VOL. 52 ISSUE 47 NOVEMBER 24, 2015 P21
HONDA HOSTS MX OPEN HOUSE
A
merican Honda opened
its doors and presented its
2016 Team Honda HRC lineup
to the media and team sponsors
during a press event held at the
team's race shop in Torrance,
California, November 18. Return-
ing factory riders Trey Canard
and Cole Seely were the stars
for this overview as the team ap-
proaches the highly anticipated
2016 AMA Supercross season.
Honda also utilized this oppor-
tunity to showcase some of its
additional racing efforts, with
GEICO Honda, Johnny Camp-
bell Racing and the U.S. Mon-
tesa Honda MotoTrial Team in
attendance.
The day opened with an
introduction from Honda HRC
Team Manager Dan Betley, who
reviewed the progress made
during the 2015 season.
"This is the first time I can re-
member that we've had a bunch
of journalists in our race shop,
and it was nice hosting some
of our sponsors as well," Betley
said. "I'm eager to get this off-
season over with and get back
to racing, because I feel like
we're in a good place. Testing is
going well."
Betley went on to welcome
back the team's riders, both of
whom return for 2016. Canard
scored two Supercross wins last
year and recently won the Sugo
National in Japan.
"It's always great for me to
come to the shop," Canard
said. "I feel like we have a lot of
really good things going on this
year, and I hope people enjoyed
getting to see that. The trip to
Japan really helped generate
enthusiasm, and I think we're in
a good place with the bike. We
haven't changed a whole lot, but
we had a great Supercross bike
last year and have made prog-
ress. My goal is to finish each
race, because that's what you
need to win the championship."
Seely recorded his career-first
450 Supercross victory in 2015,
finished third in the final stand-
ings and was awarded Rookie of
the Year honors. He has been
rehabilitating his shoulder from
injury.
"I've actually only been here
a few times myself!" Seely said.
"It's been a long few months
with my shoulder recovery,
but I'm getting back into it. I
started by riding outdoors for a
couple of weeks to make sure
everything was strong before I
hopped on a Supercross track."
The team also used the oc-
casion to announce Canard as
the new National Spokesper-
son for Ride for Kids, for which
American Honda has been the
presenting sponsor since 1991.
Ride for Kids is a national series
of motorcycle events that ben-
efits the Pediatric Brain Tumor
Foundation.
"Trey is the perfect spokes-
person for Ride for Kids be-
cause he has a huge heart,"
said Mary O. Ratcliffe, Vice
President of Marketing and
Communications for the Pediat-
ric Brain Tumor Foundation. "He
exemplifies the best of motorcy-
cling, just like Ride for Kids." CN
The media got a chance to snoop around Team
HRC Honda's race shop.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
KIT
PALMER
