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COLE SEELY
Cole Seely has always been good at flying under the radar since his move onto the professional scene back in 2009. He just barely missed out on the 250 West divisional title to Jason Anderson in 2014, he snuck into 3rd place overall in his rookie supercross season on a 450, and he consistently fought in con- tention for podiums in the most recent outdoor season to debunk the theory that he’s a supercross spe-
cialist. 2017 will be no different for the factory HRC rider as he will spend most of his time in the shadow of Ken Roczen, HRC’s brand new signing and one of the favorites to win anytime he lines up on the gate. Although Seely wasn’t considered the number one rider in recent seasons as he was teammates with longtime Honda faithful, Trey Canard, he seems to rise to the occasion when the pressure and the spotlight is shining elsewhere and he often put in the best results on the team. Unfortunately, Seely’s 2016 out- door season was cut short with one of the strangest injuries of the season. Seely broke his pinky out training at Pala, but it wasn’t the result of a crash. He was dragging his bars so low through a corner that his finger clipped a rock and the break was so nasty that it required surgery. Consequently, the Californian missed the second half of the nationals and shifted his focus to supercross. Monster Energy Cup isn’t the biggest pressure cooker as it is a one-off event, but all of the focus will be on his teammate making his factory Honda debut, will Seely be able to steal some of the shine from his fellow red rider?
72 GRITMOTO • OCTOBER 2016
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