Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1151987
P124 CN III EMPIRE OF DIRT BY STEVE COX C ole Seely is a rare factory talent. The overwhelming majority of the racers at the factory level were amateur stars, too. They were essentially bred for a life of factory stardom starting from their teens, and sometimes earlier than that. It al- most makes it seem like the only way to become a factory racer is to start at four years of age, have a full-factory amateur ride by 14, and hit the pros by 17 with a top-flight squad like Pro Circuit, Factory Connection, Star Rac- ing, KTM or Husqvarna among others. It can be somewhat discouraging, depending on your perspective. But every now and then a guy like Cole Seely comes along. Cole had actually quit rac- ing altogether when he was 16, still an amateur, and stayed off the track for a year and a half because he was burned out. He had already gotten to the point that racing was an obligation, not a fun activity. But his friend, freestyle/freeride pilot Lance Coury, started taking Cole out when Coury was going to ride, and Cole started riding just for fun with Coury. Seely also did a fair amount of magazine testing, so he knows how to look good for 1/1600th of a second at a time. Once he started having fun again, hitting ramps, and testing bikes, he decided to start racing again as an amateur. He was already approaching 18 years IT WAS GREAT HAVING YOU, COLE Cole Seely might not have earned any championships in the premier class, but he did earn everyone's respect and admiration. Perhaps that's even better. old, which doesn't seem that old to outsiders, but as an amateur, he was a senior citizen. He got picked up by the non- factory Fun Center Suzuki team for his AMA Supercross debut in 2009, and although he scored a top-10 that year in San Diego, he couldn't manage to make two main events in a row. Prior to the 2010 season, he got a tryout opportunity with the TLD Honda team (being friends with Coury didn't hurt), and he made the squad, but even he even admits that he had no real idea what he was doing. He was out of shape, and he had no idea how to train whatsoever. But it turned out that all this young man needed was a little bit