross rider. Um, for my era, many of us were Supercross riders because we did so much Supercross, but at the same time, it was motocross, Supercross, Supercross, motocross. It was all mixed in together. So we were always on the bike on a Supercross track or on a motocross track. And I don't see why some of our riders, especially our top riders, don't do a day here or there on a Supercross track. Now don't tell me it's because, oh, it's too dangerous and you've gotta get injured. Don't ride at a hundred percent. Mm. Go out and ride at 80%. Have an enjoyable ride. Cruise around, do the jumps fine, tune your skills. And then when it comes time to do business, you are already up and going. The two crossover, motocross and Supercross, the techniques they both cross over. Why not do just a little bit of Supercross throughout the year?

Speaker 3: 5:46

Mm, yeah. I like it. And yeah, and Chucks and Tessie in there as well. Get ahead that way a bit.

Speaker 2: 5:52

Get a head start on it. It's not gonna hurt anyone. As I said, if you're a good Supercross rider, all, all the elite riders that we have here in Australia, America, anywhere around the world, they can go out and do any kind of riding on a Supercross track at 80% and be a hundred percent safe. They're not pushing themselves if you don't wanna run. Whoops. If you think that's the dangerous part right around them, mm. At least do the jumps, get that skillset set, still finely tune, and then when you get to the point at the end of the year, you, you're ready to go. You've got a, an upper hand from anyone else. I just think the, I I, I understand the thought process of being focused on one thing, but I feel like you could benefit so much more by just having a little bit involved in it as well.

Speaker: 6:34

Yeah. Um, that's interesting. Let's, let's get stuck into the rounds up in Queensland now, before we even talk about SX one. I'm gonna start with SX one. Let's talk about the soil. Uh, red soil. Man, it looks slippery to us. Um, did you speak to any of the riders when you're walking around the track, when you're, um, up in the commentary box? Tammy? Soil Choice. Was it ideal?

Speaker 2: 6:57

Um, just like last year, I'm gonna say stuff that's gonna upset people. Um, soil conditions, it doesn't bloody matter.

Speaker 4: 7:08

Mm.

Speaker 2: 7:08

It's a racetrack. Go out and race it. That being said, um, yes, there's always more favorable soil conditions than others. Yes, I do know where it came from. Um, from a, and there's so many layers behind the scenes that I'm privy to, uh, being part of the management. You know, essentially in, in interacting with management. Um, I'm not, I'm not management, don't take that the wrong way. I'm just, I'm interacting with and management. I understand the processes and the backgrounds. I've been part of the pro tracks crew. I know what they've gotta go through to get it. And quite often finding dirt is quite difficult and, and I'm sure everyone can appreciate that it doesn't just come out of thin air. This particular round, um, they did have a location which was very, very close. Um, so that worked pretty good. Last year. We had so many dramas getting dirt. We actually went to three different sites, uh, after the fact of, you know, we went into the race, go and we're getting dirt from this one that fell on its face on the day. Next two days. They've just did everything to try and find dirt. And that's why we were so far behind on the builds because we didn't have dirt. So finding dirt is not that easy first up. So, um, everyone's gotta just. Take a chill pill sometimes and, and ride what you got. Secondly, it is Supercross, same as motocross. You ride the conditions you have. If you're no good at it, go ahead and fucking practice it. Honestly need to be good at everything that you do. So, um, yes, there is more ideal dirt. I, I, I know I'm harping on, but there is more ideal dirt. Everyone would love to ride a track that's nice and lowy this stuff. The track crew did an incredible job. They ripped it open multiple times through the day, through the night with the dozer. They didn't track stuff in with the posi track because they knew it was going to go hard. They left it very, very loose and one team in particular had a whinge about it at the start of the day. Turned out it was the best decision they could have done. Mm-hmm. If they just let it go hard packed straight from the start, you wouldn't have got any of the water in it. Everyone would've been dealing with crazy dust and then there's a new issue that someone's got to complain with. Mm-hmm. Um, as far as sleepiness, yes, any track. Um, that goes down that hard is going to become slippery. Maybe put some hard pack tires on. Don't go out there with your script tires and that might help out a little bit as well. Um, but yeah, it, it, it was a, I found it was, yes, there was slipperiness to it, but um, when people went just offline a little bit, whereas it's a little bit more loose and, and broken up, they were still able to find some traction. Mm. So I think it was not too bad. I think they did a pretty good job of presenting a track that looked that way and ended up racing that way. After 20 el laps, whatever, however many they do, you are never going to escape the hardness of it and the slipperiness of it. But I think the track crew did an exceptional job to get it to that state.

Speaker: 9:55

Yeah, I agree. The track, the track looks good.

Speaker 3: 9:58

Briggsy, do you think it took away from the racing at all being a bit slippery? I mean that second rhythm lane after the start, they go around the start straight corner, the whole shot, first rhythm lane, then the second, I don't think I've seen anyone trip onto that box all night even outta that corner. Yeah. Which is a standard kind of thing for them guys.

Speaker 2: 10:16

Correct. It does. Cedric did it. He was doing it in the race a few times. It wasn't consistent. And when we were watching it in practice, we knew that, that that was going through the way,'cause they did it through practice pretty consistently. Yeah. Um, but it's not just that, it's, it's the little choppy bumps as well coming outta the turn, you know, trying to find a line where it's not just bouncing around because it was a stretch to get up and on top of it. Um, a two, the two people are doing it pretty comfortable in practice. But then when, yes, when it comes to racing and it does become hard like that, uh, it does take away because there's only that one option through there. When they design a rhythm section like that, they have a couple of options in mind of how they're going to do it, but they can't control the way it ends up being as far as the track surface and what they can do later in the race. So yes, it did take away from it a little bit, but. As we saw many times, if you still were decent through it, you could find yourself onto the rear wheel of another rider and potentially after the triple be able to dive to the inside or go to the opposite line outside and then do the next rhythm. So it is still important to make sure you got that one right even though you couldn't do anything different. Um, I think it's still, it does take away from that straight, but it makes it up somewhere else. Mm,

Speaker 3: 11:28

yeah, definitely. I found that rhythm after the triple was probably one of the best rhythms I've seen in, in a long time for different vari variations of lines and different stuff like that. Um, the, whoops, they were another story I thought they probably could have been able to touch bigger and you see 85 skimming. It's sort of not good, but that's another story.

Speaker 2: 11:48

I don't wanna dive down that one. I'll get my head taken off again, but you're right, there was 85 skimming it so we can just leave it at that.

Speaker: 11:55

Yeah, they were skimming it. Hey, but they held up, they were still whoops. By the end of the night there was no jump. Yeah. Were they were good like that. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Yeah. Look, they could have been bigger for sure. Um, I walked the track, I didn't walk the track, but I got on the track at the end of the night and I actually had a look at the way they formed up and yes, standard, they had edges in it. Um, but they were pretty good, really good. In fact, um, the edges were not something that too many of the writers would've worried about at that level. Um, so I think they did a great job with that as far as coming into it. Maybe they made'em just a bit smaller for the first round. I think that was part of the complaint last year. Yeah. First round riding into it were meant to be ready to go racing. Um, but yeah, it, they did hold up pretty good. And, and that comes back to the dirt. So, you know, you talk about your prime dirt, well, you get your good dirt with nice softness to it and traction. Then the, whoops, get these really crazy cupped out edges and what's the balancing act here, you know?

