Racing: AMA SX begins this Saturday

The 2010 AMA supercross title - which also doubles as the world championship - commences this Saturday night at Anaheim's Angel Stadium, as Chad Reed (Kawasaki) begins his quest to reclaim the silverware from arch-rival James Stewart (Yamaha).

Last year, Reed and Stewart fought out a stirring season-long battle, with the latter eventually getting up over the then Suzuki-backed Australian.

Since then, Reed has switched camps to Kawasaki, and he has enjoyed the perfect lead-up to the 2010 AMA season by winning his second successive Super X title in Australia.

"It's been a hectic few months but I am really enjoying it all, everything from joining up with Monster and Kawasaki last year, to winning another Super X title and then joining the team back here (in the US) for pre-season testing," said Reed.

"I feel like I'm fitting in really well with the team, there is such a positive attitude here and everyone has been great. To have Ryan (Villopoto) as a teammate is exciting, as a young rider he has lots of potential and as a team we bring a lot to the table.

"The bike feels very good and we're confident that it will be ready to challenge for wins straight up.

"I'm really enjoying racing at the moment, I feel like my form and fitness is good and importantly I'm having a lot of fun out there which makes a big difference.

"A1 will be a good form guide for the rest of the season and I'm looking to open well by challenging for a win."

The 27-year-old has won on seven occasions at Anaheim, including his first AMA supercross win in 2003.

Meanwhile, Illness forced Stewart out of the final Super X round in Brisbane, but he'll be fully fit for Anaheim 1, the same event where he failed to trouble the scorer last year after he crashed and stalled his Yamaha. Yamaha's Josh Grant took full advantage of those shenanigans, as he prevailed ahead of Andrew Short (Honda) and Reed.

Stewart was obviously jolted into action by the round one DNF, as he then produced a blistering spell of racing to dominate the next seven rounds before a shell-shocked Reed eventually snapped his winning streak.

Reed (2004/2008) and Stewart (2007/2009) are the only riders in this year's open class who have won the AMA title, but that might not be the case at the end of the year with a number of other top guns chasing the ultimate prize, including the prodigiously gifted Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Davi Millsaps, Mike Alessi and Ivan Tedesco. Dungey won last year's east coast lites title.

Australians Michael Byrne, Dan Reardon and Matt Moss will also compete in the open class in 2010, although the latter, who's taken Reed's spot at Suzuki alongside Dungey, is likely to miss the opening six rounds after compressing his T5 vertebra in Brisbane last December.

Amazingly - and absurdly - the Bikesales Network has not been able to source a definitive entry list for the opening round, so we're not too sure if any other Australians have found their way into the starting roster for the open or west coast lites titles.

Anaheim 1 marks the start of an intense four-month schedule which features races on almost every consecutive weekend. The season concludes in Las Vegas on May 8.

The first AMA supercross race was held at Anaheim on December 4, 1976, with Marty Smith winning on a Honda.

Ricky Carmichael and Jeremy McGrath share the all-time AMA supercross class win record at Angel Stadium with eight wins each.