Reed wins Anaheim2

Yamaha’s Chad Reed seized control of the AMA Supercross championship on Saturday after James Stewart withdrew with an injury.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider had been riding with a knee injury sustained back before Christmas, resting between races and hoping it would heal, but the pounding of a Supercross series would not allow it to mend.

The extent of the injury is not yet known, but the gap between Chad and James is so small, missing just one round will most likely effectively hand the title to Reed.

After the news of Stewart’s withdrawal, and amidst a flurry of  retro 1986 garnish, there was plenty of racing action – in the Lites class, the Pro Circuit Kawasaki of 16-year-old Austin Stroupe got the holeshot and led early on, a fine rejoinder to failing to qualify last week.

Ryan Dungey soon came sailing by, followed shortly by Broc Hepler’s factory Yamaha – Hepler made a big effort to close Dungey down, but the Makita Suzuki youngster had it all in hand, and clinched his second win of the year to strengthen his position at the head of the table.

Fast-starting Mike Alessi took his almost traditional holeshot, but Chad Reed made a quick move to lead the Supercross class. The talented Australian slowly eked out a lead, riding cleverly and maintaining the gap whenever anyone looked like closing up, whilst young Yamaha comrade Josh Hill moved into an early podium position.

Behind Hill, the veteran Kevin Windham also made his way past Aless, but the Torco Honda rider was unable to catch Josh by the time the chequers flew.

AMA Supercross

Round 3, Anaheim 2
1 Chad Reed – Yamaha
2 Josh Hill – Yamaha
3 Kevin Windham – Honda
4 Mike Alessi – Suzuki
5 Ivan Tedesco – Honda
6 Timmy Ferry – Kawasaki

AMA Supercross Lites West Coast

Round 3, Anaheim 2
1 Ryan Dungey – Suzuki
2 Broc Hepler – Yamaha
3 Austin Stroupe – Kawasaki

Supercross standings

1 Reed 72                                             
2 Windham 56                                              
3 Alessi 48                                               
4 Stewart 47                                            
5 Ferry 46                                               
6 Short 43

Supercross Lites West Coast standings

1 Dungey 72
2 Hepler 50
3 Reardon 49