Cole Thompson – Oakland Conversation
By Billy Rainford
Canadian #127 Cole Thompson had his best weekend of the year this past Saturday in Oakland, California, for round 4 of the Monster Energy 250 West SX Series. After a couple falls took him out of round 3 in Anaheim, Cole and the Slaton Racing YP.com Nuclear Blast Fox KTM Canada Team were looking to rebound last week after doctors gave Cole the OK to ride and race. Here’s what Cole had to say about Oakland.
Let’s hear how Cole Thompson describes round 4 in Oakland.
The Week between Anaheim 2 and Oakland
The week was pretty short for me. Obviously, I only rode one day and it was a short day of riding. I mainly just tried to get myself to 100% before the weekend and feeling good and loose and stuff like that.
[What did they say the problem with the shoulder was?] Nothing, really! I don’t know, it was just one of those injuries that…I just came down on my shoulder and I was fortunate nothing popped out or broke and there was no ligament damage or anything like that. Its just sore and I’ve got to just keep riding with it. That’s what the doctor said – it could take anywhere from a couple days or a couple weeks or a month, whatever. It’s just kind of the way your body feels.
I have a lot of strength in it. It’s just that certain movements are a little sorer than others so it was just one of those things with how much pain and how I was feeling at the time.
I still got in my start practice, for sure. It was actually unfortunate that I didn’t get to race Anaheim 2 because we worked on starts the week leading up to it. Going into Oakland it’s the same plan; we shortened practice but we still managed to get some practice in with my mechanic, Donk.
The track was a little less technical in Oakland.
The Track:
The track was pretty mellow this weekend, I thought. It wasn’t crazy technical and it was a little bit easier for me to ride with my shoulder. The whoops weren’t as big. It broke down pretty fast in practice. We only got two practices in because they were prepping it from the rain they got the day before so we only got the two timed practices. By second practice, there wasn’t really any whoops and most of the rhythms were all pretty much laid out.
We only got two practices in because they were prepping it from the rain they got the day before so we only got the two timed practices. By second practice, there wasn’t really any whoops and most of the rhythms were all pretty much laid out. Everybody was doing the same thing. I was able to do everything right away.
The biggest rhythm on the whole track was…it wasn’t crazy technical or anything but I wasn’t getting it…you could go 3-3-3, and that was probably the only rhythm that I wasn’t doing all day that the top guys were.
Cole qualified 17th but he was happy just to be feeling strong again after his falls in Anaheim the previous week.
Practice and Qualifying:
They did a 10-minute first timed and then they extended the second on to 15 minutes because we didn’t get a free practice. I didn’t qualify with the best time. I think I was 17th or something like that. For me, it was more to just get good practice and be feeling good for the race.
The Main Event:
I don’t know if it was my best race. I didn’t really do much. I just kind of raced through it. I was just mainly concerned about getting through 15 laps and staying up. I knew I wasn’t going to be top 5 or rocket fast. All day I was feeling a little bit sore and it had been a long week with everything going on. I was happy to get through the 15 laps. At the end of the day, it’s not where I want to be; I want to keep moving forward, especially as we wind down in this series. We’ve only got 4 more rounds to go, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. My starts were good and I stayed off the ground, so I think that was a positive. I couldn’t ask for much more.
The mains are 15 laps but they’re a quick 15 so you’ve got to do all the right things to make it happen. it was a late start for me to get going for Supercross this year and I knew it was going to be a tough year, no matter what, just because I hadn’t raced Supercross in a year. Coming back and doing the west was kind of new to me but not just that I think it’s a tough group of riders. Everybody is so good now. Even from when I first came into racing Supercross everybody has gotten a lot better and bike get a lot better. It’s tougher every year, no matter what. Each weekend we’ve gotten better results, so as long as we keep moving forward you can’t ask for much more.
I grew up with Colt Nichols. Literally, we came through amateurs pretty much together in the same classes. He had a string of injuries that delayed his Pro debut in Supercross. When he did finally make it last year he was putting together some good rides and he blew out his knee and lost his ride, lost everything. He got that Rock River deal last-minute and the way everything came together to see his last race, I was pretty pumped for him.
Cole will do some suspension testing with WP on Thursday.
Plan for the Week:
I go riding today (Wednesday) and then I’ll ride again tomorrow. I actually test some suspension setting with WP and then just get ready again for Friday and race Saturday. I’ll do my training this week to keep the routine going. [My shoulder] is better this week. Just getting through that weekend was the toughest part. It’s going to get better now so that’s good. Like all injuries, the more you can rest it and not keep pounding it, it’s going to get better, so another week of healing. Hopefully, I’ll get another couple good starts and have a good weekend.
Cole hopes to get more solid starts this week in Phoenix.
Results:
Qualifying – 17th
Heat 2 – 4th
Main Event – 10th
Sponsors: YP.com, Nuclear Blast, Slaton Racing, KTM, Fox Racing, FMF, Factory Connection, Justified Cultures, Dunlop Tires, Mastel Linens, Rekluse, Motographix, Xtring, SKF, InnTeck, DID, Dubya, Acerbis, Renthal, Motorex, Works Connection, Matrix Concepts, TM Designworks, VP Racing Fuels, Motool, Dirty Motosports, Guts Racing
