Ohnicio Kalb's BLOG

Al Lamb's Dallas Honda  --- The second of three stops to Anaheim Angel Stadium took place on Saturday. The AMA Supercross Monster Energy races that night was a great crowd puller with close to 41,000 raving fans edging the riders on their way to glory. It was a rollercoaster battle for Team Honda as the star riders championed for greater heights in their path towards #WhosNext. Star riders of Team Honda Cole Seely and Trey Canard pitched a few hairy bump ups with other riders. Lap 7 saw Trey Canard challenged by Chad Reed as they battled for fourth place. Misjudgment by Canard resulted in him bumping in to the back of Reed’s bike making both loose precious time on track. Instant retaliation came from Reed who rammed Trey Canard off track and to the ground, a move that cost the competition for Reed as he was disqualified and black flagged.

Certain downhills for Team Honda on this night were greatly salvaged when Seely completed his ride notching up his best finish for the year so far. Seely who opened the season on a jumpy ride struggling to establish in premier division went on to show his true potential in Californian style that night. Despite a perilous encounter with another rider Seely managed to sail through the track crossing the checkered flag at position six. It was not such a rosy night for Canard who had to battle his own challenges through the ride. Yet he managed to secure the 11th place for Team Honda following the debacle with Reed in the main event. Eli Tomac GEICO Honda star rider continued the momentum of winning from last week consolidating his position with a third place winning at the second of three Anaheim.

Ride Highlights

• The scheduled autograph signing session by Cole Seely and Trey Canard took place on the eve of the race night at Huntington Beach Honda, the local Powerhouse Dealer. March Samulewicz, general manager of Huntington told media that it was the ninth year they had hosted Team Honda for a session. “The first we hosted was in 2006. We had factory racers Ernesto Fonseca, Jeremy McGarth, DaviMillsaps, Travis Preston and Andrew Short for that session. Since it has been a great road and we really appreciate all support we receive from Team Honda and riders with each year’ he added.

• The technical track for Anaheim 2 was comparatively long making lap times higher from the first 2 rounds. Seely positioned at 11th place scored a lap time of 1:03:790 at daytime qualifying with Canard recording 1:02:580 and a third best with only fractions of tenths off first rider’s timing.

• Both star riders were placed for the second heat race. Seely and Canard both had a sluggish start though hard-work on the part of Seely earned him a runner-up closing. Canard who was dogged by another rider concluded the heat at ninth position compelling him to advance through second semi race, which went very smoothly for him with leads in every lap.

• The lap times recorded by Canard during main event indicate he has performed faster than shown by his result. With a best lap time of 1:02:656 he has fourth best timing of all riders and only 0.7 seconds after Tomac who recorded a best of 1:01:987.

• Honda factory riders, Tomac and Canard were among the few riders who accomplished a section of jumps on Saturday night on the technical track.

• Canard displayed powerful performance during early going of the ride. Ending at 13th position on lap one the Oklahoman rider sped up the ladder reaching eight position on lap two end. Lap six saw him sailing up to fourth place where unfortunately he clashed with Chad Reed and moved down to 15th place at the closing of lap eight. With the pack fairly spread out Canard salvaged his standing at 11th place on the checkered flag.

• Misfortune in the main event caused Canard to loose vital points in overall standings. He dropped from fourth place to fifth with a 43 point follow after Tomac. He is also 29 points behind the night’s winner Ken Roczen. Seely meanwhile consolidated his position at 11th place with 29.

• Team Honda will next appear at Oakland O.Co Coliseum after a short break of a week. Team Honda riders Canard and Seely is expected to lineup for action on January 24th following a press day appearance on the Thursday before race day. Tune in for pre-race interviews with Bay Area Media by the two star riders of Team Honda.

450SX Results

1. Ken Roczen
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Eli Tomac (GEICO Honda)
4. Justin Barcia
5. Broc Tickle
6. Cole Seely (Team Honda)
7. Jason Anderson
8. Dean Wilson
9. DaviMillsaps
10. Blake Baggett
11. Trey Canard (Team Honda)
12. Brett Metcalfe
13. Kyle Chisholm
14. Nicholas Wey
15. Ben Lamay
16. Jimmy Albertson
17. Jacob Weimer
18. Cade Clason
19. Mike Alessi
20. Josh Grant
21. Andrew Short
22. Chad Reed

450SX Championship Points (after 3 of 17 rounds)

1. Ken Roczen 72

2.Ryan Dungey 60

3.Jason Anderson 51

4.Eli Tomac 46

5.Trey Canard 43

6.Justin Barcia 43

7.Broc Tickle 38

8.Weston Peick 32

9.Andrew Short 31

10.DaviMillsaps 30

11.Cole Seely 29

12.Blake Baggett 28

13.Jacob Weimer 26

14.Dean Wilson 23

15.Chad Reed 22

16.Brett Metcalfe 18

17.Mike Alessi 17

18.Justin Brayton 14

19.Kyle Chisholm 8