Racing a 2023 YZ500 2 Stroke for the FIRST Time!

How will our 2023 YZ500 perform against a full field of four strokes? We've come to a proper old-school scramble today to find out the answer. Let's go racing! We are lining up for a good old-fashioned stubble cross race here on board the YZILLA 500. We'll be taking on both friend and foe, so let's get the beast started and ready for the first of three races today. So it looks like the YZ500 has got some great drive out of the gates and it's powering up that hill using all of the might of that 500cc motor. They're just edging a little bit wide around the first turn, currently sitting in fourth position. But before we carry on with the race action, let me just stop, rewind and explain what on earth the YZILLA 500 actually is. Last year we bought a brand new YZ250 and transformed it into a 500cc beast using BRC Racing's awesome new YZM500 conversion kit. With the help of our friend Roland Short, the conversion went smoothly and we were able to hit the track with our new beast. The YZILLA has done test rides, dyno runs, drag races and shootouts, but today she will experience her first ever gate drop. This will not only be our first race with the bike, but the first race for the YZ500 anywhere in the world. Okay, so it's race morning. We've got our guinea pig ready to rock. Sean, how are you feeling? Heading into the first race, the first ever race on a YZ500. I don't think it's ever been done before anywhere in the world. So how are you feeling? Excited. Excited? Yeah. Excited. Sean Smith was the first rider after me to give the YZILLA a real test, so I thought it was only right to get him back on board the bike for its maiden race day voyage. Sean will be lining up next to another friend of the channel, Mr Alan Joyce, who will be riding his KX450. Are we ready for it, Sean? We're pumped up, ready to go. We're 100%. Pole shot bonus, race win bonus, podium bonus. It's all on the line, okay? Is that what I'm getting now, though? Yeah, I'm not telling you how much you get for each thing. And you got your Joycey bonus. Oh, yeah. If Joycey beats you, I'll give him a bonus. Oh, dear. No pressure. Also, so you're in a mixed VETS and EVO class, right? So two classes. Hold on, over 35s. VETS, over 35s. And how old's Sean? Sean is 57. 51. And so it's two classes split, split separately, scored separately, but running together. So you actually will be racing KX500s, CR500s. Yeah, I think there's a couple in there. There are a couple of light KX350s. We're racing four strokes and old 500s, so you've got to beat all the other 500s as well. No pressure, though. You're the only one on a 2023 500. Well, best win, then, aren't we? Yeah, best win. Let's do it, race one. It's all led to this, the first race for the YZ500. It's time to see what the YZilla is really made of. It's time for the gate drop. So Sean Smith on board the YZ500 has got a flying start. He rockets out the gates and into the first turn. Looks like the whole shot is in his hands. No, he gets pushed wide around the first turn. He sits there in fourth position early on then. Quickly into third, but he gets countered back by John Tapp on the number seven Gas Gas 350. So Sean Smith has three big four strokes just ahead of him here on the opening lap of action. A Kawasaki 450, a Gas Gas 350 and the Husqvarna there just ahead of him. And if you're unfamiliar with Stubblecross, this is a formal winter racing here in the UK. Take a disused farmer's field, tape up a track and hang loose. So powering up the far hill for the first time then. Sean Smith currently sits in fourth position on board the YZ500. He's got Alan Joyce just behind him there in fifth. And Steve Marlow on the KX450 gets demoted to third position. So it's that KX450 that Sean Smith now has in his sights. Is there anything he can do about the big green machine? He is certainly on it early on in this race. Hanging loose on board the big two stroke. Just listen to the bike feed in the deep corner and sing up the hill. Just glorious from the 500cc two stroke. Sean trying to keep some tight lines on board the YZ. Oh and Steve Marlow makes a mistake. Gifted third position to Sean Smith then. And our Sean just goes wide a little bit there. Is that the early signs of the dreaded arm pump perhaps? This is the first time Sean has ever raced a 500cc two stroke. It's only the second time he's ever ridden a 500cc two stroke. So he's going to be heading down to arm pump city soon I am sure of it. But for now Sean Smith is hanging on to the big two stroke and hanging on to that podium position because he's being hounded