Kawasaki's Chad Reed Takes Season Opener
By TMX Archives on 25th May 10
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Chad Reed jumped out of the gate early and won the first moto of the season and then came from mid-pack in the second moto to take the overall win at Hangtown.
His teammate Nick Wey went 18-18 for 19thoverall. In the 250 class, Christophe Pourcel also went 1-3 in themotos, but the French rider earned second overall. Jake Weimer went 4-8for fourth overall, Dean Wilson finished sixth overall after going 10-4and Tyla Rattray went 8-16 for 11th overall. In the WMX class,Kawasaki's Sara Price battled a shoulder injury to finish 6-17 and 11thoverall.
After missing most of the supercross series due toinjury, Reed started the outdoor season off on the right foot grabbingthe holeshot in the first moto and never looking back as he ledwire-to-wire.
"Getting out front was key today,” said Reed. "I'm glad I was able to get the win for Monster Energy Kawasaki. Westarted testing our outdoor bike last month and it feels great. Thischampionship is very important to me and starting off with a win iswhat I needed to do.”
Pourcel picked up this outdoor seasonwhere he left off last year by winning the first moto at Hangtown. Itwasn't an easy victory by any means as Pourcel made a last lap pass toretake the lead. In the second moto, Pourcel finished third aftermaking a late pass on his teammate, Wilson, to claim second overall.
"Thetrack was difficult today,” said Pourcel. "I was riding well up frontand then I went down. I wasn't nervous at all; I just did what I neededto get back up to the front. The last lap was fun and it was good tomake the pass.”
Reed slowly, but steadily, picked his waythrough the field after getting a mid-pack start in the second moto.The Hangtown track is notoriously hard to make passes on and 2010 wasno different. Reed was one of the few riders to make up any seriousground during the moto, moving up to third and earning enough points totake the overall win.
"The second moto was a lot moredifficult,” said Reed. "This track makes it hard to get by anyone so Iknew I had my work cut out for me. I wanted to get the overall win andI knew I needed to get up to third so I pushed to get there.”
Weimerentered the outdoor season coming off a successful supercross campaignwhere he won his first pro championship. The Idaho native rode strongin both races to get fourth overall.
"I feel like I rode betterthan my results show,” said Weimer. "I've been working hard on myoutdoor program and I feel really good about it. I need to work on mystarts so I can get out front early and not have to worry about findinga way around other riders.”
Reed's first AMA win aboarda Kawasaki was also a first for the Reed family as it was the firsttime Chad has won since his son Tate was born a few weeks ago. Hangtownalso marked Tate's first appearance at the race track.
"I haveto say my mind wasn't 100% on racing while Ellie was pregnant,” saidReed. "She has been with me since I was 18 and not having her at theraces was really different. This weekend with both Ellie and Tate here,we were all together and everything felt right.”
Wilson madehis first AMA pro motocross start at Hangtown and things were lookinggood for the rookie. He got a good start in the first moto, but wentdown a couple of times and finished 10th. In the second moto he againcame out of the first turn near the front and was able to stay there,even keeping his teammate Pourcel at bay for most of the moto, beforesettling for fourth.
"I rode tight during the first moto,” saidWilson. "I just didn't know what to expect and once I loosened up I wasable to find some good lines and stay consistent. In the second motothings went a lot better and I stayed loose all the way through.”
Pricemade her debut under the Monster Energy Kawasaki tent, finishing 11thoverall while battling injuries she suffered earlier in the week.
"Whatan amazing feeling being under the Monster Energy Kawasaki tent at theraces,” said Price. "Today was tough because of my injuries. I wantedto get as many points as I could. I'm going to take some time to healand I'll be ready for Freestone in a couple of weeks.”
Rattraymissed the entire supercross season with injuries, but he returned tothe Hangtown track ready to race. Poor starts in both motos forced himto have to make passes on a very tight track.
"I'm going to beworking on my starts a lot this week,” said Rattray. "It's reallydifficult to pass at Hangtown and I needed to be closer to the front.”
Wey didn't get a good jump out of the gate in either moto and the tight track made it difficult for him to move up.
"Todaydidn't go how I thought it would,” said Wey. "I need to get betterstarts and ride a little more aggressive. The bike feels good right nowand I looking forward to getting to Texas for the next race.”
