Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Seely matches career-best 450mx finish in tennessee
june 28, 2016 - Honda Racing

Seely matches career-best 450mx finish in tennessee

Jun 27, 2016

Round five of the AMA Pro Motocross championship at #muddycreekraceway in #blountville, Tennessee, saw Team #honda HRC's #coleseely put on an impressive performance en route to fourth overall, equaling his best overall result in the 450MX class.

In #moto one, #seelygrabbed the holeshot aboard his #crf450r but dropped back to fourth a few turns later. The Californian spent the remainder of the opening lap charging forward, retaking the lead and opening up a multi-second gap on the competition. Seely maintained that spot until the halfway point, when he engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse with a pair of challengers. He held tough initially but ultimately fell back to third, which is where he finished, matching his career-best 450MX #moto result. During #moto two, Seely scored a top-five start and quickly moved into fourth. He relinquished one position on lap nine but was still in contention for the final podium spot until giving up one more position with two laps remaining and finishing sixth.

NOTES

  • For the second consecutive week, Trey Canard was sidelined from competition as he recuperates from injuries sustained in a crash suffered while practicing at his home track in Oklahoma. His condition will continue to be evaluated on weekly basis.
  • During the morning's timed qualifying practice period, Cole Seely's 2:00.938 lap time in the first session was sixth-quickest, while GEICO Honda's Justin Bogle was 11th with 2:02.312 in the second session.
  • It was a challenging day for Bogle, who nonetheless overcame multiple mishaps to notch a 10th overall result with 13-10 marks.
  • After his solid showing in Tennessee, Seely sits third in the championship standings with 151 points. "It's great to be third in points, but I'm just taking it race by race," Seely said. "All that really matters is trying to get the best #moto finishes I possibly can each weekend. At this point the title is out of sight, but I want to win motos and I want to win races. I've never been able to have that in my sights, so to be in contention for podiums and wins is obviously an improvement and I want to capitalize on it."
  • Next up for Team #honda #hrc is round six of the AMA Pro Motocross series, which takes place at iconic RedBud MX in Buchanan, Michigan, over Fourth of July weekend. "RedBud is probably my favorite race of the year," Seely said. "They do a great job with the track, and the whole atmosphere is unreal. The fans are crazy and overall it's just an awesome #event."

THE FOCUS: Road Warriors

For most fans, it's the riders that define a race team, but behind the scenes is an entire crew working to make each weekend run smoothly. When the races are over and the rest of the team flies home for the week, it's the truck drivers who stay on the road and ensure that the equipment makes it to the next location. The job entails driving the pair of team transporters to 17 supercross rounds and 12 outdoor events—crossing the country several times and logging tens of thousands of miles—and the drivers are also in charge of cleaning the trucks inside and out, grocery shopping, cooking or arranging catering, ordering needed parts and videotaping practice sessions on race day.

"I've been driving trucks for a long time, but this is only my second season in the #racing industry," said hospitality-truck driver Donnie Keys. "This is so much different than what I did before, but I love it. Many #people think that all we do is drive, but in reality the days we drive are almost like days off because once we reach our destination, there's so much more that needs to be done. The hardest part is being away from my wife and kids for so long, but luckily they can come to some races and there are a few weekends off in the schedule."

QUOTES

Cole Seely
I'm feeling pretty good about today. In #moto one I got the holeshot, fell to fourth and then retook the lead within half a lap. Once I got out front I saw the opportunity to lay down some laps and try to build a lead before Kenny [Roczen] or Eli [Tomac] made their way into second. I was able to maintain my lead for a while but they started catching me at around 20 minutes and made the passes. From there I just tried to ride it home. It definitely took a lot out of me to put down that pace, but I was taking a shot at trying to win a #moto. It was tough to get back and recover in time for #moto two. I tried to give it my all but faded at the end and fell to sixth. It felt so good to lead. My starts have been really good this year, so I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing and hopefully get another opportunity to lead and maybe win a #moto.

Dan Betley: Team Manager
It's unfortunate that we missed the overall podium today, but I'm happy that I see improvements happening. Cole knows what his weaknesses are and he's willing to work on those areas, so results are almost secondary as long as we're continuing to build. He impressed the heck out of me in the first #moto. His times were as good as anyone out there, which shows me he has the speed to run up front with those guys. He also moved into third in the standings, gaining some valuable points on the guys behind him who are going to be fighting for that podium position in the championship. The past two weekends have been good for us learning-wise too; we're always continuing to improve our equipment, and some of the negatives have been highlighted at the last two tracks; now we can work on correcting those issues for the remainder of the season.

Rich Simmons: Mechanic (Cole Seely)
I think it was a good day. Cole showed that he has the speed he needs to run with those front guys, but we just need to keep working on his fitness to carry that speed for longer. I think what we're working for is starting to be seen. He pushed it so hard at the beginning of the first #moto that he just wore himself out and wasn't able to recover enough between races. We just need to get him to last longer into the second #moto; if we could get him to go 20-25 minutes at that pace then he'll be on the podium. We didn't make too many bike changes today except a shock adjustment after the first practice to get the rear up a little bit, and then after the first #moto we made our standard changes to soften the bike up and make it easier to ride.

450MX Results
1) Ken Roczen (1-1)
2) Eli Tomac  (2-2)
3) Broc Tickle (6-3)
4) Cole Seely (3-6)
5) Marvin Musquin (7-4)
6) Christophe Pourcel (4-8)
7) Weston Peick (5-9)
8) Blake Baggett (8-7)
9) Justin Brayton (9-11)
10) Justin Bogle (13-10)

450MX Championship Points (after 5 of 12 rounds)
1) Ken Roczen 243
2) Eli Tomac 196
3) Cole Seely 151
4) Marvin Musquin 136
5)Ryan Dungey 131
6)Jason Anderson 113
7) Broc Tickle 109
8) Justin Barcia 108
9) Christophe Pourcel 107
10) Trey Canard 97

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