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Cole Seely put in the 10th fastest lap time of the second practice group by setting a 1:06.66 on his fifth lap out in the session. Seely started 7th in the first moto and quickly put a move on Smartop Mo- toconcepts’ Mike Alessi to move into 6th place. He found himself in 6th position for the remainder of the moto, narrowly missing out on a top 5 finish as he just ran out of time to catch Blake Baggett in the
waning laps of the race. The second moto produced a similar result earlier off for the Honda rider, he crossed the finish line in 8th place on the first lap, just behind fellow Californian Nick Schmidt. Seely worked his way past Schmidt early on and began
to charge forward, setting his sights on Marvin Musquin and Mike Alessi. Musquin was moving forward and Alessi was moving backward, allowing Seely to work his way into 6th place at the midway point of the race. Roczen crashed out of the lead, therefore promoting Seely to a top 5 spot which he held onto until the checkered flag. Seely pulled his best start of the entire night in the last moto, coming through the first turn in 4th position. He narrowly avoided the carnage of Chad Reed’s second turn crash, promot- ing him to 3rd position momentarily. He was block passed by Marvin Musquin in the twisty section before Monster Alley, demoting him back to 4th position. Seely then forfeited positions to Dungey and Tomac in the following laps, as they were on a charge to the front of the pack. The Californian rider in red ran out of time at the end of the moto as he was catching Alessi, having to settle for a 6th place finish and a 4th place overall.
words/LAKEKILPATRICK
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