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MXP Chatter With Cole Thompson Presented By Kimpex Canada

For Cole Thompson, what a difference a year makes as 365 days ago he and his wife Chloe were parked by themselves in the back corner of the Anaheim 1 paddock. As we all know, last year, Cole decided to go it alone and race the 250SX West class in the Monster Energy Supercross. After some solid results in the opening rounds, Cole sadly ended up getting injured and was forced to call it quits on the series. However, after a relaxing summer and a busy fall racing in the Australian Supercross Series Cole and Chloe were back at Angel Stadium for the opening round, only this time they’re front and centre in the paddock and under the Heartbeat Hot Sauce Team Solitaire Yamaha tent. We caught up with Cole as he was wrapping up an afternoon of riding with Eli Tomac at the Yamaha test track to discuss the opening round and how he will deal with the mud this weekend in Oakland.


MXP: Hey Cole! What is going on today in California?

CT: Well, we just finished riding at the Yamaha track so at least I can say I got one day of riding in this week. Today was a little muddy, and then it’s supposed to start raining again tonight. As everyone probably knows, it’s been really wet in California this year so finding dry tracks has been difficult.

Yes, for sure! Even on the news, they’ve been showing all of the flooding and the roads getting washed away. I guess that is where the phrase “It never rains in Southern California. It only pours.” Talk to us about the race on Saturday night. You ended up 13th which I’m sure isn’t where you wanted to be, but considering the track conditions and the fact that it was the opening round, it wasn’t a bad finish.

I got off to a decent start in the main event but then went backward in the opening laps. I wasn’t sure how aggressive I should’ve been on the track so I just tried to feel my way around the first few laps. After that, I settled in and found a flow, unfortunately, my pace wasn’t great and I wasn’t able to move up until the final lap. I don’t know, it wasn’t a great race but yeah, considering how tough the conditions were, I’ll take it.

The dream team were back at Anaheim 1.


For all of us watching from home, the Anaheim 1 track looked tough. You rode it all day, how was it?

It was probably one of the most challenging SX tracks I’ve ever ridden to be quite honest. Usually, when ruts form, they may be deep but the ramp is consistent. That wasn’t the case at A1 as the ruts in the rhythm sections had pockets in them and you had to be really careful. The dirt in Anaheim is always slippery and with the added moisture, there just wasn’t a lot of traction. It was difficult to be aggressive without making big mistakes. In the main event, I didn’t make many mistakes or have any close calls, but I wasn’t pushing either. It was a decent opening round and we’ll try and be better this weekend in Oakland.

Yes, let’s talk about Oakland. I’ve never seen a forecast where so much rain is guaranteed. There is no way Round 2 isn’t going to be a full-on mudder. Honestly, in this day and age, I’m shocked that the series doesn’t have a Plan B in place so that you guys don’t have to go up there and destroy your bikes and risk injuries. What are your thoughts on this coming weekend?

Yes, I’m surprised also that they don’t cancel or postpone the race since they know it’s going to be bad. Also, it’s raining there all week so I don’t even know how they will get the track built. Today at the Yamaha test track, they were saying that Dirt Werx is going to build a tame track with no whoops and no big jumps and go from there. Unless there is a miracle, it will be a complete mess and everyone’s bikes will get destroyed. If this was last year and I was doing the series on my own, I wouldn’t even bother going. I’d just save my bike and move on to San Diego. I don’t know, I know it’s the nature of the sport and we race in any conditions, but with all the rain this week and then a 100% chance of rain on Saturday, it’s too bad they can’t make some other plans.

I agree Cole; this situation feels a little different than mud races in the past as they know what the weather is going to be like all week long. I guess the bright side is that you know how to ride the mud, while a lot of top riders have no clue how to. If all goes well you might just end up having the best finish of your career. Who knows right?

Yes, who knows! Everyone has to battle through it and you’re right. I could get a great start and have a great finish. I’m hoping for that so we’ll see how it goes.


You mentioned to us in a previous chat that with the wet weather in California and your schedule once you got home from Australia, you don’t have much time on your new bike. Overall, how has the transition been to the Team Solitaire Yamaha, and how has everything gone with your new team?

I think I only had just over a week of riding on the new bike, but so far everything has been great. Obviously, it’s a Yamaha and that is what I’ve been riding for over a year, so it was easy to get used to this one. But my Team Solitaire bike has a few changes from what I’ve been used to and overall I really like it. Coming into A1, I wasn’t able to get a lot of riding in and that really affected me on Saturday. I felt uncomfortable riding and it took me some time to get up to speed. I’m a guy who loves to ride and put the laps in, so when I can’t, I end up feeling unprepared. But the team did a great job on Saturday helping me feel comfortable and I’m excited to be a part of the Heartbeat Hot Sauce Solitaire Yamaha Team.

Your team setup looks great, and your Leatt Gear is very cool. I heard for A2 you’re going to have custom Heartbeat Hot Sauce Leatt gear, so that will be special. Well Cole, thank you for doing this and good luck in the mud this weekend. I feel like these conditions could suit you, and if all goes well you should have a good finish. At very least, it should be fun riding around in the mud!

For sure! I’m looking forward to it actually. Thank you for calling Palms! Talk soon.

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