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Cole Seely always seems to do well in his native state of California and he was looking to keep
that stigma alive at the outdoor season opener. He went out and qualified with a very solid sixth
fastest lap time setting himself up for a competitive day of racing.
The first 450 moto of the year started with maybe the closest holeshot we will see all year. Seely edged out Trey Canard by a knobby and put himself into the early lead. His adrenaline had to be pumping at full capacity leading the pack around lap one when Ken Roczen came out of nowhere to take the lead just before the lap was over. Seely would also lose one more spot to Canard before they reached the green flag. His life didn’t get any easier when Ryan Dungey came swinging by on lap two but he received a life line in the form of a crashing Trey Canard moving him back up into third behind Roczen and Dungey. From there Seely
was able to settle in and ride his own race. He couldn’t keep the two leaders in his sights but he had a quality gap behind him as well. That is until a hard charging Eli Tomac began to creep into the picture with seven minutes remaining. Seely is still fresh off a recent injury so his endurance might not have been at it’s highest level and that would cost him as Tomac and a rejuvenated Blake Baggett would catch up and pass him in the final laps. Seely would hold on for fifth in a rather impressive first moto performance. Seely could not repeat his holeshot in moto two and would be stuck outside the top fifteen when he received the green flag. He made some moves in the opening laps to get into twelfth place but the depth of his competition would slow his charge. After his quick flurry of passes he would only make one more pass for the next twenty minutes. But late in the race he would turn the tables on Blake Baggett and make the move on him putting himself into tenth place. That is where Seely would end up finishing the race making it 5-10 moto scores on the day. That bad start in the second moto goes to show you how valuable a great start is in this very deep class.
words/SETHHARNISHFEGER
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