Round 11 of the AMA Supercross series at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium saw Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely produce another fifth-place finish aboard his CRF450R. At the start of the main event, Seely was slow out of the gate, rounding the first turn in the top 10. By the time Seely had made the pass into fifth on lap seven, the gap between the lead group of riders was too great for him to catch. Despite putting together solid laps, the remaining 15-minutes of the race, the Californian was unable to make up ground on fourth place, forcing him to take the checkered in fifth.

NOTES

  • The evening before the race, Westfield Powersports hosted Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely and Andrew Short, along with GEICO Honda rider, Christian Craig, for a Supercross party at the dealership in Westfield, IN. Fans had the opportunity to get autographs, hang out with their favorite racers and win raffle prizes before all the action on Saturday.
  • On race day, Team Honda HRC helped support the Road 2 Recovery Foundation by providing the Indianapolis auction winner and his family an inside look at the team’s tech truck, along with a signed set of Cole Seely’s Troy Lee Designs gear.
  • With a mindset more focused towards the evening program, laying down single fast laps during qualifying can be a struggle for Seely. During the daytime practice sessions, Seely was 12th fastest with a 57.149, which was secured in the second session.
  • The competition was tough in 450SX heat 1 but Seely put himself in a good position right off the start, launching out of the gate into fourth. He continued to charge forward, passing rival Jason Anderson on lap two to take over second. He maintained that position to the checkered flag, transferring himself directly into the main event.
  • The same weekend that Seely was competing in the Indianapolis Supercross, fellow HRC racers Tim Gajser and Evgeny Bobryshev were competing in the Argentina round of the MXGP series over 5,700 miles away in Patagonia. Gajser put together two dominant performances, finishing 1-1 on the day to take his first overall win of the year. Bobryshev also secured his first podium finish of the season with solid 5-2 marks.
  • On Saturday, April 25, Team Honda HRC will be in Detroit, Michigan for round 12 for the AMA Supercross series.

THE FOCUS: Honda Racing Worlds Collide with Seely and Rossi

On Friday morning, Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely got the special opportunity to spin some laps in Honda Performance Development’s simulator in Brownsburg, Indiana, alongside HPD backed IndyCar driver and reigning Indy 500 Champion, Alexander Rossi. During the promotional activity, Rossi took to the simulator first to show Seely around the Mid-Ohio course and get a baseline for lap times. With a few last minute pointers, Seely jumped in and took the wheel, which also happened to be the exact wheel from Rossi’s official racecar. After his initial warm up laps, Seely impressed everyone by quickly adapting and continuing to drop his times after each lap.

“You definitely can tell he races,” Rossi said while watching Seely drive. “I mean, it’s a completely different thing, but he understands the concepts and fundamentals that people who aren’t involved in any form of racing are lacking.”

For the final session, the HPD engineers uploaded the Long Beach street circuit since Seely has attended the race previously and wanted to give it a shot. Once again, he impressed everyone by dropping his times only a few seconds off of Rossi’s.

“It was super fun. I’ve never been in anything like that,” said Seely. “I’ve played video games like ‘Forza’ and ‘Gran Turismo,’ but they only tell you how the track goes. The simulator is nothing like a video game. It’s crazy how much you can drive it into a corner and feel the acceleration. I could have stayed in that thing all day.”

Seely continued by saying what a benefit it was to have Rossi go first. “Seeing Rossi run first really helped me to see where he (braked), what gear he was in, how he accelerates. If he hadn’t done that, it would have taken me three times as long to adapt.”

Photo Credit: IndyCar

Press contact:

Mandie Fonteyn // Dispatch Communications // mandie@dispatchco.com // +1 (951) 537-0454

AMA Supercross 2017
Race Round 11   Indianapolis

450SX Main Event Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Tomac Eli 3 USA Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
2 Musquin Marvin 25 FRA Red Bull KTM KTM
3 Dungey Ryan 5 USA Red Bull KTM KTM
4 Baggett Blake 4 USA Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
6 Millsaps David 18 USA Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
7 Reed Chad 22 AUS Mountain Motorsports/CBDmd/CR22 Racing KTM
8 Tickle Broc 20 USA Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
9 Anderson Jason 21 USA Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Husqvarna
10 Barcia Justin 51 USA TLD/Red Bull GasGas GasGas
11 Wilson Dean 15 GBR Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Husqvarna
12 Brayton Justin 10 USA Muc-Off Honda Honda
13 Grant Joshua 33 USA Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
14 Canard Trey 41 USA Red Bull KTM KTM
15 Bogle Justin 19 USA Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
16 Weimer Jacob 12 USA RCH Soaring Eagle Jimmy Johns Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
17 Friese Vince 62 USA SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda Honda
18 Stewart Malcolm 27 USA Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha Yamaha
19 Alessi Mike 800 USA Smartop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda Honda
20 Chisholm Kyle 11 USA Chisholm Racing Kawasaki
21 Schmidt Nicholas USA TPJ/Fly Racing Suzuki
22 Enticknap Adam 722 USA Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki Suzuki
Location Information

Lucas Oil Stadium, South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, United States - View in Google Maps