Podium Finish for Canard at Unadilla National

2015-08-11 09:51
AMA Pro Motocross Championship’s Unadilla National saw Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard score a third-place result in only his second race back from injury. In moto one, the Oklahoman got off the line to a decent start and quickly advanced to third place by the completion of lap one. A mishap later in the race caused him to fall back one position, at which point a heated battle ensued with fellow Honda rider Justin Bogle, as Canard fought to regain the podium spot. He was successful in his efforts, making the pass and taking the checkered flag in third. During the second moto, Canard pulled off another good start aboard his CRF450R and rode in fifth place for much of the race before relinquishing one position in the closing laps to finish sixth.

Meanwhile, Fredrik Noren’s day was marked by ups and downs, as he matched his career-best single-moto finish of fifth in the opening race but then suffered a first-turn moto-two crash that left him fighting his way through the pack. The Swede put together an impressive come-from-behind performance however, moving from 36th to 18th by the end of the 16-lap race. His 5-18 scores landed him 14th overall.

NOTES
- Following the Washougal National two weeks ago, Trey Canard joined his team in Southern California for two days of testing ahead of the series’ final rounds. “We were dialing in some settings that we came up with Eli [Tomac], that Trey hadn’t had a chance to try yet,” explained Brent Presnell, Canard’s mechanic. “It went well; he liked and chose everything that we brought to the table, so that’s a good sign. Hopefully, we can continue to improve each week and end the season as strong as we did last year.”
- During the morning’s timed qualifying practice sessions, 1.384 seconds separated the top four riders, and Canard’s 2:11.859 lap from the first session was fourth-quickest. Motosport.com/GPI/Honda rider Fredrik Noren qualified ninth at 2:13.837 aboard his factory CRF450R.
- En route to his third-place finish, Canard was one of only four riders to dip into the 2:14 range during the first moto.
- GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle made his 450 class debut at the Unadilla National, filling in aboard the injured Eli Tomac’s factory CRF450R. Despite ending the day in 18th place with 10-36 finishes, Bogle showed flashes of brilliance, battling for a podium position throughout the day’s opening race and scoring the holeshot in the second moto.
- The Honda Red Riders will return to action on August 15 for round 11 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship in Toole, Utah, at Miller Motorsport Park’s Utah National. “I’m looking forward to Utah, especially after getting a fifth again in the first moto here and feeling so good,” Noren said. “I want to continue getting fifth or better. I’m excited to go racing again and get some more good results.”


THE FOCUS: POSITION PLAYER

While it’s unfortunate that Team Honda HRC riders have suffered a number of injuries this season, the situation has been made more palatable by the fact that Fredrik Noren had been signed as a substitute rider for such situations. The Swede is officially a member of the Motosport.com/GPI/Honda squad, but the agreement was that he could fill in for factory riders Trey Canard or Cole Seely if the need arose. As it turns out, Noren has substituted for Team Honda HRC at most of AMA Pro Motocross rounds.

When it was determined that Canard, who had broken his arm at the Detroit Supercross, would be out longer than expected, the team called on Noren to fill in beginning at Colorado’s Thunder Valley National (the series’ third round). After posting solid results out of the factory truck, Noren was expected to return to his regular team once Canard returned at the Washougal National. Unfortunately, Seely sustained a shoulder injury at Spring Creek that would sideline him for the remainder of the 2015 season, so Noren will continue his fill in duties until the series concludes in Indiana.

The situation has meant that Noren has worked with different mechanics over the course of the season. He started with Ryan Bailey at the Motosport.com team, then worked alongside Canard’s wrench Brent Presnell before switching to Seely’s mechanic Rich Simmons. At this weekend’s Unadilla National, Noren worked with yet another technician, as Simmons was forced to leave on Friday to attend to a family matter. Fortunately, Team HRC Test/Support Mechanic Jason Thomas was ready to take over for Noren.

“It was fun being Freddie’s mechanic for the day,” Thomas said. “I enjoyed getting the tools back out for a little change of pace. I’ve gotten to know him really well working with him during the week and testing, so we have a good relationship, which made it easy to work with him since we’re comfortable together.”


Trey Canard 41
“I’m disappointed with my second-moto finish, but overall today went well and we were able to get on the podium. It’s great to be back racing, but it’s tough physically and mentally to come back out and race with these guys who have been racing all season. Moto one was pretty good. I got a good start and was able to get in right behind [Justin] Barcia in third, but lost it down at the bottom of ‘Screw You’ and lost one position. I wasn’t able to get around [Justin] Bogle, so when I did the gap was pretty far to second. I just wasn’t comfortable at all in the second moto; the track was tough and I just struggled. I’m not where I want to be but I’m happy to be here and looking forward to the next two.”

Fredrik Noren 39
“The day could’ve been better overall but I’m happy with how my first moto went. I got an okay start, but almost got tangled in the crash with [Ken] Roczen and [Christophe] Pourcel. Luckily, I made it around them—only getting my shroud snagged—and was able to put in some solid and consistent laps. I was in sixth most of the moto until Bogle went down, so I got a little cheater position there for fifth. I had a start crash in the second moto—not quite sure what happened, but I had to go in the pits right away to get my handlebar and front end adjusted a little, and got going from there.”

Dan Betley
Team Manager
“Today was tough. That’s not quite the way we want to get on the podium, but it was good to be back up there nevertheless. Both Trey and Freddie got better starts and rode well in the first moto to finish third and fifth, but they struggled in the second moto. Freddie crashed and Trey just wasn’t riding as well as he is capable of. We’ll go back and work on things this week and hopefully come back strong next weekend at Utah. Trey went 1-1 there last year, so that should be good for his confidence.”

Brent Presnell
Mechanic (Fredrik Noren)
“I think it was a solid day to build on. You don’t want to get third overall with a 3-6, but you still want third overall so we’ll take it anyways. It’s not bad for his second race off the couch. In the first moto, he was on pace with those guys but made a few small mistakes, and I’m not quite sure what happened in the second race, but he just didn’t seem like he was on the same level. Our starts were better all day, so we have to be happy with those. It was just a good building day.”

Jason Thomas
Test/ Support Mechanic
“Today was up-and-down. The first moto went well; Freddie got a pretty good start and was able to finish fifth. I think if he can consistently get better starts he could be up there every race. He went down in the first turn of the second race but made it from dead-last to 18th, which is impressive.”

Source: HRC

Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story

Headlines