For Team Honda HRC, the 2015 Supercross season came to an exciting close at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium, as Cole Seely rode to a strong fourth-place finish on the same night that he was named 450SX Rookie of the Year. Over the course of his first full series in the premier division, Seely earned no fewer than ten top-five finishes, including five podiums and his first 450 victory, putting him third in the final points standings.
In the final main event of the year, Seely got a poor start but began methodically moving his way though the pack. By the completion of the 20-lap race, he had advanced to fourth.
GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac also finished the season off on a strong note, securing the runner-up position in the race and the championship standings. It looked as if the Coloradoan would be able to contest for the win, but a mistake a few laps in caused him to fall off the pace of eventual winner Ryan Dungey. Over the course of the 17-race series, Tomac won three main events and finished on the podium on eight additional occasions.
NOTES
THE FOCUS: Series in Review
As the traditional AMA Supercross series finale, the Las Vegas round is always a good opportunity to assess a team’s performance, and for Honda and HRC, the 2015 season was a positive one. As is always the case, the hope had been to earn the championship, and while that wasn’t ultimately possible, CRF450R riders Eli Tomac and Cole Seely did take the second and third positions, respectively in the final standings. In addition, Trey Canard was in title contention for much of the series before breaking his arm in Detroit, and despite missing the last six races, he ended the series sixth in points. For Honda, it was a marked improvement over last year’s performance, which saw factory CRF riders finish fifth, 13th and 18th in the standings (Tomac and Canard missed much of the ’14 series with injuries).
The story was similar in terms of race-by-race results. In 2015, Honda riders earned a total of six wins and an additional 17 podium finishes, compared to zero and six, respectively, in 2014. Also impressive was the balanced performance by the Red Riders, with wins going to all three (three for Tomac, two for Canard and one for Seely). Perhaps even more representative of the Honda riders’ consistency was the fact that at least one of them finished on the podium in every one of the 17 main events, something that no other manufacturer managed. In fact, on six occasions, two of the three podium finishers were Honda-mounted; no other manufacturer achieved that feat even once. The icing on the cake was Seely’s earning Rookie of the Year honors in the premier class.
QUOTES
Cole Seely
“I had a pretty good heat race and got second. In the main, I got off to a pretty bad start and had to really work hard to get around some guys. I eventually moved into fourth and had a battle with [Chad] Reed. It was a super hard track tonight—tough to find a rhythm—and I lost some wind. The whoops were like hitting a row of curbs, and it was hard to say on top of them and keep speed up. Getting Rookie of the Year and being handed the third-place medal was a pretty big deal to me. It’s a huge honor because there are some fast guys who came up this year; it was a very talented rookie class.”
Keisuke Inomoto: Representative Director – Team Honda HRC Motocross
“This was the last Supercross race for the season and even though we couldn’t win tonight, our riders rode very well this year and we finished second, third and sixth in the championship—a big improvement from last year! The riders and the team worked well together and we were able to finish on the podium in all the races. This showed our potential for the upcoming outdoor series and for next year’s Supercross series!”
Dan Betley: Team Manager
“Cole had third place in the series wrapped up, so we decided to experiment with his bike a little bit. I think we went a little too far in one direction, so by the time the heat came around, we returned to the basic setup. It was one of the more technical tracks that we’ve had. By the time we got to the main event, the whoops were pretty treacherous, and Cole struggled a bit there, but I couldn’t be happier with him and the team. Cole rose above the expectations that I had for his rookie season, finished third overall and got Rookie of the Year, which is awesome. All in all, it was a solid night. I’m happy to say I think Eli figured out his starts. He had solid starts in the main event and rode well. Unfortunately, he ended up pushing the front in a corner and went down, but he was fighting for the win.”
Rich Simmons: Mechanic (Cole Seely)
“The track was actually better for traction then in years past, but we still stuck with hard-pack tires. We tried a few other changes but ended up back at our normal settings, as Cole was more comfortable with them. I think the series was a huge success for Cole. His consistency down the stretch was what I was most happy about. If we take the same approach to motocross, I expect to see that same progression throughout that series as well.”
450SX Results
450SX Championship Final Points (after 17 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey 390
2. Eli Tomac 305
3. Cole Seely 277
4.Chad Reed 226
5.Blake Baggett 223
6. Trey Canard 204
7. Jason Anderson 200
8. Broc Tickle 194
9. Andrew Short 180
10. Weston Peick 160
11. Joshua Grant 159
12. Ken Roczen 156
13. David Millsaps 147
14. Kyle Chisholm 115
15. Justin Barcia 102
16. Nicholas Wey 94
17. Jacob Weimer 74
18. Justin Brayton 66
19. Phillip Nicoletti 66
20. Ben Lamay 53
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