The AMA 450 Supercross 20 lap main event was presented in Daytona last Saturday and Suzuki rider Chad Reed did an outstanding job by winning the race and taking over the points lead.
With qualifying heat winners James Stewart and Josh Hill, both on Yamaha machines, were involved in a first turn crash, Mike Alessi (Suzuki) led from Jason Lawrence (Yamaha), who was riding in his first 450 Supercross final. On lap three, those two traded places, while Thomas Hahn (Kawasaki) and Kevin Windham (Honda) followed in third and fourth.
Suzuki's Chad Reed was seventh after a bad start, but by lap 8, he was up to fourth and was pushing Windham for third. At the halfway point, Jason Laurence was still leading while Reed had moved up to second.
With eight laps to go Laurence had 8 seconds but was in trouble, as Reed appeared to get stronger while Laurence seemed to tire over the extra 5 laps of the main event, as he was used to the shorter finals in the smaller class..
At the checkered flag, Chad Reed was well into the lead and won handily. Jason Lawrence held on for second after a good learning race for him, while Davi Millsaps (Honda) was third, followed by Mike Alessi in fourth and Kevin Windham in fifth.
Reed now takes over the points lead by 11 points over Stewart in second position.
But the show of the night was put on by James Stewart (Yamaha) who dominated his heat then fell in the first corner in the final. He got back up, minus his goggles after another rider had run over his helmet and ripped them off, and tried to get on another Yamaha, then found his bike and got going in last place. Stewart then flew over everyone else, clawing his way back to 7th and minimising his championship points loss. All this without eye protection - you could feel how mad he was!
Round 10 - Daytona - March 7450 Supercross Results
1. Chad Reed SUZ
2. Jason Lawrence YAM
3. Davi Millsaps HON
4. Mike Alessi SUZ
5. K Windham HON
6. R Villopoto KAW
7. James Stewart YAM
8. Andrew Short HON
9. R Sipes KTM
10. T Hahn KAW
11. Josh Hill YAM
12. Broc Hepler YAM
13. I Tedesco HON
14. T Bowers HON
15. H Voss HON
16. K Chisholm YAM
17. B Coisy HON
18. M Boni HON
19. Tim Ferry KAW
20. M Byrne SUZ | 450 Point Standings
Chad Reed 224
James Stewart 213
Andrew Short 163
Josh Grant 153
R Villopoto 140
Ivan Tedesco 138
Davi Millsaps 136
Mike Alessi 131
Kevin Windham 128
Tim Ferry 100
Josh Hill 92
H Voss 65
N Wey 55
Ben Coisy 55
P Carpenter 46
Matt Boni 45
Kyle Chisholm 43 |
Photo Credit : Philippe Champoux
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