Chad Reed wins AMA Supercross in Anaheim

Chad Reed won again on Saturday as his title bid gathers pace in the AMA Supercross series.

The Thunder from Down Under edged a holeshot from Davi Millsaps, but when he tried to pull out, he found he had company in the form of Kevin Windham.

Windham made a decent fist of bringing the battle to Chad Reed, showing a wheel to the Australian’s San Manuel Yamaha on a few occasions without being ruthless enough to make it stick, but then lost the sharp edge of his pace as his front tyre lost pressure, riding a smart race to hang on to fourth.

Out front, Reed was largely on his own, but unable to produce his normal devastating pace – as Kevin Windham fell back, first Millsaps then Tim Ferry set about trying to force the issue. But Reed had it all in hand and crossed the line almost five seconds to the good.

If there’s a glimmer of hope that someone could mount a challenge to Chad Reed for race wins, it comes from Kevin Windham, Davi Millsaps and Tim Ferry. Wins, but not the title.

Chad Reed is 26 points clear, now, more than a race win. There’s a long way to go, but it would take a disaster for Reed not to canter to his second Supercross title.

In the Lites class, conversely, the championship was blown wide open as series leader Ryan Dungey hit the buffers. The Makita Suzuki youngster suffered a terrible start in the main, then got involved in an incident with Wil Hahn and went down during his spirited fight back.

Ryan Dungey did very well to fight back to a second time to finish 11th, for ten points that could well make a difference at the end of the season. In contrast, out front Jason Lawrence made quick work of the fast-starting Austin Stroupe and didn’t put a wheel wrong for the rest of the night.

Rookie Stroupe was also rock-solid, consolidating his decent start to the season by holding on for second, ahead of his veteran team mate Brett Metcalfe.

Dungey’s valiant effort leaves him with eight points in hand over Lawrence, with Daniel Reardon a further eight points back from Jason Lawrence.

Anaheim 3 AMA Supercross round five results:
 
1 Chad Reed – Yamaha
2 Davi Millsaps – Honda
3 Tim Ferry – Kawasaki
4 Kevin Windham – Honda
5 Andrew Short – Honda
6 Mike Alessi – Suzuki

AMA Supercross Standings:

1 Chad Reed – 122
2 Kevin Windham – 96
3 Tim Ferry – 77
4 Mike Alessi – 69
5 Andrew Short – 67
6 Davi Millsaps – 65 

Anaheim 3 AMA Supercross Lites West Coast Round five results:
 
1 Jason Lawrence – Yamaha
2 Austin Stroupe – Kawasaki
3 Brett Metcalfe – Kawasaki

AMA Supercross Lites West Coast Standings:

1 Ryan Dungey – 96
2 Jason Lawrence – 88
3 Dan Reardon – 80