Noren Matches Career-Best Result at Spring Creek National

Round eight of the AMA Pro Motocross series at Millville, Minnesota’s Spring Creek MX Park was marked by ups and downs for Team Honda HRC. Fredrik Noren put in another impressive performance aboard his factory CRF450R, scoring a career-best moto finish of fifth en route to a solid seventh on the day. This matches the Swede’s career-best overall finish, the previous result having been logged during the most recent round, at the Red Bud National. After missing the past two races due to injury, Cole Seely was slated to make his return, but a crash during the second practice session left the 450 class rookie sidelined once again.

NOTES

• Muddy conditions in the first session of timed qualifying practice played in favor of Fredrik Noren, who came away with the second-fastest lap time. As the track dried out during the second session, speeds picked up considerably, and Noren’s 2:30.2 landed him 13^th. Cole Seely was 10^th overall with a 2:28.4 time that was logged prior to his crash.
• During the day’s final race, Noren laid down the fifth-fastest lap time with a 2:16.6, which was over a second faster than his quickest time in moto one. “Freddie has the skills and potential to continue to improve,” said Team HRC manager Dan Betley. “He’s like a sponge right now and just needs to know what to do and how to do it, so we’re trying to help him with that. I feel like with some off-season time to hone his Supercross skills, he could continue to just get better and better.”
• Spring Creek MX Park offers a wider variety of terrain than any other track in the series, but it’s best known for the infamous sand whoops that line the back two sweeping straightaways, and which require a bit of finesse to negotiate. “The sand whoops are a challenge,” Noren said. “The first set is way more difficult than the second because the curve is bigger, so you have to get your rhythm right to flow through them. If you don’t, you’re basically jumping into each one. In the second set you have a lot more momentum coming out of the turn so you can attack them harder.”
• As is the case with most tracks on the circuit, American Honda has enjoyed ample success at the Spring Creek National, dating back to 1983. Red Riders have scored seven wins in the premier class, eight in the 250/125 division and 10 in the now-defunct 500cc class.
• Among the successful Honda riders at the Minnesota track is GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac, who is still out with injury. The Coloradoan scored his career-first motocross 450 victory last year in dominant 1-1 fashion, providing a foreshadowing of the start to his 2015 outdoor season. Tomac also dominated the 250 class at Spring Creek the previous two years, topping the podium in 2012 and ’13.
• Team Honda HRC has a short week before heading to Washougal MX Park in Southern Washington State, where the Red Riders will return to action for round nine on Saturday, July 25. Prior to that, the team will participate in Thursday’s press day, during which they’ll participate in pre-race interviews with the local media.

THE FOCUS: Honda’s New 2016 CRF450R

While some justifiably envy factory racers for the special equipment to which they have access, this is one of those rare times of the year when the public is able to ride new models before the official team riders. Honda’s 2016 CRF450R is beginning to arrive at dealerships, and the motorcycle media has recently been sampling the new machine during press launches in Southern California. The bike has received several updates aimed at improving handling, including a longer fork, a new rear-suspension link and revised damper settings. As usual, however, Team Honda HRC will be finishing out the season with what it knows—the 2015 model.

“We’ll transition to the 2016 CRF450R immediately after the 2015 motocross season concludes in Indiana,” explained team manager Dan Betley. “The bikes have a lot of similarities, so there aren’t any drastic changes that need to be made, but we’ll continue to improve our settings.”

Despite the fact that the 2015 CRF450R finished on the podium at every AMA Supercross round, Betley feels that there are still areas where the bike’s indoor setting can be improved. “We’ll begin focusing on that for the Monster Energy Cup and the 2016 Supercross season,” he said. “I think our motocross setting is coming along and we’re in an okay spot, but we’ll know more when Trey [Canard] is back and can give additional feedback. Testing never stops, no matter what bike you’re riding. We always want to continue to improve and evolve.”