by his old sparring partner Steve Marlow on board the KX450. These guys have battled a time or two in the past and here they are again. An awesome battle for these last few laps but you can just see the body language of Sean Smith on board the YZ500 starting to change. You can tell that that arm pump is certainly setting in now and there's still a handful of laps left to go. And Steve Marlow up the inside there so he steals away that position from Sean Smith there. So Sean Smith demoted into fourth position on board the YZ500 and now he's being hounded by a couple of the Evo bikes. Remember this is a mixed class. These will be younger lads on the Evo bikes and Seth Manners on board the RM125 makes a swift pass on Sean Smith there. Remember these lads will be a lot younger than our veteran racer Sean the 51 year old granddad who's attempting to tame the YZ here today. And look at this what are the chances the YZ500 has found a YZ490 from 1988 and they're going back and forth on track. What an awesome big four two-stroke battle this is. And Phil Dyson on that YZ490 makes a pass on Sean Smith but look at this Steve Marlow he's stopped on track. It looks like a bike issue for Steve Marlow. So as Sean Smith drops a track position to Phil Dyson on the YZ490 he gains another position in his class due to the misfortune of Steve Marlow on board the KX450. Sean looks over hoping that the chequered flag is now out and yes it is. So Sean Smith grabs a podium in the first ever race for the YZ500. Sean are you in the land of arm pump? My arm pump is solid man. Honestly I can hold on no more look. Well it was good until I got arm pump. You had that whole shot now didn't you? Yeah and then they just ran me out wide. Yeah I thought you outran yourself. Like three quarters of the way through the arm pump was that bad I just couldn't hold on. So I'm going to just to give it a bit of adjustment I think before we go out again. Yeah yeah I was filming I was like oh my god I don't I hope that's not my bike making that noise. I did actually think I don't think that's gonna last so I'll just chill out behind him but it lasted the whole meeting. So on the box first race on the box. On the box first race. So we're getting ready for race number two here at Suiso but before we drop the gates I just need to give a big shout out to our awesome channel sponsors 24mx. Without the support of these guys we simply couldn't come racing and we couldn't build crazy bikes like this. They've also got a bunch of products that make life at the racetrack much easier like the ProWorks stand and the ProWorks ramp. If you like the look of these products check out the link in the description down below to find out more and be sure to remember to use our discount code MAX15 for 15% off. Now let's drop those gates. Can Sean improve this time around and climb a step further up the podium? As the day goes on he's only getting more and more comfortable on board the beast. Race two is up next. And the gates have dropped for race two here at Silverstone. We're just next door to the world famous Silverstone race circuit but we're stubble cross racing here today. Another good start for Sean Smith and Alan Joyce there on the KX450 right next to Sean Smith on the Wyzilla 500. Steve Marlow looking to storm up the inside of Sean Smith to take over that third place position early on in this race. John Tapp takes the race lead the number seven on the Gas Gas 350. We have that Husqvarna rider there in second position. His name wasn't on the timeline scoring after race one so perhaps he's not running a transponder at the moment which means that he's not going to be present in the overall results. So that means Sean according to the timeline scoring got second in race one. But Steve Marlow is looking for redemption here. He had that bike issue at the end of moto one. He takes over third position from Sean Smith at the end of lap number one. Sean Smith letting the Wyzilla sing. He looks far more comfortable already in this moto and he's going to be back on the hunt to reclaim that third place spot from his old nemesis Steve Marlow. Sean's just searching for the loamy berms to get some traction down on the big two stroke. It's a joy to watch, a joy to listen to. And here he is all over the rear wheel of that KX450 and Seth Mannes is joining the party on the RM125. So we're going to get some Evo bikes in this mix as well. But remember all Sean has to worry about is the modern bikes. Those Evo bikes are not in his class today. A mistake from Steve Marlow allows Sean Smith to sneak up the inside and retake that third place