Speaker 3: 12:51

Yeah. Well I I'm actually glad you mentioned that because before, um, I get smashed online about going and hitting some whoops, like you did. Um, I, I think it is a good thing to start'em smaller in the first round, at least. Especially if we've got some newer riders in SX three and then try and build'em up. Um, it, it probably is the spot where most of our riders are gonna crash, um, per se. So, I, I don't, I'm on, I'm sort of torn both ways with that, you know?

Speaker: 13:17

Yeah, yeah. It does distinguish the good guys from the, uh, slightly slower guys.

Speaker 4: 13:22

Yeah.

Speaker: 13:23

Um, alright, let's get into the racing. The, um, the, the crowd. Every, the, the looked really well. It felt like it was really, really well promoted. There was a good crowd there. Um, they got, you know, kissed on the dick with the weather. Um, and yeah, I think for our opening round, I reckon the promoters did an awesome job. And it's so cool that I, I, I see Australia's Supercross series as, I mean, it's probably in my mind anyway, on par with WSX in terms of where it ranks behind. America is obviously the pinnacle. Um, but I think they've done such a good job to bring it up now to a level. We're getting international writers. We have really good commentary. Uh, we have decent tracks and, and all that kind of stuff. So, and, and we now have a series that we can kind of bank on every year is gonna run that. There was a period there where you're like, oh, we're gonna get Supercross this year or not. Um, so I think that, look, I felt like they did a really good job for the first round. I'm very excited about the next four, the first two rounds I should say. And I'm keen to see how the next few rounds go. Um, but let's talk SX one. Um. Let's just talk firstly about how impressive the ride before we talk about everything that happened in and around, uh, Dino's week, um, how impressive that ride was, especially in that second, um, race to be able to come from crashing and going off the back of that berm to discharging through the field and, and taking the lead. One of his best rides in Australia.

Speaker 2: 14:41

Uh, I don't know if it's his best ride. It was certainly a very, very, very good ride. Um, as far as what happened, we didn't even see it real well. We didn't realize exactly from the broadcast what had happened until at the end where, uh, we had the replay and then we saw that he'd had that little offline excursion. We did capture it in the, the broadcast that he was just coming back on the track and we didn't understand why. But to come through the field like he does, uh. Come through the field like he does, uh, is very, very impressive, no doubt. Um, but when you are in his mindset that, you know, you are as quick as everyone else around the Supercross track, you can only go so fast on the Supercross track, right? There's, there is a limit of how fast you can go, but when you are a rider that knows that, yeah, I'm, I'm only this fast around the rest of the track, but when I get to a certain section on the track and I'm gonna pass four guys, I'm not really gonna let myself get too concerned with my position at the moment. You gotta keep moving forwards.

Speaker: 15:36

Mm-hmm. Yeah. So,

Speaker 2: 15:37

no, it was a great ride.

Speaker: 15:38

Yeah, it was, it was impressive to see what he could do through the, whoops. Um, he's just collecting riders, like it was fun. Uh, and Gey in the preview, he mentioned that. He's like, just watch him. Everyone knows that he's got the long legs, the long levers. It works through the, whoops. He's used to hitting American. Whoops. Um, he's a full-time Supercross rider essentially nowadays. So, man, did he make up a lot of passes in those? Whoops.

Speaker 2: 15:59

It's pretty crazy to just, to see the kind of speed that he is able to carry into it and the commitment that he carries into it. Um, the bike setup is, is perfect. Um, they, he handles it exactly the right way. The whoops are catching a lot of people out and no, not through the middle of it, but just that last whoop. Uh, and it, it stems from a technique that they do that they're coming into it too slow, trying to build up speed going through it. So they're hanging off the back and then they hit that last one in the same position.

Speaker 4: 16:26

Yeah. And

Speaker 2: 16:27

then a boot over the front, and they're unable to stop in the corner. Uh, what he does is he carries a lot of momentum, momentum into it, and by the time he gets to the last whoop, he's actually slowing down. Mm. So that he can just do a little pop up and over the top of the last ones and then into the berm. So it's, it's a different technique that he does. Um, it's nothing out of the ordinary. Okay. But he does it very, very well.

Speaker 3: 16:48

Yeah. W was anyone matching him, do you think? No. Harrison or Nicoletti or No,

Speaker 2: 16:54

no one, no, no.

Speaker 3: 16:55

He was last though. Um,

Speaker 2: 16:57

no. Um, there was a couple of times where you see a rider that would go across him pretty good. Yeah. Um, but no, as far as matching him, no, there's not, and there's no real reason why they couldn't match him. Again, we mentioned they, they weren't difficult. Whoops. Um, so it's, it's just the riders learning that, that craft a little bit better to, to be able to make and understanding a bike set up to be able to do it. Yeah. Because if you do have a bike that's not right, then yes, you are gonna have those problems in the whoops.

Speaker 3: 17:28

Mm. Yeah. Right. Well just on that, like Luke CL Cloud, he obviously qualified fastest both days, so he is got the speed. He's obviously not far off him in the Whoops. Then during the heater, um, is it more of a race speed where Dino's is so consistent through them, you think is the biggest separator.

Speaker 2: 17:49

I think so. Yes. Yeah, it's just through the race. He can do that lap after lap and, and he's got that confidence knowing he can do that lap after lap and there's no urgency in his writing. And I'm sure you would've seen that even when he went over the berm. You know, there was no, no nervousness. It was all so composed. Everything he did, he just picked them off one by one. I don't know if he thought he was gonna get back to the lead. Um, at one point we probably didn't think he was gonna get back to the lead until we started seeing him do those passes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, that mindset, knowing that you can just keep going forward. So it's, it's pretty comforting.

Speaker: 18:25

Yeah. Especially you, like in the race, the way he did come through the pack, he didn't have the luxury of everyone else crashing their brains out in front of him to make a passes. He had to make genuine passes. That that was probably one of the only motos of the weekend, that there was not as much drama as, as the others. So, um, it is impressive.

Speaker 3: 18:41

Funny with Dean'cause I do feel like he rides better in Australia than America. He has that calmness about him, which actually helps him. I think if he took that back to America, he, he would be a more top 10 consistent guy, you know?

Speaker 2: 18:54

Yeah. It's a, it's a mental state, isn't it? It's, it is across very much a mental state. You know, you're coming over here and you've got a good chance or most likely going to win, then everything seems to fall into place. So easy. The guys are coming over second guessing themselves, not just coming over, but being Australian rights, second guessing themselves. Where they should be. Am I gonna fall off this time? You find that those are the ones that end up finding trouble on the track.

Speaker: 19:16

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Confidence. Hey, that's interesting. Um, before we leave Dino, the emotion in the stadium, um, especially after edit was all kind of finished. Um, had a feeling in the commentary box, mate. It was a pretty big week for poor Aldino. Obviously losing his mum is nothing, is pretty tragic. And, um, yeah, being all the way over here, we're a long way from Scotland, the poor guy. So, uh, yeah. How, how was the feeling up in the commentary box and, and when you're down on the track and everyone's kind of watching and listening, what, how was it feeling?

