Al Lamb’s
Dallas Honda -- Race day excitement was on overdrive at the round 8 AMA
Supercross series. The night which was the first of two back-to-back stops of
the Monster Rally series at Atlanta Georgia Dome was a race of terrific
accomplishments for Team Honda
HRC. Trey Canard progressed up in point’s standings consolidating his
position in touted second place. A power ride rounded off by a spectacular
podium finish saw to this achievement by Canard. Among other Team Honda members
Cole Seely had a more satisfying race day rebounding after a hiccupping
previous race. He progressed to a stronger fourth place one slot behind his
teammate.
It was a showcase performance by Trey Canard riding a
factory Honda
CRF450R. Having won the heat race he passed the checkered flag on a third
place finish during final race. He fell short of the two riders in front as a
result of a poor pickup costing him precious race time. Yet overall it was a
formidable performance by Canard who executed an impressive ride by advancing
to top pick of ten from nowhere and cruising towards the checkered flag as
third fastest rider of the race. Seely who gained qualification in the semi
race was dogging four other riders in the first of twenty laps in main race.
Superb persistence saw him steadily advancing through the pack to cross at
fourth place.
Highlights
·
The autograph signing session of Team Honda HRC
riders represented by Cole Seely and Trey Canard was held on the eve before
race. The racing duo was joined by Eli Tomac, Jordan Smith, Justin Bogle,
Malcolm Stewart and R J Hampshire holding up the GEICO Honda end.
·
Team Honda HRC hosted Keisuke Inomoto, HRC
Motocross Representative Director for the HRC Motocross on race night at
Atlanta. Inomoto is expected to participate in a round of post-race meetings at
California Headquarters of Honda before returning to Japan en-route to Losail,
Qatar where he will then join Team HRC for the MXGP opening round on February
27th.
·
Canard qualified on pole for the second time in
Supercross series during timed practices. The second qualifying time was 48.380
on second lap. Coming a close second was Tomac with a 48.628 and Seely placed
at seventh place at 49.383. The fastest
man at the main event was again Canard with a terrific racing time of 48.811.
This timing was on a track that had seen lowest timings for this season so far.
·
Atlanta Supercross track has a signature soil of
red dirt, a fact that is remarked by most riders and mechanics who race in this
track. Canard’s mechanic Brent Presnell is said to have remarked that Atlanta
is rather weird because riders are hard put to predict what kind of Georgian
clay they will have to race on. ‘Tonight it has been really slippery and hard.
However, there was also some moisture. So it is definitely not the old school
famous Georgian clay that we are used to seeing here’ he said.
·
Canard and Seely were also among the four riders
who accomplished a spectacular quad jump following a section of whoops. An
enthusiastic Seely commented on the jump saying ‘ I didn’t execute the jump in
main event. Because during the night the line never formed and it was pretty
tricky. However, during practice I and Trey managed it but we didn’t know that
others had done it’.
·
Canard is in consistent form which he topped off
with a finely executed podium finish in Atlanta. For Ken Roczen the night was
not that favorable as he fell on second place in championship chase. He is now
second to Ryan Dungey in the lineup with a fall of 25 points. Tomac with 115
points is now at fourth place while Seely remains in sixth position at 111
points. Interestingly there is only a five point gap between the fourth and
seventh places in point standings.
·
The second and final stop in Georgia Dome
Atlanta will take place following weekend where the Honda Red Riders will
continue their quest for championship.
Fast Freddy gears
up for Motocross
Fredrik Noren nicknamed as ‘Fast Freddy’ has been on a
terrific roll for the past eight months. Following a twister performance as
substitute rider for Factory Honda Team at the end session of AMA Motocross
2014 season, the speedy Swedish born rider was elected to the squad as official
test and fill-in rider this year. The first six rounds of AMA Supercross
campaigning for Noren were in 450SX class representing Crossland Honda and
MotoSport.com. The time is now right for Fast Freddy to begin outdoor testing
says Dan Betley, Team Honda HRC Manager. ‘Freddy wanted to first ride in
Supercross and we thought it best for him to get his feet wet as he had not
really ridden Supercross. It was a learning experience for all concerned as we
wanted to see how he would perform on a 450. Most importantly we didn’t want
him getting hurt as we have planned for him to move forward and prepare for
outdoors’ Betley said. At present Noren is riding a test bike and expected to
undertake endurance testing on engine parts. Betley informs that the plan is to
move him into chassis testing when he is more acclimatized to motocross with
the right speed. Noren will join the foray again towards the latter part of this
year when he returns to race at Hangtown AMA Motocross.
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