After eight months away from racing, Chad Reed has returned in spectacular fashion, taking out the second round of the Terex Australian Supercross Championship at Phillip Island in support of the AirAsia Australian MotoGP.
Early on it looked as though Kawasaki’s Jay Marmont may have had the measure of his Australian rival, the pair holding station throughout qualifying and heat racing. Once Reed got his eye in though, he could not be stopped.
A holeshot from the start of the Final was all that Reed needed. Marmont was able to close the gap when Reed went softly over a set of triple jumps, however the gap was still over two seconds at the drop of the chequers.
Marmont holds his Series lead by five points by virtue of his second placing and CDR Yamaha’s Daniel McCoy completed the podium.
It was a victory on debut for the 2013 Honda that Reed and TwoTwo Motorsports will take into battle next year and whilst this weekend at the Island is mostly about another Kurri Kurri and Honda legend in Casey Stoner, one could have been forgiven for thinking that the focus was on Reed.
Escaping the rare air of the MotoGP paddock and joining the massive crowd at the Lukey Heights supercross track were MotoGP stars Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow.
“Last weekend was my first ride back and my starts were horrible,” said Reed. “I holeshot a couple tonight and felt like we had made some gains – we are full steam ahead on 2013 plans. This was a really special event, I love it I and wish every Supercross weekend was like this.”
In the Pro Lites category, Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Gavin Faith took a holeshot win – but survival from turn one proved to be critical. Seven riders went down in a pileup, costing several Championship contenders the opportunity to score maximum points including Luke Styke and Errol Willis.
Faith took his second straight win from BCP Honda Fox Racing pilot Geran Stapleton.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (After two rounds):
Championship Points:
Open: J Marmont (Kawasaki) 47pts 1, D McCoy (Yamaha) 42pts 2, L Bopping (Yamaha) 36pts 3, J Moss (Honda) 36pts 4, T Waters (Suzuki) 30pts 5, T Simmonds (Honda) 30pts 6, C Reed (Honda) 25pts 7, C Boyd (Honda) 25pts 8, B MacKenzie (Kawasaki) 25pts 9, J Wright (KTM) 22pts 10.
Lites: G Faith (Honda) 50pts 1, G Stapleton (Honda) 37pts 2, R Marmont (KTM) 36pts 3, S Clarke (Suzuki) 36pts 4, K Mosig (Kawasaki) 33pts 5, S Coloumb (Suzuki) 28pts 6, L Clout (Yamaha) 23pts 7, N Sutherland (Kawasaki) 22pts 8, L Styke (Yamaha) 20pts 9, J Booth-Elliot (Honda) 18pts 10.