Speaker 2: 19:46

It was tough for many people. I know that I even got choked up a fair bit in the, the commentary box. It was, it was hard to pick up off the back of that. Um, and, and, you know, show some respect in doing it. It, it, it was a real tough one. I know on the floor there was. So many people that were feeling that emotion as well. The crowds were definitely, well within that same, that same feeling. Um, it was tough for him. It, it, you know, how bubbly Dean Wilson is, um, when he comes to Australia and it was evident from the start, um, because he knew pretty early on that it was, we were getting to that point. Um, and he, he was a warrior through it all. He soldiered on, he still did his signings, he still did his press stuff. Um, so to be able to do that, it's just, it's incredible what he was able to do.

Speaker: 20:40

Yeah. Like you said, to put on that face in front of all his fans. But also you mentioned before that Supercross is such a mental thing, an emotional thing. So to be able to overcome that and still do what he did on a racetrack, you know, he's a pretty incredible human and, um, yeah, we, we, uh, our condolences to him and his family, we hope it's all kind of going. Okay. And I'm not sure what his movements are over the next couple of weeks, um, between going back and forth for bits and pieces, but yeah, hopefully it all pans out okay for him. Um, so yeah, Wilson, Wilson owned SX one, but let's talk about our local guys. Um, cloudy. Cloudy, like you said, Briggsy fastest qualifier. He looked fast and he was out in front in one mo and we're thinking, okay, here we go. Is there a chance that he takes, I mean, anything can happen in Supercross, especially, we all know that if if everything kind of plays out as it does and there's no more crazy carnage in in Supercross, is there a chance that cloudy can beat Dino?

Speaker 3: 21:36

My opinion

Speaker: 21:38

either? Yeah. What do you reckon? I,

Speaker 3: 21:39

I sent Hammy a message about this actually. Um, and I said he just finds trouble. He, he starts are a bit hit and miss, and somehow he just always seems to find trouble. I don't, he doesn't intentionally do it. And he's an amazing writer. He's fast as hell. Um, I think he can beat Dean on his night. He just needs two good starts and some fresh air. Um, and just a, a bit of composure. Um, he, he's probably the best Supercross Rider Australia has in Australia at the moment.

Speaker: 22:11

Yeah,

Speaker 2: 22:12

yeah. Hammy. Yeah. That, that, that, that is true. A hundred percent. Um, Luke clout started his weekend on lap two or three of practice, first day on the ground. Um, stupid little mistake. And at that point we watching, Justin and I are pretty, um, focused in on what happens on the track during practice qualifying. We need to see where everyone's sitting in the storylines and both of us turned to each other and was like, is this a sign set up for the night? Or do we turn it around? And he turned it around pretty quick. Mm. Um, going quickest in the practice, going quickest in the qualifying Saturday. It was at that point we were like, okay, well maybe he's got this, this time, he's turned it around. Um, but then, yeah, come to the race time. Um, it just, it, it fell on his face a little bit. The, the Nicoletti one, um, no, I don't believe he went in there with intention of taking Nicoletti down at all, especially after watching the replay. We knew where he crashed and where he came from, and suspected that maybe it was coming in for a pretty hot pass. Um, but it wasn't, he, he came in too hot, tucked the front, and it threw it up there and ended up, you know, ultimately on the ground, it kind of sets the stage for the night. It doesn't set the stage for the weekend, but it, it kind of sets the stage for the night. Um, mentally, again, you start to doubt yourself as to what's going on. Um, and then it just, it, it snowballs. I've been that writer in that position coming out of. Uh, injuries. I had an injury prone, um, couple of years where I had, you know, four or five breaks in a row and, and it's tough mentally to cut back out of it. You can say all you like, yep, I'm ready, I'm good to go, and all that kind of stuff. It just, you find yourself doubting yourself. When you have a, a moment like that and it starts to snowball you, you doubt it more and more and more. And then that mental side of it starts to take a hit as well. So he's still battling through that. Uh, in saying that if he gets a win, a genuine win, man, this is gonna turn around pretty quick. He is going to realize I've got this, I can do it. And you don't truly believe it until you've done it. Right. So he will, if he gets this win, he will. I think, yes, he is the fastest Supercross rider out there. And yes, he can take it to Dean. I thought we were going to see it when he was leading that race that maybe he might have checked out a little bit. But I think everything that led up to that point was maybe playing on his mind just a fraction. And I know you don't, you don't instinctively think about it while you're riding, but it's there in the back of your head. You've had so many crushes. You've been on the ground so much, you've had these incidents all the way through. You just wanna ride a clean race and then not have any mistakes. And in doing so, it kind of slows you down a little bit. I think if Claudia was just out there riding his laps at the pace that we saw in qualifying, um, then he would have run away with it and he would have got that win. And maybe that was going to be the turning point, but. Those first turn crashes as well, finding yourself in the ground. You can see it in the way he got up. He's just saying to himself, what is going on? What am I doing to end up here? And it really starts to, um, to play on the mind and and really affect the writing.

Speaker: 25:32

Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and the, you know, incident between he and Nick Letti and that bull turn, turn, man, I, I don't, I didn't think there was really that much wrong with it, but it's similar Nicoletti, there was nothing, nah. Nicoletti had a problem with it.'cause you went up and found him in the pits.

Speaker 3: 25:46

That was a racing incident. And you can see on the video from that behind shot where he comes in and, and the front just starts to go on him and then there's nowhere. You can't put the brakes on. You're already committed and he's just come up under him and slid into him. Mm. Yeah. Um, I think Phil's just getting older and doesn't like being hit himself and he just, yeah. And I think too, the media, not even just the media, but a lot of people hyped up Americans versus Australians and then Phil to look up and see it's cloud up. They had their little. Arguments online. I think that that probably fueled it more than anything.

Speaker 2: 26:21

Yeah, it was a hundred percent a racing incident there. There's no question of that. From Phil's point of view, and I'm not defending anyone, he doesn't see that because he's on the bike and then he's on the ground, so he hasn't seen what's going on. It doesn't matter what anyone says. And Phil's quite heated as it is. Um, so yeah, he didn't realize, I'm sure if he watches it back, he's gonna go, oh, okay. That's what happened. But at the time, um, yeah, it, it definitely didn't look good from, from Phil's point of view, um, the heatedness between the writers. Um, yeah, it's, it's funny because. I, I, you've gotta have heroes and villains in every sport, right? It doesn't matter. That's how you pick a side and for who you choose to follow, right? If we've got these heroes and villains and more people tune in, they pick a side and that that's who they're rooting for. If everyone's just nice guys and just riding through that, it gets boring. Yeah. So I think these kinds of things, even though it's been blown up online and all of that, the reach that we're getting at the moment throughout Australian Supercross, and this is gonna be outside of just Phil. Clouts little internet. It's all the crashes that went on. People from around the world are tuning in to watch Australian Supercross because it's nuts. This is what they're seeing and we are getting these massive, massive followings and exposure out of it. We got it. Last year, the battle between se clout Wilson was enormous around the world. Yeah. Everyone was talking about it. So it's healthy for the sport. No, we don't wanna see anyone go down and, and end up in these fights, but it is healthy for the sport in Australia to have these kinds of things so that we do have storylines to go on with, and then people tune in the next week to see what happens.

