Photo by: Hoppenworld
During the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, HRC-backed Cole Seely shattered expectations and ended the 2015 Supercross season third in the 450SX Championship points with five podium finishes, a win, and a Rookie of the Year plaque to hang in the trophy case. It was a great debut on the 450SX, but as always, big accomplishments equal big expectations. The big question heading into ’16 was could Cole improve on his rookie season as a sophomore.
One big issue holding Cole back on picking up in ’16 right where he left off in’15 was a major shoulder injury during the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Cole’s surgery had him off the bike for six months and delayed his preseason training camp until just a month before Anaheim 1. Even with that setback, though, the California holeshotted A1 and led thirteen laps before falling back to a solid third place start to the season. Cole backed that up with another third place finish in San Diego, but since then, he has gone 6-6 at the last two rounds. Cole’s had a solid start to ’16 and an improvement over his 13-13-6-5 scorecard at the start of 2015.
After Cole’s sixth in Oakland, we tracked him down and Steve Matthes and Dan Lamb interviewed Cole together about his night, his battles with his archrival Jason Anderson in the heat race and the main event, as well as his season as a whole.
SM:Cole, it’s probably not the greatest night for you. You were strong early in the main, but Chad Reed and Jason Anderson got by you. All in all, it was a tough track tonight, so you’ll probably take a sixth?
Yeah, a sixth is still a sixth. In a stacked 450 class, it is what it is. At the same time, I was in fifth and it took me a little bit longer than I wanted to get around [James] Stewart. Once I got into fourth it was such a big gap up to [Marvin] Musquin. I was trying to focus forward, but I was fighting myself, the bike, the track; I was fighting a lot of things. I went as hard as I could, for as long as I could and those guys [Jason Anderson and Chad Reed] were applying the pressure. I tried not to let it get to me, and once Anderson threw a wheel in on me, I really didn’t have any more after that. I had to just kind of lay down and take it. It sucked. We’re going to go back, study the footage and see what we can make of it. I think it’s going to rain in SoCal this week, but I think we have a pretty good, experienced team behind me to figure out what we need to do and some settings to try going into Phoenix. I think we know what’s in front of us and what we need to push for.
SM:The track looked challenging tonight. Along with a lot of obstacles because of the way the track got beat down, it was soft. We saw some sketchy moments from yourself and everybody tonight—maybe except for Dunge [Ryan Dungey]. Gnarly track, though?
Yeah, really, really gnarly track. It was actually kind of weird because it was one of the most simple tracks rhythms-wise. The whoops were small, but it was so tacky. It would just grab the rear wheel in some spots and pull you one way. It was tough, but it is what it is. Like I said, we know what we have in front of us and what we have to push for.
SM:A positive for you tonight was probably your heat race, right? You had a nice ride in that one. [Cole transferred to main right out of heat race.]
Yeah, pretty good race between me and Jason. Of course, it had to be between me and Jason. (laughs) We have a history of bar banging and usually I’m the one drawing the short straw, so it was nice to fight back there a little bit. No blood in the water or anything, just racing. I had no idea that it was the last lap. I thought the next lap was the last lap. I went over the finish line and was ready to defend for that position. Then, I saw Stewart and [Ken] Roczen rolling around and thought, “Oh, sweet.”
DL:When I saw the way the track was rutting up earlier, I predicted a really good night for you tonight. This type of circuit is normally right in your wheel house, but it was a little different than normal tonight for you.
Yeah, I know. Thinking back to New Jersey last year, I had a really good time riding in the ruts and finding my flow, but I was fighting the bike a little bit, fighting the track, fighting myself, and it all kind of just snowballs. It’s tough to hang on. I was counting the laps down and hoping to see the white flag come out, but it didn’t come out fast enough, I guess.
DL:We’re heading to Phoenix next weekend—or the new Stadium in Glendale, Arizona next week—and you’re fifth in the points. What’s your take on Phoenix, although it may be all new dirt this year? Do you know if it’s going to be the same hard pack dirt or new dirt for the new venue?
Yeah, I don’t know. We’re riding press day [Thursday before the race], so we’ll kind of get a little bit of a preview before anyone else. It’s going to be tough. It’s the top six of us really—it was broken up today—but still five of us out of the six were in the top six. Just a bunch of fast guys coming in prepared and ready to do battle. Unfortunately, I was coming back from injury—as well as Eli [Tomac]—so it’s definitely hard for me to find that balance of training and recovering during the week between the races. I’m finding that as the weeks go on, I’m getting stronger race by race. I guess what really matters is what I’m taking away from each race.
DL:We’re now four rounds into a seventeen-round season. How would you rate your season so far, up against what your expectations were heading into A1?
It’s hard to say, it’s so stacked. You look at the names, and look at how many guys are in front of me, how many guys are behind me as far as titles and race wins, and all that. It’s unbelievable how much talent is out there. Really, I can’t be too down on myself because of who I’m racing, but at the same time, I always want more, I want to do better and I want to win. To rate my season, it’s about average for me. There’s been nothing spectacular, but for sure nothing’s been bad. It’s been a good season so far. As long as I can stay towards the front and keep those guys in my sight, I’ll be happy.
DL:Is the shoulder feeling okay?
Yeah, the shoulder’s fine.
Good deal. Thanks for talking with us, and we’ll see you next week.
