Seely Sixth at St. Louis Supercross

During round 13 of the AMA Supercross series, Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely rebounded from his worst result of the season last weekend, securing a solid sixth-place finish aboard his CFR450R. Seely was pushed wide in the first turn and was shuffled back in the pack, but he swiftly went to work, making his way from 12^th on the opening lap to fifth on lap 8. The Californian relinquished two positions toward the end of the race but managed to capitalize on another rider’s mistake to regain sixth by the checkered flag.

NOTES

• Big St. Charles Motorsports hosts one of the largest pre-race supercross parties of the season, with hundreds of fans waiting in line to meet their favorite racers. Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely and GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig, as well as brothers Adam and Tyler Enticknap, were on hand to sign autographs and take pictures with these loyal fans before Saturday’s race. “It’s always cool to go to a Friday autograph sessions and see so many people,” Seely said. “They could be doing anything else with their time but they choose to come and meet us, which is really special. We also get to spend more time with fans at the signings than race day since we’re not rushing off to practice.”
• During daytime qualifying practice, Seely was 10^th fastest with a 51.359” time that was secured in the second session.
• Slotted in heat 1, Seely got a good jump out of the gate, coming around the first turn in fifth. Unfortunately, he tucked the front end later in the opening lap, going down and remounting at the back of the pack. He managed to work his way up to eighth and was sent to the semi.
• Seely got a fourth-place start in semi 1, quickly moving into second and setting his sights on the leader. After a game of cat and mouse throughout the entire six-lap race, he made an exciting pass for the lead with one turn remaining. Seely was the fastest rider on the track, logging a 50.946” time, which was also his best of the day.
• Team Honda HRC will head to the Pacific Northwest this Saturday, April 8, for round 14 of the AMA Supercross series in Seattle. On Friday evening, riders will visit Hinshaw’s Motorcycle Store in Auburn, Washington, for an autograph session. 

THE FOCUS: 13 and Counting

Unlike many other sports, there is little downtime for riders who compete at the highest level in AMA Supercross and Motocross. In fact, the St. Louis race marked the 13^th consecutive weekend that Cole Seely and the other riders have competed, as there have been no breaks in the schedule thus far. This is a challenge not only physically, but also mentally. Between the travel days, training days and attempted recovery days, it’s imperative that these athletes do what they can to find a balance in their programs.

“It’s really tough to go this many races straight,” Seely said. “It’s hard to find the right balance. If I don’t do enough during the week I almost feel guilty but then like this week I did way more than I had been doing and felt kind of tired when I got to the race. It’s definitely a balance between physical and mental. I think you really need to take it easy and trust that your base is there to keep you going each weekend. I wanted to have a hard week and kind of put myself through the wringer, but I felt it for sure when the weekend came. I’ll have to back it down before next weekend again.”

Luckily, following round 14, Seely and the entire Team Honda HRC crew will get a much-needed weekend off.

Press contact:

Mandie Fonteyn // Jonnum Media // mandie@jonnummedia.com // +1 (951) 537-0454