Speaker: 28:02

Yeah. And so you're telling me you can't kick someone's rear tire when you come over the finish line? When you We'll give, we'll get to that one. That's, that's a good get to

Speaker 2: 28:08

that one.

Speaker 3: 28:09

Look, I'm all, I'm all for it. Uh, especially too, like, like Ami said, I'm hearing about our rider on pulp. I'm hearing about'em on the Blair and Mathers show. I'm hearing about'em on Vital, um, which are all American. So they're tuning in, like, and they're even focusing in on our 80 fives, like last year they were talking about Seth Thomas. Mm-hmm. I mean, it's really cool. It is good for our sport and it's elevating it. And look, I don't have anything against any of the riders. I don't like, I know Luke personally, he's ridden here and all that, but I, I wanna see'em all do well and I just wanna see good racing, to be honest.

Speaker: 28:43

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 28:44

If there's a little bit of drama, I'm all for it.

Speaker: 28:46

Yeah. Yeah. We love the drama. Um, now let's go the other American imports then. Um, Hammi, Nick Etti. Oh, I mean, it feels a bit, bit of a letdown, a little bit. We probably expected more from him. I, he's come outta that Canadian series looking pretty red hot. Uh, Mitchell Harrison didn't do all that much. Um, and then I guess the, probably the one that was real quiet throughout the night was Cedric. Um, he, he obviously finished up second overall, he didn't do anything to absolutely knock anyone's socks off. But, um, yeah, from the imports, what'd you think of them? Hammy.

Speaker 2: 29:20

Imports are important. I know that. Um, so let's start with Nicoletti. After that crash, it, it appeared that he broke his hand.

Speaker 4: 29:27

Okay.

Speaker 2: 29:28

Um, and, and it was known pretty much straight away from his, uh, from the team, from his side of it, that he's probably broken his hand. He's, it was enormous. It swelled up massively. These are the things that people don't see or really understand. So yes, he did struggle. He was fighting it through the night. Um, whether he would've been okay, uh, or, or much better. Uh, outside of that, I don't know. I don't think he's qualifying times as such, and I don't put any stock in times in qualifying at all. Uh, that's another point I'd, I'd dive into and probably get my head taken off about. Um, but. When you get to the race, things can turn around. So whether Phil was going to be the top five guy, the top three guy, I don't know, we don't know because of the hand injury that was taken on, on board from that crash. And that's also another reason, probably why he was so heated about the whole thing. First lap, first race and finance on the ground, and now he's broken. So yeah, it's not confirmed either. Sorry, don't, don't take me on that. It, it, it appeared that it was broken, it was swollen up, like it was broken. It was painful, like it was broken. So pretty much as a Right, you've got an idea as to when things are gonna be broken, right. We've been there enough to know, uh, if something isn't right. So yes, he battled that one out. Um, Harrison, I don't know much about him as far as what to expect on the race night. I watched his riding through the practice and qualifying, and he's a great Supercross rider. Um, does that equate into results? Not yet. Maybe. Give us a couple of rounds, maybe he'll just work his way into it. I think that, um, the more talent like that, that we can get, then, uh, I only lift South Sport entirely all the way through. Um, and then Cedric, he interesting talking to him, leading into it at the press conference, just having a general chat, man, they ride some Supercross in France, he said they do, they still do 25, 26 Supercross a year. Um, he said that he even do a, you know, a Friday night, a Sunday night, a Thursday night in one week. It's just insane. Wow. Uh, that's why you see so many good French Supercross riders, right? So they've got these little series. They, they're not all big, you know, Aus X level races, but they are doing those kind of Supercross races all the time. So he, uh, he said that as far as, um, from a French point of view, uh, Australian Supercross is very much, um. Uh, watched and, and and studied by many of them and, and many French Euro riders would love to come down and do this. Um, but being so far away and so difficult just to get a bike and sort it out, he said they kind of don't try and push that avenue because they don't think that they could possibly do it. So now that he is here, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a few more people making the call to try and get over here from Europe as well. Um, so the issue out the other side of that is where's enough teams and bikes to be able to do that? Um, it's gonna be tough to do it. However, he, he didn't know where he was gonna slot in to this weekend, so basically he just wanted to get through it healthy. He's got good points. Mm-hmm. Um, and see where he is slotted in and, and I'm sure now he can go to work a little bit more knowing what he's up against. Mm-hmm. Uh, and probably see a bit more of a competitive or closer competitive Cedric Sue Ross at the next round. Um, so yeah, the, the imports are good. Um, they're definitely running up there, but we do have some locals that surprised a lot as well.

Speaker 3: 32:55

Yeah, a hundred percent. Let's talk

Speaker 2: 32:57

dive on Walsh. What, what were we expecting out of him? Because I, I don't know a Supercross background with him.

Speaker: 33:02

No, I didn't know he had a Supercross background either. And I thought for a mo a second there, he was gonna win a moto. Um, he gapped the field as well. Um, like you said, from the uk I was unfamiliar with any Supercross experience he had.

Speaker 3: 33:13

No. Did he race the Nixon nations? I'm pretty positive he did. So even then with that as well, he is, had limited time with, um, with Supercross Prep. Um, he's always been a good rider. Great. In motocross. I think he raced the Canadian series with Phil too. Um, he's. He's the impressive rider. Um, yeah. But yeah, didn't know that he was Supercross capable. I mean, it doesn't surprise me when they're that caliber. They could sort of do anything. But yeah, no, he was good.

Speaker: 33:45

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Well, well let's talk then about Mel Ross, because what an off, what a frigging race from a privateer and, and to see him so stoked with his, uh, all he wanted to do was get up there with his, with his son on the, uh, podium. Um, so that was pretty cool to see. And you know what, he's the first Aussie after the two, uh, the, the Ameri uh, the Scott and the, and the Frenchmen. So, um, what do you reckon Hammi, is he going to be able to maintain this for the following rounds?

Speaker 2: 34:12

Um, I think he'll be able to maintain it. I think he'll improve, actually. Um, gets back to that confidence thing, not knowing where you sit amongst the big boys in the field. And it was never a point where he was just lucky in, in the right place at the right time. He got himself good starts, even when he didn't, he made some pastas pretty quick. In those opening laps and put himself into the position that he ended up finding himself at the checkered flag. So I was, yeah, look as I, I said it on the broadcast, if you were to tell me who was gonna be 1, 2, 3 on the, the podium at the end of the night. Not, not in any world what I have said that Hayden, Mel Ross was gonna be on the podium. And that is, no disrespect, I just didn't think he was going to be that guy. But he blew me away. The way he rode it was so good, so composed, and he was, um, strong all the way through. I didn't see it in qualifying, in practice. Again, getting back to that point, I put no stock in qualifying, especially qualifying times, um, make it work in the race. And that's exactly what he did. He did solid ccle laps the whole way through. Um, I think we're gonna see, I don't know that he's gonna battle it out for a win, but I think we're gonna see an improved rider at the next round. Uh, and, uh, he could be maybe battling it out for our top Aussie all the time. Mm.

