Team Honda fill-in rider Fredrik Noren enjoys a top-10 finish at the RedBud National MX one day before his wedding.
Team Honda HRC’s substitute rider Fredrik Noren carried the torch for his team and married his flame all on the same weekend, scoring a career-best seventh place overall at the Red Bull RedBud National in Buchanan, Michigan, one day before heading to Ohio for his wedding.
With Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely still on the mend after suffering an injury sustained just prior to the Budds Creek, Maryland round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Noren was the only factory Honda rider in action at the RedBud National, and he kicked the weekend off in decent fashion by qualifying 13th fastest, with a lap time of 2 minutes, 4.828 seconds.
Noren got off to a slow start in moto one, but he quickly moved up to 11th place by the end of lap one. Noren held that position for half the moto before he began to pick up positions, moving up to seventh place by the end of the moto, his best moto finish of the seasonr. In moto two, Noren got a better start but finished one spot farther back in the field, coming home in eighth place. Noren’s seventh-place overall finish moved him up two spots in the championship standings. He is now 10th, with 132 points.
“Today was a great day for me because it was my best overall finish ever,” Noren said “It started out a little slow; I struggled a bit during practice, but things got better during the motos. I felt like my riding was really good, with [Broc] Tickle in front of me and [Blake] Baggett behind me, so there weren’t any slow guys I was battling with. We made some small changes to the bike before the second moto, which helped. Today was even more special because I have so many friends and family here from Sweden that were able to experience this with us and to see what Amy and I do every weekend and put all our energy into.”
On July 5, the day after the RedBud National, Noren and girlfriend Amy Schaff were married in Ohio. The two met at the races in 2012 while Schaff was working as a photographer and Noren was campaigning his second season in the U.S. In attendance at the wedding were Team Honda HRC manager Dan Betley, crewmember Jason Thomas and fellow rider Trey Canard, who actually conducted the ceremony.
“I’m super excited to get married to Amy,” Noren said on the day before the nuptials. “I’m not nervous because I’ve been so focused on the race, but I’m sure it’ll come when it’s time to go up there and actually do it. Amy has been really great; she’s done most of the planning so I haven’t really had to think about it and have been able to focus on my racing.”
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