Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely feels as if he “closed the gaps” with season-best runner-up finish at San Diego II Supercross.
Team Honda HRC teammates Cole Seely and Trey Canard put in solid performances during the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series 450cc main event at Petco Park in San Diego, according to their team, as Seely posted a season-best second-place finish while Canard came home fifth.
Both riders got off to strong starts, with Seely running second and Canard third for most of the 20-lap main event. Seely demonstrated a pace that seemed to have been missing during the last few weekends since he started off the year with two third-place finishes. Second place marked his best finish yet of 2016, complementing his back-to-back third-place results at the start of the season.
“I’m happy with how everything went tonight, and I’m pumped to have gotten my best finish of the season so far,” Seely said. “I feel like I put in some solid laps; unfortunately, [Ryan] Dungey doesn’t make many mistakes, so I could only gain a little bit on him here or there, but nothing major. I feel like this is where I deserve to be each and every weekend, so I’m glad to be back on the podium. I have to give it up to my team because they’ve been working hard between races to go back and evaluate data to make needed adjustments and perfect the bike even more. We closed the gaps in some areas and the biked was on point tonight, so I was really happy.”
Part of Seely’s return to form can be credited to some changes made to his factory Honda CRF450R, according to his mechanic, Rich Simmons.
“We made some changes to the bike before last weekend’s race and then continued to fine-tune them this week and today,” Simmons said. “Normally he [Seely] just says he’s good with the bike and just rides it, but [in San Diego] we took the initiative to suggest some changes that ended up being very positive. We also went a little more aggressive on the map, which was his call, and I think it helped.”
Canard said that he was happy with his San Diego finish, but “also not happy.”
“It wasn’t a stellar night by any means, but I really needed this to build any momentum that I can,” Canard said. “It’s hard to bring yourself back up after continuing to have setbacks, and I know this wasn’t great, but I feel good about it. I don’t think any racer is truly content until they’re winning. I was feeling really good before the halfway point and was hanging with Cole, trying to pull up on him, but I made a mistake so [Ken] Roczen and [Jason] Anderson got by. [Eli] Tomac was putting a lot of pressure on me the last few laps, but I tried to ride my own race and stay focused on myself until the end and was able to hold him off.”
The Petco Park round marked the third annual Military Appreciation Night, where the industry honors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of the United States armed forces. Team Honda HRC showed full support by adorning the factory Honda CRF450Rs in all-white plastic with custom-designed digital camouflage graphics created by Throttle Jockey. Each bike showcased special details, including emblems for every branch of military on the front fender, as well as grenades next to the rider’s name, representing each of his career 450SX wins.
“It’s great, and in actuality, it’s such a small thing,” Canard said. “I mean, all we’re doing is putting different stickers on our bikes and wearing different gear, which is so minute compared to what the members of the military have done and continue to do for us. This is the least we can do. I hope they feel appreciated because we really just have to say thank you to all of the people who have served and put their lives on the line. I think the bikes looked great. It’s awesome to see every team’s twist on it, but I liked our bikes the best. I think it was great that they tried to incorporate a few different things here and there to make them even more special. It was really cool.”
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