Speaker: 35:25

Yeah. And, um, I think it was probably pretty special for him. I mean, a, a private tier effort too. He's doing everything on his own. He's kind of getting, you know, not really all that much or no factory support. So, um, it was pretty impressive. Now

Speaker 3: 35:38

the next, it's just good to see him come back too. Like he was sort of, yeah, you give him three years ago he was really up there in the motocross scene. Yeah. And, and battling for wins. Then he sort of had that, I wouldn't call it a spell, but Yeah. Just that time off the bike the last two years and slowly coming back. It, he's stunned. Really Well.

Speaker: 35:55

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's gotta take your hat off to him. Um, the next Aussie and, and this was probably the last one we might talk about in sx, one that surprised me, just looks like he's improved a fair bit, was Tanty. Um, and that we know how good he is on a motocross bike, uh, and on a motocross track. I didn't know he was gonna be in front of some of the guys he's in front of there. Um, for Supercross, I know a lot of that is because of the carnage that unfolded throughout the night. Um, but Tanty fourth first race wasn't fantastic, but second race, he was third.

Speaker 2: 36:26

Yeah, it's not a surprise to me. Tanty is one of those rider that is very skillful as far as when it comes to Supercross. He has that technique that really does gel well with the sport. Um, I, I maybe expected a little bit more out of him. He found himself in dramas as well throughout the weekend. Um, which would've again put the, the breaks on any momentum going forward. So I think we see more out of him in the next round. Um, they'll go home, do more homework with the, the team, get a little bit more comfortable and, uh, yeah, expect some more big things out of him, I would say. Um, another item that you've gotta mention is Luke Zelensky the other private tier because he was passing these guys. Yeah. I dunno where that's come from as far as his Supercross riding. Um, but it was impressive, honestly, easily as impressive as where, uh, Mel Ross is from where you think his name has been as far as across motocross and Supercross over the last few years to put himself into those positions. Again, a writer that made passes to get there, not just got a whole shot and then faded back to it. Mm-hmm. Um, impressive. Absolutely impressive. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: 37:36

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. That was impressive. Yeah. Th those two, Mel Ross and Zelensky man, just as, uh, on that private effort, that was, that's pretty bloody good. Um,

Speaker 3: 37:46

yeah, I'm, I'm on board with you, but hand me with Tanny, that's where he should be, that top five. He is, um, he is of that caliber and he's not far off Luke, in my opinion. Mm.

Speaker 2: 37:58

Yeah. I think he can match Luke. Sorry, I think he can match. Luke put him in there a hundred percent healthy. He's still coming off injury, obviously. Uh, pretty substantial injury. I only got. Some Did he even, did he, yeah, he made it to the last round or two rounds of motocross. So he hasn't had a lot of time on the bike. He, he is, had a sustained injury one after the other. So yeah, he's still working his way into it. So in saying that, I, I kind of expected more, maybe I didn't, maybe I, I shouldn't, I should say, uh, have expected more just walking into the Supercross series, being healthy is probably the biggest goal that he needs to do. Uh, and then that speed and, and confidence will come through as we go a bit further into this series. Yeah. Okay. Definitely.

Speaker: 38:40

Uh, no one else. Four 50. That's pretty much four. He's done. I can't think.

Speaker 3: 38:43

Um, oh, just a quick mention. I think wheelie can get up there in a heat race pretty well. Like I think he can be a top three in a heat race for sure. Um, he's got the capability to do it. Um. I think Dylan Wood can fight for a top five as well on his night. Um, and then Robbie Marshall, still good to see the old player going, oh

Speaker: 39:02

man, it's gotta be held together by tape. It's a shame. He's um, what about the two stroke? I mean, like where, where's it gone? Yeah, that, that was, that was impressive. And he's doing well, uh, for up there with all the young kids. Um, yeah. Alright, let's move on to SX two'cause there's a little fair bit to talk about in that. And man, it was that carnage. Before we get into everything that unfolded, Shane Meath, he's 27 points down. Um, he proved in the second moto. He's the fastest bloke on that track. In that class. Is 27 points now too much with however many rounds we've got left now. What's that? Four. Four rounds left. Three rounds left.

Speaker 2: 39:37

It's points wise, it's not too much. Whether he is here for of them, it's another story.

Speaker: 39:45

Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 39:49

No, it, it not. When you got 50 points on offer at each of these rounds. Yeah. It's not too much at all. He'll be able, he would be able to make that back with some good results. Mm-hmm. Um, but in saying that, I think that it's, uh, quite a lot deeper this year as far as, yeah, we had the same riders last year, but a lot of them, I feel, have stepped it up, whether it was just to track the way it was or if it was the, the rider stepping up, I don't know. But everyone is a lot closer this year than we saw last year.

Speaker: 40:19

Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree. Um, okay, well, let's talk then. Let's just start with luxe, uh, young Luxe. I, I didn't actually have him on my radar to go out there and go one, two. Um, how many did he, he, he's fast. I mean, from the commentary box, you're sitting up there, you get the best view of anyone when you, you could see every section of the track. Is he going quicker than most of the other guys in the two 50 class? With the exception of Shane?

Speaker 2: 40:44

Uh, I don't. I don't think he's going crazy quicker than anyone else. He, he got himself good, starts on the opening laps. He put himself up the front very, very quickly. Um, so I think he had that, that racecraft to be able to do that. Straight off the bat, I didn't know anything or he wasn't on my radar either. Uh, but he certainly was on B'S radar. He, he knows a bit about Lux, so I think he expected that he was going to be up there, um, battling it out. I don't know if I would've again, put him up there going into it as being the dominant force. Um, but certainly he, uh, he impressed me. He looks very strong and, and like we said, you get one win under your belt, all of a sudden you are the guy that in your own mind you are the guy to beat. And that's what happened after that first race. As soon as he got that win.'cause he went into that not knowing where he was going to be finishing in these races. And, and for good reason with how deep this field is. Um, as soon as he got that one, if he got fifth in the first race, you wouldn't see Yeah. Him sitting at the top.

Speaker: 41:48

Yeah. Yeah. That confidence key. While we're still talking about Lux, the, that line through the, whoops, where he came across on Reed Taylor or it seemed like a little bit, uh, you know, uh, you guys as Supercross rider, it's, it's a bit of an unwritten law to kind of hold your line in the, whoops, because they're the most dangerous spot. Do you think what he did was a little bit uncalled for? Are you okay with it?

Speaker 2: 42:08

I haven't studied, I saw at the end of the show, or, or maybe it was in the highlights out the back of that race. I haven't studied it enough to give you a, an honest answer on that. Um. Sometimes in, whoops, you have to ride where the bike takes you. Mm-hmm. Uh, whether it was a case of that, you know, maybe one of the whoops, kicked him a little bit sideways and that's how he ended up over there. I don't know. Uh, it could be that he was trying to cover his line as well. Mm-hmm. Um, so not a hundred percent sure. I haven't studied that one enough to know whether it was Yeah. A, an incident where he was trying to cover a line or if that's where the bike took him.

