Trey Canard goes to Japan and leaves with the hardware at the final round of the All-Japan MX National Championship.
Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard made a cameo appearance at the final round of the All Japan MX National Championship this weekend, and he made it count by scoring the overall win in the premier IA1 class at Sportsland Sugo in Sendai, Japan, Sunday.
The Oklahoman faced a tough battle, as fellow American Cooper Webb was keen to defend his event win from 2014, and Webb got off to a good start by fending off Canard and newly crowned FIM MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre of France for the first-moto win. When the gate dropped for Moto 2, Canard took the early lead aboard his factory CRF450R, and he held off repeated challenges by Febvre—often with less than a second separating the two—to earn the moto and overall wins. Webb was not able to match his first-moto pace and dropped to third, thus handing Canard the overall win by virtue of his 2-1 scores.
“This trip to Japan has been a great experience, and I’m really happy with how the race went,” Canard said. “Taking home the win is huge not only for myself, but for the entire HRC crew who put in a tremendous amount of work to make this happen. My bike was working great, and I felt like I was riding well. Holding off Romain Febvre in the second moto was a challenge, but it was a fight to the end and I won.”
The race capped a busy week for Canard and his Team Honda HRC crew, as they made stops at a number of Honda facilities before traveling by bullet train from Tochigi to Sendai. Their tour included a visit to the Honda Proving Center and then to the Twin Ring Motegi road circuit to visit the Honda Collection Hall, a transport museum that houses a collection of famous Honda race bikes. Following the race, Team Honda HRC concluded its Japanese trek with a celebratory dinner with Honda Racing Corporation Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto.
“I’ve been a Honda rider for a long time, so it was also great to be able to visit different Honda facilities, see so much history, and meet the people that make my dream possible,” Canard said
Team Honda HRC Manager Dan Betley said that he was pleased with how well the trip went for Canard and the team.
“Trey was riding fast throughout the whole event, finishing second in qualifying and the first moto, and then battling out front during the entire second moto before taking the win,” Betley said. “I really like what I see in terms of the progression and want to keep this momentum going through the off-season and into Anaheim 1.”
2015 All-Japan MX National Championship
Sportsland Sugo
Sendai, Japan
Results: October 25, 2015 (Round 10 of 10)
IA 1 Moto 1
1. Cooper Webb
2. Trey Canard
3. Romain Febvre
4. Akira Narita
5. Ogata Makoto
6. Kojima Yohei
7. Atsuta Yoshitaka
8. Fukaya Koichi
9. Hiroaki Arai
10. Yosuhara Zhi
IA1 Moto 2
1. Trey Canard
2. Romain Febvre
3. Cooper Webb
4. Akira Narita
5. Ogata Makoto
6. Atsuta Yoshitaka
7. Hiroaki Arai
8. Fukaya Koichi
9. Mihara Takuya
10. Yasuhara Zhi
IA1 Overall
1. Trey Canard/2-1
2. Cooper Webb/1-3
3. Romain Febvre/3-2
4. Ryo Narita/4-4
5. Ogata Makoto/5-5
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