By Jason Weigand and Aaron Hansel
Ryan Dungey | Red Bull KTM | 2nd in 450SX
That was the first semi I didn’t qualify straight to the main event in 35 straight. [The heat race] That was kind of a mishap. I read it right. The guy was going to go wide last second. He come across and I was like, I had nowhere to go. So that was unfortunate. I had to go to the semi. I got a good start, was able to win that. That was actually good. I think a track like tonight a little more seat time wasn’t a bad thing. We actually made a few changes [to] get a little more comfort out of the bike. The track actually got much harder, so the bike felt really stiff. So we had to soften it up a little bit then in the main event things felt pretty good. Got off to a good start, had that restart. Then with James [Stewart], I even read that right too. I saw it. I knew he was going to cut down and he really cut down. I tried to brake as quick as I could and it was an unfortunate deal. But anyway, the next restart got off to a good start. Was settling in and got together with another rider and fell down. From there I just tried to really make the most of it and get back up to the front. I knew I was going to have to make passes happen because I was going to run out of laps if not. So I was glad we were able to do that. The last lap pass for second, I thought I was in third the whole time. I didn’t even know Trey [Canard] went off the track. Not too bad of a night. Good start to a season. Kind of made it tougher on ourselves tonight but a little bit of adversity, I feel like we handled it pretty good. – Jason Weigandt
Cole Seely | Team HRC Honda | 3rd in 450SX
Racer X: Is it awesome to be leading Anaheim 1 or is it actually nerve-racking and crazy? What is that like?
Cole Seely: It’s nerve-racking. The whole day is nerve-racking, straight up. I was so nervous coming in today because it’s not only the first one of the season but it’s the first race for me back after an injury. So a ton of nerves coming in. I qualified thirteenth but I wasn’t that far off in times. It was only like a second and a quarter. But after that I’m like, come on. The day needs to pick up. To go out there and get a holeshot after the restart and be able to run some laps in the lead, it felt like a West Coast round [250s in 2014], me and Jason [Anderson] leading it. But he rode a really good race. I’ve got to give it up to him. He just straight up out-rode me. I had the worst stomach ache of my life, and I’ve said that before but the nerves were just getting to me hardcore. No excuses. It was a good effort by the team. Just stoked to come away from Anaheim 1 third.
When you have a big lead like that, if it was like round 10 would it be a lot easier than it is here in this situation?
Yeah, everyone slows down, everyone is kind of mellowed out. Coming in tonight everyone is fresh. They’ve had a good two-month off-season and just putting in laps and time on the bike and the bicycle and all that stuff. Once things kind of mellow out, I look forward to that part of the season. I’ve always kind of looked up to Chad Reed and he’s said after San Diego is when the season really begins. If I’m in a good position by then, it will be good.
You had a little lead and all of a sudden like two laps later you were gone. Do you even know what happened?
No, I don’t even know what happened. I saw [Justin] Barcia in second. I don’t know where he went though. I don’t know if he went down or faded, but I was kind of track timing him and then I look up at the board one lap and it’s 21 behind me and I had a bigger lead. So I’m like, okay, now I know where he is. I held him there for a little while but he was able to hit some sections a little better than me and reel me in.
So it wasn’t your best deal? You’ve got more than that.
Yeah, I think we’ll go back and re-assess. I think we can fine-tune the bike a little bit more now that we have a race under our belt. You come in kind of blind. Our test tracks are so fast and so hard-pack. You come into here and it’s just rutted, holey, just gnarly track.
Do you think the rain actually had an impact even though it didn’t look muddy?
Yeah, it definitely had a huge impact. Anaheim 1 is notorious for being one of the most hard-pack surfaces there is. Blowing through tires left and right. Today it was soft. Actually it reminded me of New Jersey last year. It was that soft in some spots and then it would go to a hard base. It definitely made for a really, really tough and just physically demanding track. – Weigandt
Eli Tomac | Monster Energy Kawasaki | 4th in 450SX
First race in five months, or whatever it’s been, it was a pretty good day. Practice was a little up and down, I felt pretty good in the first one but struggled in the last one, I felt like a different guy. That threw a bit of a wrench in the wheel for me and I was freaking out and making some changes before the heat race. But I got a good start, did a bit of battling in the heat, and won the thing. The main event rolled around, I was pretty buried on the first lap. I lucked out with that red flag, I guess that’s racing. Then I almost got the holeshot! I was just trying to make sure I got through the race this time instead of getting that eighteenth place I got last year. I was just riding a comfortable pace where I wasn’t really out of control, just trying to get through the thing. I need some improvement but I don’t feel like I’m that far off from the front.
It seemed like there were moments where you were really fast and moments where you kind of struggled. Is that accurate?
That’s totally correct. There were certain sections where I was the fastest guy, and other places where I belonged in the C Class. Before the finish line, in that section, I was terrible.
I think you had the fastest lap.
I don’t even know how because I was so bad in a few sections. The tunnel jump, I was by far C Class status there. The good thing is, for how bad I felt, the front of the race wasn’t that far away. With some improvement I can be there soon I think.
You can lose the title at the first race but you can’t win it. Was that in your mind?
Pretty much all day. Come race time I was pretty comfortable and not thinking about it, but I didn’t want to make that big mistake and settled in once Anderson and Dungey got me.
Track seemed pretty technical and tricky.
Yes. It was a technical track, which is to be expected with that rain and the soft stuff. It was like a nasty East Coast track, and those sticky rhythm lanes were eating me up. I was making too many mistakes and missing them too much. – Aaron Hansel
Ken Roczen | Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/RCH Suzuki | 5th in 450SX
Racer X: How’d it go?
Ken Roczen: My night was pretty rough. I did not have the best heat race start. I got cleaned out by Barcia. I don’t think he really had the jump on me that hard to pull that far to the left. He literally ripped my handlebar out of my hand and then I just went off and whatever. And then I wanted to keep riding but my bike was literally smashed. So I had to go back and semi; it was whatever. I got third. It was fine. I just wanted to actually get some riding time. Went into the main, obviously they red flagged it. I think if they wouldn’t have red flagged it I could have really made some damage and got up on the podium at least. My other start obviously back of the pack.
You didn’t crash? It was just that bad a start?
No, I crashed. I was dead last. I crashed in the second turn. It was tight. Somebody hit me and then I just went down. So it wasn’t really my night, but I came back fifth which was not bad. I think I rode pretty decent. We salvaged some good points. So I don’t think there’s a whole lot to complain right now. I’m super happy with everything else and just glad this night is over. I feel like it was a cluster for a lot of people. – Weigandt
