IN
THE
WIND
P34
CANARD TO RACE IN JAPAN
T
eam Honda HRC's Trey Canard is slated to
compete in the final round of the All Japan MX
National Championship, to be held at Sportsland
Sugo in Sendai, Japan, October 25. Canard will
race in the IA1 Class (450cc), where his com-
petition will include series regular Akira Narita, a
factory HRC rider and 10-time Japanese National
Champion, as well as newly crowned MXGP MX2
World Champion Tim Gajser, of the Gariboldi
Honda team. While in Japan, Canard will join
Honda Racing Corporation engineers for a testing
session in Tochigi prior to the race.
"I'm extremely excited for this opportunity to
race in Japan," Canard said. "I've raced in Europe
before but never there, so it will definitely be a dif-
ferent experience. I'm looking forward to the ac-
tual race but more than anything I'm really excited
to meet the people that make my job possible.
They have supported me throughout my entire
professional racing career, so to be able to visit
and show my gratitude will be very special." CN
HORIZON AWARD
TO ZAYAT
S
eventeen-year-old Xavier Zayat was honored
with the 2015 AMA Road Race Horizon
Award at this year's AMA Road Race Grand
Championship at VIR in Alton, Virginia.
The distinction honors the rider who was
deemed to show the most promise for success in
the professional ranks and Zayat adds his name
to a list of distinguished winners, including Jason
DiSalvo, Ben Spies and Blake Young.
The young New Yorker also won the Expert
AMA SuperSport 600 National Championship at
the event, in addition to the Expert AMA Moto 2
National Championship.
"It's a privilege to be awarded [the Road Race
Horizon Award]," Zayat said. "It's what every
young road racer dreams of, coming up through
the ranks. This award means you're on the right
track."
Zayat has been road racing since 2007 and
currently rides a Yamaha R6 in amateur classes
around the country. He also raced a couple of
rounds of MotoAmerica's develelopment class—
the KTM RC 390 Cup—and showed potential
straight away landing a podium spot in his first
ever race with the series at Laguna Seca.
Fellow RC 390 Cup racer, 14-year-old Jackson
Blackmon, was awarded the 2015 AMA Youth
Road Racer of the Year. CN
Xavier Zayat
joins a long list of
esteemed AMA
Horizon Award
winners.
Trey Canard will
compete in the
final round of the
All-Japan National
Motocross Series
next month.
