Reed third after last lap hi-jinx
The Aussie led the AMA supercross main event in Atlanta for 16 of the 20 laps before colliding with James Stewart in a dramatic final stanza
A dramatic last lap clash between Chad Reed and James Stewart has seen the Australian finish third in round eight of the 2011 AMA Supercross Championship in Atlanta, Georgia, despite leading 16 of the 20 ‘Main Event’ laps.
The duo battled bar-to-bar over the final laps and, as they entered the whoops on the final lap, the two collided, falling to the ground.
Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) and Ryan Dungey (Dungey) slipped past to take the first two spots while Reed (Honda) remounted to salvage third place ahead of Stewart (Yamaha).
“James put a hard pass on me earlier in the race, so I just put one right back on him,” said Reed.
“Lappers cost me a lot of time, but it was my fault. I made the wrong call going through the whoops and ended up on the left side of him (Chris Blose) and there was nothing I could do -- it was the wrong move.
“I am happy to be on the podium, but knowing I had a win in my sights and threw it away -- that sucks.
“At the end of the race with 25pts on the line I would expect James to put it up the inside of me just as I put it up the inside of him. Unfortunately we both went down and gave these two kids (Villopoto and Dungey) a one-two.
“I put myself in the position to win and I made mistakes like everyone else did. It was a good race, we all made mistakes but we all recovered and we were all fighting at the end.”
Reed’s fellow Aussie Brett Metcalfe was 10th on his factory Suzuki.
Villopoto now leads the championship by 10pts (171 to 161) over Stewart, with Reed third on 146.
Daytona International Speedway will host the next instalment, round nine of 17, on Saturday, March 5.
Click on the following link for full AMA supercross results.
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