Round eleven at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park is one that Team Honda HRC would like to improve upon at the upcoming season finale. Trey Canard had an off-day and suffered poor starts, but the Oklahoman was still able to put together two respectable rides to finish sixth overall with 7-6 marks. Meanwhile, teammate Fredrik Noren crashed in the first moto, fracturing the knuckle in his right index finger. The Swede was sidelined for the remainder of the day and will have to miss the final round next weekend.
NOTES
- The Utah National showcased one of the fastest tracks of the season, with many riders’ lap times dipping below two minutes. Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard qualified seventh with a time of 1:58.020, while teammate Fredrik Noren was 13th at 1:59.601. GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle landed 15th with 2:00.665.
- In the day’s opening moto, Canard got a poor start and was left fighting his way from outside the top 10. While navigating his CRF450R into sixth place, which is where he finished, Canard laid down the fifth-quickest lap time of the race, at 1:54.499.
- The Honda pits were buzzing throughout the day, as contest winners for Canard’s personal sponsor, Fly Racing, and special guests from Miller Motorsports Park were given a tour of the team’s technical truck, as well as a meet-and-greet with the riders.
- Last year, Canard dominated the Utah National, scoring his career-first 450 Motocross overall victory with an impressive 1-1 ride. This year he was riding in only his third race back from injury, and he wasn’t able to match the 2014 performance.
- Next weekend, the Honda Red Riders head to Indiana’s Ironman MX for the final round of the AMA Pro Motocross series. Including AMA Supercross, it will be the team’s 30th race of the year, and they hope to end the series on a positive note.
THE FOCUS: Beating the Heat
Situated on the western slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains, the high-desert terrain around Miller Motorsports Park is quite scenic, but it’s also sweltering in the summer months. With temperatures in the 90s on race day, and over 25% humidity, it was imperative for the riders to take every precaution possible in an attempt to stay cool throughout the two grueling motos, each of which was 30 minutes plus two laps in duration. Staying hydrated was the number-one priority, but keeping the core body temperature down before and after the races was also critical.
“The heat is just an added factor that makes motocross even more of a challenge than it already is,” Trey Canard said. “We’ve raced in hotter temperatures, but the humidity is what gets you; it makes it feel even hotter than it is. I have a pre- and post-race drink that I use to help keep me hydrated, and some riders also used cooling vests. I didn’t use it this weekend, but basically it’s a vest that has ice packs throughout it to help keep your internal temperature down.”
Trey Canard 41
“Today didn’t go well at all, but I’m walking away healthy, which is something positive to take away from it. The track was really tough; I struggled all day and never was able to really get comfortable. My starts were bad in both motos, which is extremely frustrating. I know it’s only my third race back, but I shouldn’t be back there like that.”
Fredrik Noren 39
“After getting a fifth last weekend at Unadilla, I was really hoping to get another good result and beat my career-best, but unfortunately I crashed in the first moto and hurt my hand. I qualified 13th, which isn’t the greatest, but I still got a pretty decent gate. I didn’t get a great start; I think I was about 14th around the first turn but made some passes on the first lap. Halfway through the race, I went down and smashed my finger. I’m really bummed but I’m happy I’ll at least finish the season in the top 10 in points, even without getting points today or at Indiana. I did the math to make sure about that. I’m grateful for everything that Team Honda has done for me.”
Dan Betley
Team Manager
“Today was disappointing. I felt like we struggled all day long and really should’ve done better all around. We need to keep working on improving our starts, because once again they weren’t good. Trey started outside the top 10 in both motos and wasn’t able to make the passes he needed to early enough to get toward the front. It was also an unfortunate day for Freddie, who went down in the first moto and ended up fracturing one of his knuckles. I’m ready to just put this one behind us and hopefully finish the season strong in Indiana.”
Brent Presnell
Mechanic (Fredrik Noren)
“Well, it wasn’t great but it sure could’ve been worse. We struggled off the line again, but Trey seemed to pull it together mid-moto to still finish in respectable positions. He just wasn’t able to put the full 30-minutes-plus-two-laps together to finish where we all know he should be. I think we all had high expectations coming into this round because of how well last year went, but this is only his third race back so sixth isn’t horrible.”
Rich Simmons
Mechanic (Cole Seely)
“I feel bad for Freddie. He came into today ready to race and unfortunately that’s not how it played out. He has been posting solid results all season for us, and was continuing to improve each week, so to see him go down like this is a bummer.”