Speaker: 42:48

Yeah, it's a bit disappointing'cause I was cur, you know, keen to see what Taylor could do on that bike, you know, in Todd's team. Um, and coming off the back of the last couple of years, he's been pretty fast and he's, yeah, showing a lot of speed. So I think it looks like he's gonna miss now most of the series with a busted wrist or hand there. So. Anyway. I hope he recovers well. We'll hopefully see him maybe next year. Um, then down to Alex La Wood. Now let's just talk about, there was a weird incident between La Wood and Wilson Todd when they crossed the finish line. And I, I, I don't think what Wilson Todd did was wrong. Again, I think it was just a standard final, final lapse Supercross pass. Every, every position is worth something to every rider. And then he got, yep. As they landed on the backside of that double over the finish, he got the old boot of the tire. What, what, what was happening there?

Speaker 2: 43:34

Um, I think it was frustration. Yeah. Uh,'cause Larwood did go into that last turn to the inside, covering his inside, but just not covering it enough. And then he found Wilson and Todd coming up and making that pass, that there was also, uh, that decided the overall for the night it did that one pass. Yep. By, uh, it would've been one point in the favor of. La Wood had he got over the line in second rather than Wilson Todd making that pass. We didn't know it at the time, obviously. Um, we've stressed it many times that, you know, it can come down to that just one point. Um, so yeah, I think it was just frustration. Wilson Todd said he didn't even feel him do it. He didn't even know he kicked his wheel and he was question about it. And so Todd wasn't phased one single bit. And, and you know what? So be it, it was racing. It, it's the way it is. Anyone will take that opportunity. I just think it was frustration. Uh, LA would thought he had the line covered. It wasn't covered enough. The outcome says it all

Speaker: 44:33

is, is it, uh, awkward now in the Honda truck Hammi? Um, you've been on, you've been on factory teams. What's it the feeling like there?

Speaker 2: 44:39

I'm sure there'd be a bit of tension there when they got back. I don't know the. The relationship between the two riders that have spent a lot of time over the years in the same truck. So, I don't know, maybe briefly I would say it would've been resolved pretty quick. Yeah. Uh, I know that we've seen incidents, especially at Redcliffe last year where the team was very fired up and things did get forcefully resolved at the backside of it. So I was, three of

Speaker 3: 45:07

their riders on the ground wasn't real good,

Speaker: 45:08

so

Speaker 2: 45:10

Yeah,

Speaker: 45:10

Um, okay. Right of Kingsford. Now they had right of Kingsford as Aner with an American flag next to his name. Um, we, we'll, we'll put that down. As a Ty I'm thinking like, wait a minute. You can't claim him. Um, yeah, but man, he was fast. He was good. And he's, and he's young. He, he's been in the,

Speaker 2: 45:27

he'd been in the class for a couple of years. Um, he's fast. Yes, he's very fast. He was topping the board, uh, the qualifying in on, I think it was the second day round two qualifying. You could just sit there. You didn't even have to watch the track. You could have just sat there and watched the leaderboard and you would've been thoroughly entertained the way it was bouncing around from who was first every single lap. There was a new leader on the top of the board. It was that tight. So Rider was one of those rider that was, uh, up the top a lot of the time. Um, I expected more out of Kingsford. I saw some great results out of him last year as far as in Ws X and then even in Australian stuff, he showed some real speed, uh, through motocross this year. Of course, we saw some great results out of him in that. I did expect more out of him when he got some free track. He did look good. But same deal when you have these crashes that just keep multiplying and, and building up on each other. Things snowball and it just gets outta control. So calm himself down. I think he'll be another threat. Give him a win and then yeah, things will change a lot for him.

Speaker: 46:39

Yeah. Um, that's exciting. And he's got his younger brother too, obviously in the, uh, in the class underneath. So.

Speaker 2: 46:45

His younger brother rider, I mean Kate, Kate,

Speaker: 46:50

um, uh, Caleb Barham, uh, pretty good ride. And you know, it was good for that Cowie team to get someone up in that top five as well. Um, um, I think he got a third in race one of, of the first round too. So is he gonna be a, a, a title threat kind of towards the pointy end?

Speaker 2: 47:08

Um, rounds one and two, no one really knows, honestly. Yeah. But, um, I think maybe no. As far as a title threat, um, a top three guy at the coming rounds, yes. I've been waiting for this out of Caleb Barham for quite a while. Yeah. Uh, I know the skill level that he has and I know the speed that he's got. Um, and I've expected these kind of results even in motocross for quite a while, and it just, it hasn't eventuated, same deal, grabs himself a good result early on in the, the night, and then all of a sudden things start working out. Things start working good. So truly deserving of where he ended up. Um, but yeah, these, these are kind of, for me, these are kind of expected. I I was, I've been hoping for it for a while.

Speaker: 47:55

Um, now, so Shane McElrath, uh, fifth, uh, in, at the, um, round one, not where he wants to be, not where he wants to start, um, but he showed a lot of speed. He's obviously gonna be the guy to beat. Is there anyone, anyone gonna go close to beating him and or is this pretty much championship sealed, like you said, if he hangs around for the whole series?

Speaker 2: 48:17

Uh, I think that he can definitely come back and win it from here if he sticks around and does it. Yes. Uh, is he the guy to beat? I'm not gonna give you a definite answer on that. I don't know. I, I, I really don't. I think we've got Turner La Wood that are looking pretty good at the moment that can steal winds away from him. I don't think we see, even if he sticks around, Shane Mcath just whitewash the rest of this series. Okay. I think he'll be challenged the whole way. Okay. Um, it'll come down to the track and, and who's confident on the day. Um, he is. Todd can get

Speaker 3: 48:48

in there as well. Yeah. Yeah,

Speaker 2: 48:49

yeah, yeah, absolutely. Wilson Todd was one of those guys that were bouncing to the top of the leaderboard for qualifying lap after lap, so he can definitely get up there. He did not have the best starts and the bit of luck go his way on the weekend. So here's another rider that will be there. So no, I don't think that it is clear set yet as to who's going to start to run away with this, maybe luxe Turner because of the writing he's doing, but I don't think it'll take much for another rider to step up and start grabbing some of that momentum.

Speaker 3: 49:16

Okay, that's good. Yeah, I think, um, I think Jace Cosford can come back a bit better and, and I think Reese Bud had a really quiet round for where he can normally be at too.

Speaker: 49:25

Yeah,

Speaker 3: 49:25

yeah, yeah,

Speaker: 49:26

yeah, he did. Bud was quiet. I mean, the fellow carry rider, um, cannon, Jay Cannon, he did pretty good. He was a third in that, uh, second motor of round one. He looked pretty fast. Um, he's obviously another young guy. I'm not sure he is gonna be a, you know, top five this year, but he's gonna build that, that family's a frigging racing pedigree. Um, is he gonna be fast in future years you think? Hammi?

Speaker 2: 49:48

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. He, he was a bit of a surprise to me because he hasn't done a lot of Supercross as far as racing in Australia. He obviously got hurt, um, that year or two ago, whenever it was a couple years ago. Um. At Newcastle. So I think he will be a contender. I did not have him on my radar. In fact, I didn't even know he was going to be back here. So it was good to see that he was,

Speaker 4: 50:10

yeah.

Speaker 2: 50:11

Uh, I think he'll be another writer. That's what I'm saying with this class. It is just so deep at the moment that you really couldn't walk into the, the weekend going, yep, I know who's gonna get these places in this class. There's no chance.

