Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Chad Reed recorded his third Main Event win of the 2009 season at St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome tonight, greeting the chequered flag by a solid margin of almost 5 seconds.
He was consistently fast in practice and qualifying, finding a rhythm early and only requiring a few minor tweaks to reach a suitable setup for the 20-lap final.
Reed made a steady start, cementing himself in the top 3 as the jostle for positions ensued.
He made his way into the lead on lap 3, but was passed by championship rival James Stewart a lap later.
The pair then sparred for the remainder of the race, with Reed close on his rival’s tail but forced to negotiate his way around various lapped riders in the latter stages.
Stewart made another mistake on lap 15 and Reed seized the opportunity to take back control of the race, which he maintained until the wave of the chequered flag.
The result sees Reed collect another maximum points haul and pull away from second in the chase for the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship title.
“I am stoked,” said Reed. “It all started in practice for me tonight, I felt good, the bike wasn’t the fastest out there but it was consistent which is what is working for me at the moment.
“This thing is 20 laps, not 1 lap, its about being there all race long and capitalising where possible, which is what I did.
“We raced the bike as we pulled it off the truck, I want to thank the whole team for their commitment, the bike didn’t miss a beat all week.
“Our lead is now 11 points, which is good. We’ll take it race by race from hereon in, as we have all season.”
Reed has 271 points next to his name after 12 rounds of competition.
As well as three hard-fought wins, the defending champion’s campaign has been built on consistency – he has finished on the podium at every round of the season.
The next round will be held at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday night.
— Yamaha Report
San Manuel Yamaha star James Stewart left the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis for the twelfth round of the 2009 AMA Supercross Championship frustrated after a mistake caused the most successful rider of this year’s series to lose his ninth win of the season and concede three points to main title rival Chad Reed, with just five races remaining in the campaign.
Almost 56,000 spectators saw the YZ450F ace take the lead from brand-mate Josh Grant on the third lap and lead the field for more than half of the Main Event before missing a gear exiting the whoops section and hitting the dirt. He quickly remounted to re-enter the fray in fourth spot and overtake Grant on the final circulation for the runner-up spot.
The 23 year old had set the fastest lap on the night and clearly deserved a career 34th victory. It was a costly mistake however that allowed Reed to win for the third time in 2009 with the Australian yet to drop out of the top three.
“It was tough going through those whoops, I went into neutral that last time, and unfortunately it cost me,” said Stewart who has taken ten podium finishes from twelve meetings but has been damaged by a DNF and 7th position at Daytona. “I just had an off night, and honestly I’m glad to come out of here safe. I’ve never won this class here. I’ve always had something… The first year I DNF-ed, the second year Chad took me out, and after that, I took myself out.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Josh Grant returned to the podium for the first time since round two and after a few barren races. The impressive Rookie took the holeshot on his YZ450F and completed the 20 laps with a bent gear lever. He can now count on 8 top five results to stand 4th in the points entering the final phase of the season. “I got pretty lucky because my shifter got bent and I had to race the whole race in third gear,” he recalled. “Good thing I have a clutch! I had to work that thing.”
2008 West Coast Lites Champion Jason Lawrence obtained fifth place; giving Yamaha three YZ450Fs in the top five.
Stewart will be hoping to close the 11 point deficit to Reed next week with the sole non-U.S stop on the SX tour as the competition moves to the Roger Centre in Toronto.
— Pictorial – Image Gallery from Daytona Supercross
— Download – Full Round 12 Results (65Kb PDF)
| AMA Supercross Results, St Louis 1. Chad Reed, Suzuki 2. James Stewart, Yamaha / 4.4secs 3. Josh Grant, Yamaha / 7.3 secs 4. Andrew Short, Honda / 9.1 secs 5. Jason Lawrence, Yamaha / 11.8 secs 6. Ivan Tedesco, Honda / 13.7 secs 7. Mike Alessi, Suzuki / 27.6 secs 8. Davi Millsaps, Honda / 29.8 secs 9. Kevin Windham, Honda / 31.4 secs 10. Paul Carpenter, Kawasaki / 34.3 secs |
AMA SX Standings 1. Chad Reed, Suzuki, 271 2. James Stewart, Yamaha, 260 3. Andrew Short, Honda, 197 4. Josh Grant, Yamaha, 172 5. Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki, 165 6. Ivan Tedesco, Honda, 163 7. Mike Alessi, Suzuki, 160 8. Kevin Windham, Honda, 158 9. Davi Millsaps, Honda, 152 10. Josh Hill, Yamaha, 108 |
| AMA SX Lites 1. Blake Wharton, Honda 2. Austin Stroupe, Kawasaki / 15.3 secs 3. Nico Izzi, Suzuki / 18.3 secs 4. Matthew Goerke, Suzuki / 34.8 secs 5. Chris Pourcel, Kawasaki / 38.1 secs 6. Matt Lemoine, Yamaha / 39.2 secs 7. Steven Clarke, Suzuki / 46.6 secs 8. Daniel Blair, Honda / 49.1 secs 9. Darryn Durham, Yamaha / 52.0 secs 10. Shane Sewell, Yamaha Pictorial – Image Gallery from Daytona Supercross Download – Full Round 12 Results (65Kb PDF) |
AMA SX Lites East Standings 1. Pourcel 131 2. Stroupe 106 3. Izzi 102 4. Wharton 91 5. Jesseman 73 6. Goerke 68 7. Hahn 68 8. Lemoine 66 9. Clarke 65 10. Blair 63 |
