Reed’s title charge back on track…
Published: 31st March 2008
Author: Pondo
Chad Reed’s assault on the 2008 has turned back on course after an emphatic win in Toronto on Saturday - the Australian won going away on a technically-challenging track to put himself firmly back in the driving seat.
With the Lites class regulars getting the weekend off, Chad Reed put on a Supercross master class all of his own. Qualifying out of his heat despite a tumble that saw him just fifth, in the main event the San Manuel Yamaha rider was simply in a class of his own, taking a gate to flag victory with a little fastest lap sweetener when it seemed like everyone else struggled mightily with the conditions, some measure of compensation for the mishaps of the last two rounds that cast doubts on his ability to close the deal on the ’08 crown. The 2004 champion took a week off over Easter, flying back home to Australia and not even riding during the break, but it seems like the layoff did him the world of good, as he now enters the final five rounds with a 20 point lead over Kevin Windham. K-Dub, by contrast, had a day of ups and downs - the Torco Fuels Honda vet made easy work of an average start to pass Davi Millsaps for second after Millsaps dropped it on lap two, but Duke staged a fight back that saw him fight off teammate Andrew Short, then retake second from K-Dub as Windham also fell. Windham was in no mood to submit, however, charging back to retake second with five laps left - with every point vital in his fight for the crown, the Mississippian must realise that no-one has the pace to match Reed. If there’s any hope of an upset, it must come from maximising his scores and being there to pick the pieces if Chad has an off day. Millsaps and Short took third and fourth for Honda, whilst Josh Hill had an entertaining day, finishing an excellent fifth despite a brace of crashes.
Next weekend - it all goes off, big style. We have the first Grand Prix, at Valkenswaard, AMA Supercross at Texas, the first round of the DEP series at Canada Heights, and the AMCA Superclass, at Worcester MXC’s Tirley Scramblebank. It’s the full gamut, from the sublime all the way down to the ridiculous and all points in between…