Top-Five Result for Seely at Budds Creek National, Craig

The penultimate round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship took place at Maryland’s Budds Creek Raceway, where Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely put in a pair of respectable rides to notch fifth overall with 4-8 scores, while Christian Craig finished ninth via 10-9 marks.

When the gate dropped for moto one, Seely propelled his CRF450R to a fourth-place start. The Californian was riding aggressively, making the pass into third by lap two. While applying pressure on the frontrunners, Seely made a mistake and tipped over in a downhill off-camber turn. He quickly got underway before losing any positions but was unable to regain ground on the leaders. He maintained third until just after the halfway point, when he made another mistake, relinquishing one spot to finish fourth. Craig got a good jump out of the gate but came together with another rider’s back wheel, causing him to fall outside the top 15. Craig charged through the remainder of the 30-minute-plus-two-lap race, climbing to 10^th by the checkered flag. In moto two, Seely rounded the first turn in seventh, while Craig was just outside the top 10. On the second lap, Seely moved into sixth and began applying pressure on the rider in front of him. He was unable to make the pass and ultimately relinquished two positions before the end to finish eighth. With two laps remaining, Craig made a final pass into ninth, which is where he finished.

NOTES

• In the morning’s timed qualifying practice, Christian Craig led the charge for Team Honda HRC, posting the fourth-fastest time of 2’08.020”. Cole Seely was sixth with a 2’09.003” lap.
• With torrential downpours throughout Friday evening, many riders anticipated extremely muddy track conditions on race day. Surprisingly, that was not the case, as the track ended up dry and hard-packed. “For what the track could’ve been with the crazy storm and tons of rain that came down the night before, it was actually a very raceable track,” Seely said. “I would much rather have it flat and kind of wide-open versus a slop-fest all day.”
• It was a decent day for the GEICO Honda squad, as all three riders overcame mistakes to finish among the top 10 250cc riders. Following his impressive win last weekend in New York, Jeremy Martin was looking for similar results at Budds Creek. Unfortunately, a crash in the day’s second moto caused him to lose multiple spots, resulting in fourth overall on the day with 2-6 marks. Teammate RJ Hampshire posted 3-7 finishes for sixth overall. Chase Sexton was the hard charger of the day, overcoming a crash in moto one and hitting the starting gate in moto two to still finish ninth in both races for eighth overall.
• Next weekend, Team Honda HRC heads to Indiana’s Ironman MX for the final round of the 2017 AMA Pro Motocross series. Including AMA Supercross, it will be the team’s 29^th race of the year. “It’s a long season for sure,” Seely said. “We’ve been going nonstop since the beginning of January, with only five weekends off. I’m looking forward to a little vacation in Mexico with my girlfriend immediately after Indiana, which we booked before I got asked to do Motocross of Nations. Other than that though, I won’t really have any time off because I’ll continue training for that race, then there’s Monster Energy Cup in October and I’m doing Bercy in November.” ­

THE FOCUS: A Day With Roczen

 For the fourth time since his injury at the Anaheim 2 Supercross, Team Honda HRC rider Ken Roczen joined his crew at the Budds Creek National to support teammate Cole Seely and fill-in rider Christian Craig. It was a busy day for Roczen, as he fulfilled multiple obligations during the day. He started his morning with a taped TV interview with Georgia Albertson, which aired on NBC Sports during moto two. After signing autographs alongside his fellow Red Riders, Roczen joined Jason Weigandt and Grant Langston in the TV broadcast booth, commentating on the first moto for MAVTV.

“Although I don’t like watching the races because I know I should be out there winning, I enjoy coming and hanging out with my team and seeing all the fans,” Roczen said. “It’s cool to see everyone so excited and hear all the well-wishes. Today was better than normal when not racing because I was in the TV booth. I actually enjoy commentating on the race with Jason and Grant. It’s a lot of fun and I can give my perspective as a rider.”

Despite the fact that he wasn’t on a bike, the day wasn’t a walk in the park for Roczen. “I honestly feel more tired after running around today than I do after riding both motos!” he laughed.

Media contact:

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