Racing: Reed turns the screws in New Zealand

Chad Reed is all set to retain his Super X open title following a powerhouse performance at the penultimate round in New Zealand last Saturday night.

Reed (Monster Energy Kawasaki) continued his imperious form with a clean sweep through the
Quad Challenge final at the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, while a spectacular crash by former front runner Jay Marmont (Rockstar CDR Yamaha) saw him finish well down the standings and slump from first to third in the standings.

Reed was the main beneficiary of Marmont's hapless outing, and now leads the championship by 14pts - 132 to 118 -- over Daniel Reardon (Woodstock Honda Thor Racing).

Marmont is in third, 6pts ahead of Tye Simmonds (Motorex KTM), who finished second overall in Hamilton ahead of Reardon, Michael Byrne (Rockstar Maxima Honda Racing) and Daniel McCoy (Pacific Ink Coastal KTM High Roller Energy).

"It's good to be able to be here in New Zealand and bring the series to a really passionate fan base," said Reed. "I came here needing to win and really put my head down, we've been doing quite a bit of development work and found a lot of pace in the bike this week.

"I made a few mistakes in the earlier rounds and it has been hard work to undo those and get back the lead, but I'm feeling more and more confident each race and it is really good to leave here with a good lead."

Reed now only has to remain vigilant at the final round in Brisbane on December 5 to guarantee a second consecutive Super X title, while the battle for second place will be a spirited affair between Reardon, Marmont and Simmonds - the latter now in the middle of some inspired form.

"I am so pumped to be on the podium again after my third at the Geelong round, which is awesome," said Simmonds.  "It's such a good feeling, given the riders I am up against have so much more experience.  

"It's a collective effort to get a podium result, and without all these people around supporting me I wouldn't be able to concentrate 100 per cent on my racing.  Brisbane's going to be a big event, and my preparation leading up to that round will be pretty much the same as every other round -- as much bike time as possible."
Meanwhile, New Zealand rider Michael Phillips claimed the non points-scoring lites final after banging bars with the only Australian rider in the field, Danny Anderson (Pacific Ink Coastal KTM High Roller Energy).  Local rider Jesse Wiky (Peter Glidden Honda) was third.

Matt Moss has already wrapped up the lites title, so he took the opportunity to race in the open division in New Zealand, finishing eighth overall despite failing to see out one of the Quad Challenge races.

NEW ZEALAND RESULTS

Open
1 Chad REED, Kawasaki, 20-20-20-20
2 Tye SIMMONDS, KTM, 19-19-17-17
3 Dan REARDON, Honda, 18-10-19-18
4 Michael BYRNE, Honda, 15-17-16-15
5 Daniel McCOY, KTM, 17-16-18-11
6 Todd WATERS, Honda, 14-15-12-16
7 Craig ANDERSON, Kawasaki, 13-14-15-13
8 Matt MOSS, Shift Motul Suzuki, 16-18-0-19
9 Cody MACKIE, Kawasaki, 12-13-14-14
10 Cameron TAYLOR, Suzuki, 8-12-13-8

Current open standings (after six of seven rounds):
1 REED, 132
2 REARDON, 118
3 Jay MARMONT, Yamaha, 114
4 SIMMONDS, 108
5 McCOY, 94
6 MACKIE, 80
7 Cheyne BOYD, Yamaha, 77
8 ANDERSON, 69
9 TAYLOR, 67
10 Troy CARROLL, Kawasaki, 66