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Yamaha Racing
Reed second in St Louis to keep title dream alive
Yamaha's Chad Reed battled through the pain of his fractured shoulder to take a decent second position to main title rival Kevin Windham in front of almost 49,000 fans last weekend at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis for the fifteenth round of seventeen in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross championship, also an FIM World Championship.
Reed seized the lead on the first lap of the main event, taking place just one week after his heavy practice crash in Detroit, but was powerless to prevent Windham from seizing control. The result was nevertheless the Australian's eleventh podium of the season on the San Manuel YZ450F and means that his points lead was only cut to 13 with two races to go.
"I was a long way from 100 percent tonight, going from twelfth last week to second is huge for me," he said. "I was back and forth this week seeing doctors and trying to just get everything taken care of. We made huge gains this week, and there were a lot of people who supported me. Unfortunately, we've been in this position a lot, so you learn over the years. Last weekend was just survival, while this weekend, I felt pretty good in practice. The track just got really gnarly in the main event, and the whoops were really tough, and I couldn't hang with Windham. I had to let go of my pride and look at the bigger picture, and that's tough. I felt, for the rest of the track, I had what it took to win; I just didn't have what it took in the whoops."
"I feel like I'm still in control of this thing," he added. "To salvage a second this weekend, it was huge for me, and I think it was huge for my competitors. You can see that a lot of them are really motivated, still we got out there, got a good start, and I did what I had to do."
Reed's team-mate Nathan Ramsey took a season-best finish with fourth place. Josh Hill was sixteenth.
AMA Motocross Champion Grant Langston has missed the entire Indoor campaign with an eye affliction but hopes to begin riding very soon to prepare for his Outdoor defence. "He's coming over this week to start riding so that we can check him out, but we're still not completely sure he's going to be ready for Glen Helen," said team manager Jimmy Perry. "But that is the plan, for him to be ready to go come Glen Helen. His eye seems to be healing very slowly, so we'll have to wait and see."
The penultimate Supercross meeting takes place at the Qwest Field in Seattle next weekend.
KTM Racing
US Supercross Series
Nick WeyMDK KTM riders Nick Wey and Justin Brayton made history when they both qualified for the Supercross main event aboard their KTM 450SX-F machines marking the first time two KTM 450's have ever competed in the Supercross main event.
MDK KTM Factory rider Nick Wey earned the second KTM holeshot of the night during his best heat race of the season. Shortly after the start, while still in the lead, he made a mistake that allowed two riders to pass. Soon he found himself back in the lead after a mistake by the first two. Wey maintained the lead until lap 7 when Davi Millsaps began to pressure him. Wey held him off for a lap until both riders came together and Wey crashed. He recovered quickly thanks to his electric start KTM 450SX-F and was able to finish 6th.
MDK KTM West Lites rider Justin Brayton made his debut on the KTM 450SX-F in Heat #2 with a massive holeshot (number 3 for those counting). He continued to lead the opening lap of his first-ever Supercross race before surrendering the lead to Josh Hill. He stayed in second until lap 7 when he was passed by Kevin Windham. He would go on to finish a remarkable 3rd place to qualify into his first Supercross main event.
Wey got a great jump on the start of the Supercross main event but it ended when he found himself in the middle of a first turn pile up. Brayton managed to avoid the wreckage and came around in 7th on lap 1. Even with Wey's 19th place spot at the end of lap one, he rode his heart out and passed each rider within his site to finish 11th for the night. This included a last lap, bar-to-bar battle with David Vuillemin for that 11th spot. Brayton had an astonishing ride in his Supercross class debut working as high as 6th place which he held until lap 14 when he was passed by Davi Millsaps. Brayton rode consistent and smooth throughout the night and finished a solid 7th overall on his new KTM 450SX-F ride. With this finish, he has the confidence he needs to return to the West Lites Championship Series next week in Seattle, WA.
US Supercross Lites East Series
MDK KTM riders can also rejoice in the fact that they pulled the holeshot in three of the four heat races starting with MDK KTM Lites rider Ryan Sipes in Heat #1.
He held the lead until turn five when he missed a triple jump and got passed by two riders. He remained in 3rd until he ran into a tuff block and crashed. He quickly recovered and finished 6th to qualify into the main.
Matt Goerke was up next in Heat #2 where he sat in 7th off the start and was able to work his way into 5th by the end of the heat. MDK KTM Factory rider Martin Davalos was unable to compete tonight after a crash in practice tore his inner thigh muscle.
Goerke's decision to line up on the far outside gate turned out to be the wrong choice when he got pushed out on the first lap of the Supercross Lites main event resulting in a first turn crash and a 21st place start for the Florida native. Despite his poor start, Goerke rode a strong and exciting race working his way up through the pack to finish inside the top ten with a 9th overall for the night. His team-mate Sipes also gave a notable performance coming from 15th on the start to 7th for the night in spite of a crash on lap 11 in a battle with Ben Coisy for that 6th place spot.
Team Suzuki
IZZI TAKES THIRD IN EAST COAST SERIES
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's Nico Izzi wound up the AMA Supercross Lites East Coast series with an impressive third-overall in the championship points standings at St. Louis' Edward Jones Dome on Saturday night.
The young rookie overcame a nasty hand injury from his heat race to finish eighth in the AMA Supercross Lites main event on Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250. Team mate David Vuillemin struggled with some bad luck in his heat race and the main and wound up with 12th place. In spite of this, Vuillemin is looking to finish up the season strong with the last few rounds coming up.
David Vuillemin:
"I had trouble in the heat race after I lost time in the first turn when another rider fell in front of me. After a few laps, I stalled my bike in a tight turn and I didn't transfer to the main. I went in to the Last Chance Qualifier, got the holeshot and won it. But I ended up with a bad position for the main on the gate and didn't start very well. I had trouble passing people quick enough and lost a position in the last lap to finish 12th. I was looking for better than that, especially after my seventh-place finish in Detroit. But now we are focusing on Seattle, which looks like it's going to be a mud race and I like racing in the mud."
Nico Izzi:
"I had a bit of trouble in my heat race. I got a pretty good start but I came together with a few other riders and I was the only one who went down. I started from dead last and was trying to work my way through the field and I went to pull a tear-off and blood was dripping off my goggles. I managed to get a transfer spot to the main, but when I crashed I guess I ripped off a little bit of my finger. The Asterisk Mobile guys sewed it up so I was able to race in the main. All things considered, I was just happy to finish up the season in third-overall. I'm really pumped to finish like that my first year as a Pro."
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at QWest Field in Seattle, Washington, on Saturday, April 26, 2008.
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