position. And Seth Mannes makes a quick move on Steve Marlow as well. So Sean now has that pesky little RM125 all over his rear wheel. And turning down tight Seth Mannes makes the move on Sean Smith and the Wyzilla. But Sean's just got to worry about keeping Steve Marlow behind him on the KX450. Jon Tapp in the race lead has run away with things in this one yet again. Oh Sean Smith hits the deck! Just tucks the front end in that tight corner trying to make a move on the back marker. Looks like just one position to Steve Marlow. So how can Sean Smith respond to this? It looks like he's responding well back on the gas already. And look at this once again he's got Phil Dyson on that YZ490 right behind him all over his rear wheel. These two are just fighting each other every time they hit the track. The last lap flag is out then. One lap to go in Moto2 here. Can Sean Smith close the gap on Steve Marlow? And retake that third place position? While he's thinking about attacking he's also got to think about defending because Phil Dyson is there behind him. And I know Sean will not want that 1988 YZ490 to make a move on him just for the sake of pride. And to prove which one of these two riders is the best big four racer here today. Bring up the hill go Sean Smith on the Wyzilla 500. He's making up a lot of ground on Steve Marlow now on board the KX450. Look how close he is with half a lap to go. This is going to get interesting before the finish. Steve Marlow desperately trying to protect the inside lines. It's a little harder for Sean to make those inside lines on the big two-stroke but he's doing well so far. With just a quarter of a lap to go it is as tight as ever now. Look how close it is. Sean letting the big dog feed here the Wyzilla 500 looking for a final victim in moto number two. Oh this is going to be a close finish between these three. Steve Marlow once again protecting the inside lines. Sean Smith trying searching for a place to pass before this one is over. Just a handful of corners left to go now. Firing back up the hill. Oh it's so close but Sean has to be careful because Phil Dyson is right there ready to pounce if he leaves the door open. The penultimate corner then. Sean Smith here he comes and Phil Dyson is right there. Oh my god it's so close now. Marlow protects the inside. This is the last chance for Sean Smith. He opens it up. Twists the grip on the Wyzilla but it's not quite enough. Steve Marlow gets third. Sean Smith has settled for fourth. Drama, drama, drama. Race two had a bit of everything didn't it? It did yeah. Not not as good a jump out the gate I'd say no? No I thought it wasn't too bad. I was I think I was top three in that first corner. Yeah yeah but out of the gate wasn't so hot. But the power of the Wyzilla got you up that hill. You you elbowed Alan out the way didn't you? Yeah well that's a muscle but I didn't. You had to um take care of Joyce in the first corner. Riding roadblock Alan is saying. He needs to get past him quick. No well I got by Steve first. And then I thought yeah you know we'll settle in and just run a pace and then just got into the lappers and just took a real tight inside line to try and get underneath and I've just folded the front. Luckily with all my life but I paddled to the clutch and I thought I'm not letting go of this because it'll be game over and kept it running and back on and yeah caught Steve white to the chequered flag so yeah good. Yeah that was a dramatic finish and you managed to fend off that pesky Wyzilla. Yeah he goes well on that but you know I bet that thing's soft. Yeah you know and it's awesome around here because there's no jumps and it's old school motocross so yeah fair play to him on the 490. So just tell us how much respect you've got for these guys who ride the 500 GPs. Like massive respect like huge. You used to watch them back in the day when I was younger do you know what I mean and yeah and actually now riding one they're just phenomenal. I think they're better than a modern day motocross rider. You can hate me as much as you want but honestly you try riding one of these and then you know come and talk to me because they're animals and they rode them for 45 minutes. You know we're doing like 15 maybe 16 minutes out there. From that time though was good? Not too bad yeah. Because of the little rest you had? Maybe but no we did I've done a few alterations setups on the bikes but it's you know I've only done one film on it and it's the second time on it and we've chucked in a deep end and raced it. It's almost time for the third and final race of the day. It feels like it's been a