Speaker: 50:22

Yeah, yeah. Agreed.

Speaker 3: 50:23

Yeah. And, and one we're forgetting is Ferguson. Um, last year he, he rode really well in Supercross. He great whoop speed and that, and I feel like he could, he can have a really good round or two and Seth Birl might even get his name in in there too.

Speaker 2: 50:38

Both of them guys were at one point on the screens in a position. Ferguson, I don't know what's going on there, whether there's something else underlying maybe, but to be quite frank, that was a terrible round from him. I'm sure he will agree that that was not his ideal. Um. I expected a lot more out of him. Uh, I think he definitely would've expected a lot more out of him. He is that rider that is that good? Yeah. Um, so yeah, I think I, I think don't ride him off yet after rounds. One, two, I think he had a shit weekend. He's gonna throw it in the bin, walk away, and then, uh, come the next round. He, he really could be one of those guys that definitely contends for the top three.

Speaker 3: 51:21

Yeah.

Speaker: 51:21

And he

Speaker 3: 51:22

solid through the whoops too.

Speaker: 51:23

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, who had that absolute shocker into the bowl tur where he face planned it and the bike looked like it folded on top of him. That was

Speaker 2: 51:31

Byron Dennis.

Speaker: 51:32

Man. Is he okay? That all looked awful.

Speaker 2: 51:35

Uh, yeah, he's gonna go get scans. I don't know the outcome to it. He did try and line up to ride on, he, he went out on the race afterwards. Actually. He lined up, went out, but he only did one lap. He, it was too much pain. So he came back in, uh, next day. He again, attempted to go out. I don't believe that he got to the racing. It was just too much. He did try. Um, but yeah, that was a, a very, very hard hit surprise to even see him walking around after that.

Speaker: 52:06

Yeah, it looked awful.'cause he kind of, you know, face planted, the bike came down and you've got a, you know, 110 kilos lying on top of air or coming crashing India. It looked pretty messy. I'm glad that at least you saw him walking around. Hammy. Um, anything else? SX two? Are we missing anything? I think that was it. It's just carnage galore, but fortunately I don't, yeah, I

Speaker 2: 52:24

I don't think we're missing anything but damn. It's exciting, isn't it?

Speaker: 52:27

Oh God, that's a fantastic class. Gives, you said it in the preview. He's like, that's the class that's gonna be unreal because with the exception of Shane. Yep. You know, there's a lot of guys in there who can win races, so, um, yeah, that's gonna be one to watch. Um, alright, with then we had SX three, uh, and we had the 85 cup, um, the other Kingsford in SX three, um, which was fast, was looking pretty good. Um, and we've got a lot more. Aussies, obviously in the, in those classes. Um, who's your who, who anyone stand out in SX three for your hammi?

Speaker 2: 52:58

Outside of Kingsford? No. Yeah, no. It's a bit of a shame because we're, we've been privileged and been so lucky over the last couple of years to witness SX three in all SX MX three in motocross. Uh, and it's been so exciting watching the development of a lot of riders and how close it is between them. Um, at the moment, Kingsford iss on another level over everyone else, so I don't believe that we are going to see, again, don't get me wrong, things could turn around, might change in a heartbeat, I don't know. But at the moment, from what we've seen, I don't believe we're gonna see anyone challenge Kingsford for that position. Uh, even if he gets a bad start, I feel like he's going to be able to come through to a, at least a respectable spot that's gonna keep him well and truly. Mm-hmm. Uh, comfortable in this title. Um, outside of a, a mistake or an injury, I don't think we're gonna have anyone, uh, challenge him out.

Speaker: 53:50

Yeah, I tend to agree. Briggsy, you know, some of these guys, a lot of them actually use your track for training for motocross and bits and pieces. Anyone else in that class you're noticing that might show some sort of fight with Kingsford?

Speaker 3: 54:00

Um, look, Kai could, um, potentially, but Kai, I, he, he hasn't ridden like himself for a little while now, in my opinion. Um, writer Malki really surprised me. Um, he done pretty well. Um, I'd like to see, you know, max Compton get up there as well. Riley Burgs, um, had some good laptops, but the, this class is just so prone to mistakes, right? They just, they, they don't have the experience quite yet, and they are young. Um, they're very young, a lot of them. Um, they're all talented riders with a big future. Um, but it's, it, I'd love to see him just take a breath, you know what I mean? They need to just let it come to him a little bit more. Where caves are so confident at the moment, it, he can't put a foot wrong. Um, so I. I think Cade will nearly win every round. And then I think it'll be a battle for second, third, fourth or fifth, really. Um, and you could throw anyone in there on their night. But Cade's just that good at the moment. It's, it's, he's gonna be hard to beat.

Speaker 2: 55:01

I think you made a good point there, Briggsy, that this class is prone to mistakes in motocross. It probably doesn't affect you quite as much. You can get away with these mistakes in Supercross. It's amplified massive. Yeah. So these mistakes turned into something. Uh, even if it doesn't go, even if you don't go down, you lose so much time in doing it. Um, I think that there is the real key, and this is the point of the class, it's a learning class. Mistakes are meant to happen. You learn from it, you get better. Hey, Kingsford is just past that point at the moment of, um, learning from those mistakes. He's already got the racecraft that we expect from, um, uh, this development class to lead into SX two, MX two. Is he as fast as Zen boys at the moment? No, he's a long way off It still. He looks great against everyone else. I don't think he would just slot straight into a high ranking spot in SX two in any way. Um, he's still got another no. Put around

Speaker 3: 55:57

that 10.

Speaker 2: 55:59

Yeah, he's still got another year to do it and, and I don't question that He won't be able to do it, I think. I think for sure he's going to be one of those rider that will challenge it out at this very moment. No, he's not ready to go there. Um, but he is the lead rider in this. No doubt. There were some good results. You mentioned Compton There a lot of, a lot of incidents, um, down on the ground. Quite a lot. Uh, ride Riley, Burgess, same deal. Yeah. Um, very fast on the grounder lights. Devon had a good result. Obviously got himself up there. We saw good

Speaker 3: 56:32

rides. He has done really well. Yeah,

Speaker 2: 56:35

Hannah did really well. Uh, Degan Rose. There was another rider that, um, he's placed well in the championship, but I saw him on the ground and having some, some pretty big, um, moments himself over the, the course of the weekend. So

Speaker 4: 56:48

these

Speaker 2: 56:48

guys, if they can set themselves down, same with Jet Op, another very fast rider. I put him, he should be living top three, if not battling for wins. That's where I feel he should be. Uh, Sunday practice, he had a major crash as well after the, whoops. Went, uh, got kicked on the last one and then went flying over the berm. So just to get back on the bike again, another pretty solid performance. But I expect these guys, I, I put, especially Allsop, uh, I, I expect that Hanta should have been up there with Kingsford. They're a little bit off pace at the moment. So

Speaker 3: 57:23

guy's, the one who sort of, I, I expected should be in that top firefighter as well. This, this was his class to win this year, in my opinion. Um, obviously Cade stepped up, but, uh, things has happened. But yeah, it is the development class and you know, I, I actually said to a lot of them, I said, if you can master the, whoops, you'll probably win this class.

