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Yamaha Racing
Reed maintains podium record with second position in Houston
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 San Manuel Yamaha rider Chad Reed (pictured right) saw his run of five consecutive victories come to an end in Houston for the seventh round of seventeen in the 2008 AMA Supercross series, a FIM World Championship, but the Australian continued his 100% podium record with second position and guards a 32 point lead in the competition.
The 42nd Supercross in Houston did not witness a fourth straight sweep for Yamaha in both classes even though Jason Lawrence did also climb the rostrum in second spot in the Lites West Coast category to remain poised at the top of the standings with one round to go.
In 1974 Pierre Karsmakers marked Yamaha's first success in Houston and the manufacturer has enjoyed thirteen more triumphs since then, Reed himself contributing two of those.
In a so-far-dominant campaign the number '22' was not able to increase his season statistics at the Reliant Stadium. Kevin Windham, who helped design the short layout, gained his first 25 points of the year after taking the lead on the first lap and setting the pace at the front. Reed, who had started badly, pulled through the pack to pass brand-mate Josh Hill and secure second place at mid-race distance but could not close to Windham's rear wheel. Tim Ferry was third.
"That's a tough one to swallow. I gave it everything I've got. Kevin rode a good race, and I want to congratulate him but this is a disappointment," said Reed, who took his third career runner-up position at Houston and has never dropped out of the top three at the event.
"It was just one of those nights," added the 25-year-old who has totalled 31 victories and became the first racer to win all the Californian rounds with his chequered flag last week in San Diego. "Once I got into second, I couldn't cut into Kevin's lead. We've had a good season, and it's still good to be up on the podium."
18-year-old Hill was running as high as second before being overtaken by Reed and Ferry. With Broc Hepler and Grant Langston still absent with physical ailments (broken hand and an eye problem respectively) the teenager produced a positive showing for his second best result of the season so far.
In the Lites category Yamaha of Troy's Jason Lawrence again made the podium for the fourth meeting in succession. His second position on the YZ250F behind Austin Stroupe and some costly mistakes by title rival Ryan Dungey means that the 20-year-old stretched his advantage in the championship by five points, to six in total. The final round of the West coast series will take place on 26th April in Seattle as the East coast championship now cranks into life.
"I think that might be my main advantage, being smart - something Dungey hasn't been all year. That's four races in a row that he's crashed out," said Lawrence. "He's handing me this title, and I've got one more race to hold it together. I'm going to go to that race and do exactly what I did right here. Dungey can win it by a mile, but I'm going to get the title."
The schedule refuses to ease for the riders and teams and they continue onto Atlanta for round eight next weekend.
Team Suzuki
TOP 10 FOR VUILLEMIN AT HOUSTON
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing's David Vuillemin raced to a top-10 finish in AMA Supercross for the second weekend in a row, this time on Saturday night at Houston's Texas Reliant Stadium.
 The Frenchman rallied after crashing hard in his heat race and took the win in the Last Chance Qualifier. In the 20-lap main, he got a rough start but soldiered on aboard his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 to bring home an impressive 10th-place finish.
Vuillemin's Supercross-class team-mate Mike Alessi is still recovering after breaking his collarbone last week at the San Diego round and did not race.
In the AMA Supercross Lites class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey will be taking off a few months as the next and final round of the class will not be held until late April. In the weekend's race, he was again extraordinarily fast in practice and in his heat race, where he took the win. In the 15-lap main, Dungey got the holeshot and was battling for the lead when he crashed twice. In spite of this he still charged hard on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 to bring home a strong fourth-place finish.
David Vuillemin:
"In my heat race, on the first jump I had a big crash and went over into the other lane. I hurt my back and my neck. I rode around a few more laps to see how I felt then I pulled out of the race and went on to the LCQ, which I won. In the main, I was all the way on the outside of the gate for the start and that is a really bad spot. As a result, I didn't get a good start and I just tried my best to catch up to the guys up front. I ended up in 10th, which is a pretty decent result, especially considering how hard I crashed in the heat race. Fortunately, I didn't break anything and I'm just a little bit sore. I will be ready for next week in Atlanta."
