Reed strikes first in US Supercross

Chad Reed won the first round of the AMA Supercross series on Saturday after series favourite James Stewart fell in turn one.

Reed stalled his San Manuel Yamaha on the second lap, dropping back to fourth but his quick restart, meant he was still firmly among the front-runners, and he was back at the head of the field by the end of lap five, never to be headed.

Reigning champion Stewart, meanwhile, was scything his way back through the pack in tricky wet conditions. From dead last, he was into second place by the halfway mark, passing both Grant Langston and Tim Ferry within two corners.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki star, so often labelled impetuous, then showed smart thinking, settling into a pace that would bring home second rather than risking everything to try and catch a Reed who was by that point a long way down the road.

Ferry came out ahead of a race-long battle with Langston to claim the third step on the podium.

In the West Coast Lites class, it was the 2007 Rookie of the Year, Ryan Dungey, who came out on top – the Makita Suzuki youngster was one of five riders involved in an intense battle that lasted for the first third of the race, before he secured second place and followed Yamaha of Troy’s Jason Lawrence into a bit of clear track ahead of the pack.

Having followed J-Law for a few laps, Dungey made an impressive pass, literally jumping into the lead – Lawrence stayed on his tail, but when he tried to sneak an inside pass in return, he was betrayed by the slick conditions and lost the front end, although he would reclaim second ahead of an impressive Justin Brayton. 

AMA Supercross
Round one, Anaheim 1
1  Chad Reed  
2  James Stewart  
3  Timmy Ferry 
4  Grant Langston 
5  Kevin Windham 
6  Mike Alessi  
7  David Millsaps 
8  Andrew Short 
9  Nicholas Wey
10  David Vuillemin

AMA Supercross Lites West Coast
Round One, Anaheim 1
1  Ryan Dungey 
2  Jason Lawrence 
3  Justin Brayton