Speaker: 57:44

So 85 Cup, um, Blake Bohannan, I mean, is he our next jet? Lawrence, the kids flying overseas. He comes here, he's kicking ass here. Um, and he cleaned up in Supercross. Um, is he, is he gonna be, I mean, it's a poor kid. 80. He's in on an 85. We don't wanna put too much pressure on him this early, but is he gonna be, do, will he hopefully live up to the hype that he's kind of creating himself already?

Speaker 2: 58:08

Um, I think, I think so. I don't know. I've spent a

Speaker 3: 58:12

bit of time with them. Yeah. I spend a bit of time with Tim and Blake. They ride here a lot. This kid just, he does not make a mistake. His technique is pretty flawless. He's not quite, he looks a little bit sort of gangly at the moment. He's still growing into his, his body. But man, he just, he doesn't feel pressure. It's kind of weird. He, he just thrives on it. So, yeah, he, in my opinion, he will be, if he keeps on this trajectory, he's gonna be something special. Um, but yeah, there's a lot of good kids in this field, you know? Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: 58:47

I agree with that. Bohannan, we could see that from when he was on the 60. Mm-hmm. Yeah, he's, he's got the technique. He's just incredible to watch. He's gonna continue on. It just shows how important getting right technique is from an early age, not just going out there and trying to put out fast laps. Doesn't matter how many times you beat your head against the wall, it just doesn't sink in. Um, but he's perfection with technique on the bike. You even JB was saying it, he just couldn't believe how good that kid looked on the bike as he was rolling around.

Speaker 3: 59:17

Wow. That's, that's elbows watch his elbows, they're just always up. Yep. You know, he doesn't have'em beside his hips like a lot of these kids, and he's not leaning back. He's always got his chest forward, chin over the bars. Um, he, his dad's onto him like Tim, his Tim's great for him. Um, and they work really well together, which helps. Um, but the thing that impressed me for him was one day on Supercross and then go out and win when probably a lot of these other kids have probably done a week or two, but he's been in America, so.

Speaker 4: 59:45

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Speaker: 59:46

Yeah. Yeah. It's impressive. It's, it's, it's pretty exciting to see what he is gonna be able to do. It's such a young age. There's a lot of pressure, but man, like you said, hammy getting that technique. Kind of key. And to have that kind of maturity, um, for JB to notice at that age is, um, yeah, it's really impressive. Uh, anyone else in that list that kinda stood out in the 85 Cup that you were, you could see on the day Hammi, that you think, you know, this kid's gonna be someone to watch?

Speaker 2: 1:00:11

Um, no, I, I think amongst the rest of them, um, you know, parrot, Townley, Kru even had himself up there. Williams was up there as well. I think Degan Fort's gonna be another rider that comes away, um, in a couple of years. If he can get himself a bit more consistent, I think he'll be another writer. That's pretty good. Canon obviously was very quick. There's a lot of good talent coming through at the moment, which is good for sport. David. Yeah. Which a really good, we've had such a, a lull in talent for quite a long time. It's been only the last few years and I, I attribute it a bit to the Supercross and motocross. Um. National series running them as well. You're guaranteed you're gonna have a full gate every time we run these classes. It just show, it's, it's building that excitement and, and that desire for these young riders to want to ride Supercross and motocross at the top level. That's what they're striving to do. If you're just at a club every weekend, you never get that exposure. You never really have that true di true drive to get to that level. You know, there'll be only a very, very small few people that want to do it because that's always been their dream. Now with these young kids at the race experiencing it, they get the taste of it. It brings a lot more of them around to, to saying that, yes, this is what I wanna do and I think it's only growing the sport a lot more as it is. Yeah.

Speaker: 1:01:31

Yeah. That's good to hear. Um, alright, I think that's pretty much everything wrapped up. Have we missed anything? Missed anyone that was noteworthy from the weekend? That's pretty good.

Speaker 3: 1:01:40

Nah, big shout out. But to, um, Aus X, even just for including the 80 fives for a few years there, like you said, we didn't even have a series, but now to also include the juniors is,

Speaker 2: 1:01:50

is really good. Yeah, I think it's a massive thing. Uh, growing up in my era, we always had juniors 80 fives, um, eighties at the time, uh, at Supercross with Supercross Masters. I, I rode my first Supercross when I was 12. Uh, I absolutely sucked at it. I crashed that many times. I was a crowd favorite. I did three laps in a row just going over the bars in this one double. So, but that's, that's where you start, right? That's, that's the whole point of the class. And, and that's what drives you to get better and better. And without that, without those, um, those classes being at the national level, I don't think we're gonna see the talented riders that we are seeing today. I just, I don't see it at all. So it is a great thing that these organizations are including the smaller bikes. I think it's vital for the sport.

Speaker: 1:02:39

Yeah, it's good. It's good to see. And um, it's awesome that Oex, uh, including them, hopefully it kind of continues and continues for years to come and they, they can graduate into our next, um, a MA weapons, our next Lawrences,

Speaker 2: 1:02:51

um, I'll, I'll just add off the back of that, the excitement that comes with 80 fives. Um, you might, it's not the premier class, but the, within the, the crowd and, and even Reese Walsh said it, uh, uh, the other night, uh, just how excited and impressed he was to see 80 fives. That was the highlight of his night was the 80 fives. So when you're getting the crowd saying that, that it shows that they truly are warranted to have that spot within the list of, of races on the night.

Speaker: 1:03:20

Yeah. And that's, that's cool. I mean, like you said, having someone like Reese Welsh there, um, who probably doesn't know any of these riders or these kids, he might follow this series a little bit and he might know the top, you know, three or four open riders. But to be most excited by the 80 fives is a credit to what Oex are doing. Um, bringing that class through and really putting'em up in the limelight and giving them some exposure. That's the key to tracks like this, to crowds like this so that they don't jump in there at the age of 16, 17, 18, and you're so overwhelmed by the lights and the fireworks and the night show and the people screaming and yelling at you and all that kind of stuff. So that's awesome to hear. And it's also so cool to see Oex bringing in a whole bunch of ambassadors from other sports and, you know, including everyone, what they did down at Gran Park. During the NRL season was really cool to kind of incorporate our sport into what we would call, I guess, a mainstream sport. So that is, um, fantastic to see and we hope that it, it just makes our sport bigger and brings along more people to watch the racing. So we'll find out, I guess, in the next couple of rounds as we go south towards, um, new South Wales and Victoria and, and we'll see how we go with the crowds and see what the tracks look like and what the racing looks like. But I can't wait for the next couple of rounds. I think they're gonna be epic and I think there's gonna be a few scores to be settled after the crashing, uh, and the chaos that happened in rounds one and two. So that's gonna make these next couple super exciting. But, uh, that's pretty much it for now. Um, hammy, thanks again mate. We look forward to listening to you, uh, at the next round, commentating. And, um, and we'll get, jump on, we'll jump on one of these pods again after, um, after the next, uh, round three and hear what you've got to say from the commentary. Booth and Briggsy, thanks to you again mate, for your expert analysis. It's always a privilege having you on mate. For everyone else, we'll see you guys uh, in a couple of weeks for the next Super cross.