Reed leads from the front
A clinical display from the Aussie champion, who is now just two points behind championship leader and fellow Kawasaki rider Ryan VillopotoChad Reed (Kawasaki) has claimed his second win of the season at the fifth round of the 2014 AMA Supercross Championship at Anaheim’s Angel Stadium on February 1.
After passing defending champion Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) for the lead on the opening lap of the 20-lap 450cc final, Reed led the rest of the journey to bring up his 43rd career victory – and his eighth success at Angel Stadium, joining Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart.
KTM’s Ken Roczen was just under one second behind at the finish, with Villopoto thirds from Justin Barcia (Honda) and Weston Pieck (Suzuki). Australia’s Matt Moss (Suzuki) was 14th.
"It was a tough racetrack tonight,” said Reed.
“It was about making smart choices and putting yourself in a good position to ride 20 solid laps. This win means more to me than the last one (on January 18) where I came from behind, because it’s tougher to go out there and lead all 20 laps.
"We had our bike dialled in tonight and it was one of those nights where it felt at one with me. It was awesome through the whoops, we made a few tweaks and went with a different tyre for the main, one that I hadn’t raced before but it paid off.
The fan support tonight was also incredible and it really means a lot.”
In the standings, Villopoto is on 104 points, from Reed (102), Roczen (97), Justin Brayton (Yamaha, 86) and Stewart (80).
In the 250cc class, Aussie rookie Dean Ferris was 11th on his factory KTM.
Round six will be held at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium on February 8.
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