Ryan Dungey:
"This weekend started out pretty good. We were fastest in the first practice session and then I won my heat race. In the main, I got a great start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 and got the holeshot. I got passed but then I took over the lead again. Then, I made a little mistake and went down. I tried to push and catch those guys in front and went down again. At that point, I just put my head down and tried to get as many points as possible. I admit I'm a little disappointed with how things have gone in these last few races. But we're still in the hunt for the championship and that's what counts. We have a lot of time between now and the last round in Seattle, so I'm just going to focus on doing my program and being positive."
KTM Racing
US Supercross Series
MDK KTM Factory rider, Nick Wey, continued his streak of top ten finishes with a 9th overall at the 7th round of the AMA Supercross Series at Reliant Stadium.
MDK KTM Factory rider Nick Wey started mid-pack in his heat and worked his way up into 8th to transfer to the main.
In the Supercross main event Wey got a good start coming around the first turn inside the top ten. By the end of the first lap he was in 8th. For the remainder of the race he battled with riders for the 7th place position. He rode a smooth and consistent race to finish within the top ten, where he has been for the majority of the season. At the end of the race Wey was able to hold on to 9th place overall and he now currently sits 8th in overall series points.
US Supercross Lites West Series
Both MDK KTM Lites riders, Billy Laninovich and Justin Brayton, were lined up for Heat #2 of the Lites Supercross class.
The teammates took off at the gate drop and came side by side around the first turn. They stayed together as they rounded the track for the first lap. Unfortunately they tangled together with a couple other riders near the end of the first lap. Laninovich remounted a lap down but Brayton was unable to finish due to an injured wrist he suffered in the crash.
In the LCQ, Laninovich got out front and led the race to take the win and qualify to the main event. Brayton was forced to sit out the rest of the evening due to the wrist injury from the Heat race crash (the severity of the injury is undetermined at this time).
In the Supercross Lites Main Billy Laninovich came around last on the start and was forced to work his way through the pack to get up front where he belongs. In a hard fought battle he eventually worked his way into 13th for the night as the checkered flag dropped.
OPTOMA MORTGAGES D3-RACING KTM
The new GBXC cross-country championship got off to a great start, this new series created by Paul Edmondson and Steve Ireland is just what the off-road fans have been waiting for, A high profile national championship which is supported by all the country’s best riders and teams at quality venues. The full Matchams Park Motocross track was used in conjunction with the surrounding woods giving a lap of around 5 miles , the main race started at 1.00pm with a full first row of Pro’s, can’t remember when I last saw so many good riders at a Cross-country race in the UK, GNCC Champion David Knight, a few Motocross stars and of course our team riders Tom Sagar and Greg Evans, almost 40 Pro’s.
Knighter as usual made the holeshot and in 3rd position was Greg, Tom didn’t fire his 250F first kick and was mid pack after starting almost last, after a couple of laps Greg held 4th behind Knight, Thomas and Motocrossers Greedy & Carlos, Tom worked his way through the field up to 7th . We decided to have a 2 fuel stop strategy for this 2.45 hour race, the fast sandy MX based course means the bikes use allot of fuel here , Tom only had a small tank so we brought him in on the hour and he took just 7 litres, however Greg on the 2 Stroke had a big 11.5 litre Tank and ran out on the next lap !! meaning he had to push back to the pits and this dropped him a lap down and cost him a certain top 5 finish.
In the final hour of the race, the rough sand circuit would cause many riders to tire and slow and many positions would change, Tom kept pushing on and moved up to 4th and with two laps to go he was only 10 seconds behind 3rd placed Ashley Greedy but almost a lap down on Knighter who was showing no signs of being tired and had actually upped his pace. On the final lap a small crash cost Tom any chance of catching Greedy and he settled for 4th, Greg however was a lap down and finished outside the top 10 but he had shown he had good pace before running out of fuel.
The event was good training for this weekends British Championship also in the sand and both riders are feeling confident, Tom is now in Spain testing the suspension with the Factory Team and Greg's at work, probably on someone's roof fitting tiles ?
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Tom Sagar waits for the start.
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