Team Honda/HRC’s Cole Seely talks about his career-best 450cc Supercross finish during round five of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series.
Cole Seely had a lot to smile about after the third Anaheim round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series last Saturday night.
Team Honda/HRC’s premier-class rookie rode to a runner-up finish, carding the best 450cc supercross result of his career thus far. The track’s unique elevated start was no problem for the Californian, who launched off the line near the front of the pack and was in second place before the third lap. Seely then rode like a veteran, fending of attacks from two-time 2015 Anaheim winner Ken Roczen and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac. Roczen would end up falling victim to the charging Tomac, who passed the Suzuki rider for third place one lap before the finish to give Honda two of the three spots on the Anaheim III podium.
With 84 points each, Canard and Tomac left Anaheim III tied for third in the championship chase. Seely still sits in seventh but has closed the gap on sixth to a mere four points. Seely was thrilled to have a breakout round at Anaheim III, but he feels it has been coming all along.
“The past three weekends, I feel like I’ve gotten my aggression back and worked out the bugs from those first rounds, but I needed the start,” Seely said. “I got a horrible start in my heat race, but the main was better. The elevated start made things interesting, and I got off the line good and really charged down that thing. I came out of the first turn third and then passed [Blake] Baggett for second. I tried to look forward the whole time, which was really hard because these guys were putting the pressure on most of the race. I managed to hold them off though, and I’m pumped with second and am looking forward to San Diego.”
Just one week after scoring his first victory 450cc Supercross win since 2011, Canard finished fifth at Anaheim III, giving Honda three of the top five spots in the main event. Canard was a threat for the podium before a crash hampered his progress.
“Fifth place isn’t bad, but it’s always disappointing when you’re in a good position and don’t capitalize on it,” Canard said. “I was good in qualifying and was pumped to finally get a good start; hopefully we can continue doing that and put ourselves in a better position for the rest of the series. I got into a rhythm around halfway and felt a little bit of urgency to pass Cole. Maybe I rode a little too aggressively and went a bit too wide in the sand and washed the front. I buried the clutch lever and had to dig that out, and I never really got going after that. My riding is good, so there’s no big drama; I just need to keep doing work and make progress. I’m happy for Dan [Betley, the team’s manager], the management and Cole; it’s a really cool time to be on this team.”
For his part, Betley said that it was another great night for Honda.
“I’m really happy with the team’s performance—three guys in the top five again, and two Hondas on the podium,” Betley said. “Other than missing being on the top step, I couldn’t be happier. We’ve been working hard on starts, and I was really happy to see all our guys get away right near the front—especially Trey, as he’s been struggling the most. Cole’s been riding great this year, so I knew it was coming. He just had to believe in himself a little bit and get used to racing against these guys. He’s a great rider, and I’m happy for him. He’s just going to keep getting stronger.”
As an interesting post-script to the Anaheim III, Honda race mechanics Rich Simmons and Brian Kranz, who tune for Seely and Tomac respectively, were asked by AMA officials to pull the heads on their bikes’ engines so that internal measurements could be checked; the same request was made of winner Ryan Dungey’s Red Bull KTM team. Simmons said that the top three finishers are always asked to go to impound after every round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series.
“Sometimes officials will select another two guys as well,” Simmons said. “Sometimes the teams won’t be asked to do anything; other times they might check the sound level or maybe weigh the bike to make sure it’s over the minimum. In this case, they wanted to take a look at bore and stroke. They just want to make sure everyone’s playing by the rules.”
Under the watchful eye of the AMA officials, Simmons and Kranz brought their bikes to the Honda rig, pulled the heads and dropped the pistons to bottom dead center so that the bore and stroke measurements could be verified. Both machines were found to be completely in accordance with the rules.
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