Reed and Reardon lead the Australian charge at Hangtown

Australia's Chad Reed (Suzuki) has moved into third place in the AMA Motocross Championship after round two in Sacramento, California, last weekend.

Reed, 27, recovered from a off-track adventure in the opening moto to finish sixth, and then just finished on the tail of the leading battle between Mike Alessi (Suzuki) and Josh Grant (Yamaha) in the second 16-lapper.

Both races were won by Alessi, after Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto claimed the double in round one.

"It's good to come away with third at a track I don't usually enjoy," said Reed. "I made a slow start in the first moto and picking off positions when you're one of 30 riders isn't easy.

"I was coming through the field fairly strongly and really finding my feet before I was forced off the track alongside another rider and had to wait to re-enter.

"I knew I'd need to start well in the second moto and was quick into the first corner. There was a fairly heated battle going on in front of me, I was alone on the track and could concentrate on picking the best lines and making up the time that they were losing.

"In the end I closed in on second, but wasn't close enough. I felt good on the bike and am pumped to have picked up another spot in the championship through consistent results."

Queenslander Daniel Reardon went 5-7 at Hangtown, and New South Welshman Jake Moss went 24-7. Both were riding Hondas.

New Zealander Cody Cooper (Yamaha), who was fourth in last year's championship, also rediscovered some of his slick touch after a recent fallow period, and was fourth in race one, just behind the Honda of Andrew Short. Race two wasn't so kind when he finished a lap down in 23rd.

Meanwhile, Villopoto attempted to race with a knee knee injury, but laboured to 16th in race one before deciding to sit out the rest of the day.

He's hoping to be fit for round three in Texas this weekend. Villopoto is still fourth on 55pts, behind Alessi (92), Grant (74) and Reed (73).

In the 250cc class, Australia's Brett Metcalfe (Honda) went 4-5, with the races won by Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki) and Ryan Dungey (Suzuki) respectively.

Metcalfe is fifth overall, only 23pts behind the pacesetter, Dungey.

For full results and standings, click here.