long journey to get to this point. We had a few late nights in the workshop to get this bike built and complete and here we are now at the racetrack bastling for podiums. It's certainly a surreal feeling to see the Wyzilla out there banging bars with all the four strokes but I think both Sean and the bike are doing us proud and if you've been with us for the entire journey I'm sure you too are pretty pumped to see this day finally come. Let's drop these gates for the final time today. Here we go for the final time today. Our buddy Alan Joyce with an awesome jump out the gates. He gets outbraked into the first turn though. Sean Smith a little bit further down the pack. Oh he's getting bumped around the turn too there. Has he survived? Yes he has there he is on two wheels. So how did he make it out of that? This is how he did it. He got a bit of a lump tap from his old buddy Alan Joyce there actually. And somehow Sean Smith has come out of there unscathed and sits inside the top four now. Let's look around the outside. Yes an outside pass on the 137. That's Alan Joyce our friend. A friend of the channel. So somehow after all of that action in turn two and three Sean Smith finds himself in third position on track. It's just getting more and more comfortable on board the big Wyzilla. As the track beds in there's a few more berms and ruts. He's laid down the power so much easier now than he was able to this morning. So a lonely ride for Sean Smith but he knows he can take it easy in this moto. He's got an overall podium in the bag for sure and he's gunning for that second place overall as well. But once again Sean's got Seth Manners and Phil Dyson. The two Evo class riders that have been causing him problems all day long. They're all over his rear wheel once again. Seth Manners makes the pass on the RM125. He's flying today. But remember he is much younger than Sean Smith and in a separate class. So nothing for Sean to worry about there really. The last lap flag is out and once again Sean is fighting for pride in this one. He's got second overall on a lock. He's trying his hardest to keep Phil Dyson on the 1988 YZ490 at bay. Keep him behind him and prove that he is the greatest big four two stroke rider here today. The handful of corners left to go. It is tight. Dyson is desperately trying to make that move. The Guizilla and Sean Smith staying strong so far. With just three corners left to go. Three turns left in the race. Three turns left today. Can Sean Smith hang on to it? Can he ride the Guizilla to a podium spot in its maiden voyage? So there's one turn left to go in the race. Here comes Phil Dyson up the inside. Can Sean Smith protect it? Yes he can. On the gas on board the Guizilla and across the line. An awesome battle at the end there. And an awesome showing for Sean Smith and the Guizilla 500. Grabbing second place overall in its very first attempt. So a podium position for Sean Smith and the Guizilla. But the story certainly isn't over yet. You know that we'll be hitting the racetrack with the Guizilla again very, very soon. Right, race three done and dusted. Just talk us through that last race. Yes, I felt a lot better on the bike. I think the more you ride it, you know, the more comfortable you get with it. Yeah, I couldn't fault it really. I felt quite at home. So in that last race you had a bit of hustle and bustle in the first couple of turns. You were lucky to get out of that. I got bumped about a little bit to be fair. Some people had it in for me I reckon. What, Alan? Maybe. I don't know. I got bumped about. You know, I did. I was a bit like a pinball. Yeah, but you came out in third pretty much. Yeah, I managed to hold it up. And then that pesky YZ490. It was on you at the end. It goes well. I could hear him because he like that thing. It chatters, doesn't it? It chatters and it kinks. Yeah, so. But yeah, no, fair play to him on that 490. He rides it well. But you held him off. Yeah. Crossed the line. Yeah. Second overall on the day. Yeah. Mega job. Yeah, good job. So I just want to say a massive thanks to Sean for being the guinea pig, being the test pilot, taking the YZ for its first race. And also we need to say a big thank you to 24MX and our other channel sponsors for helping us build bikes like this and go racing. So big thanks to those guys. My name is Max. That's Sean. Till next time. We'll see you at the track. Also a big shout out has to go to Riley and the BRC racing crew. They've built an absolute beast. A weapon. We've had a full day's racing here. Hasn't put a foot wrong all day. Can't wait to do some more later this season. Yeah.