Reed leads Phillip Island Supercross start to finish in front of record MotoGP crowds
Monday 29 October: A packed Phillip Island crowd turned out to watch TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed take victory as the Terex Australian Supercross Championships made a spectacular debut showing alongside the AirAsia Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Lukey Heights track proved
a huge drawcard for two-wheel fans who were treated to intense and close
competition across the talent-filled fields.
And it wasn't just
the fans captivated by the racing - MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi,
Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow were amongst the many
high-profile riders to make their way to the other side of circuit once
their own qualifying sessions had concluded.
Carlton Dry Pro
Open Championship leader, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jay Marmont was
resilient against the Reed charge early on, topping the head-to-head
matchup with the multiple AMA Supercross Champion in practice and
qualifying.
Reed found his feet in their heat race, with Carlton
Dry Honda Thor Racing’s Ben Townley showing his speed to come home
second ahead of Marmont.
The Main Event belonged to Reed, who,
despite over eight months off the bike away from competitive racing,
controlled the pace from start to finish.
He took the holeshot
from Marmont and form CDR Yamaha pilot Danel McCoy and looked comfortable
for the duration, only slowing to roll a triple which allowed the points
leader to close momentarily.
Reed’s advantage was 2.085s
as he greeted the chequered flag for a memorable victory.
Chad Reed wins the Carlton Dry Open battle. Credit: Shayne Rice.
"It feels good to win, especially after eight months off the
bike,” said Reed. "Last weekend was my first ride back and my
starts were horrible.
"I holeshot a couple tonight and
felt like we had made some gains - we are full steam ahead on 2013
plans.
"This was a really special event, I love it I and
wish every Supercross weekend was like this.
"Thanks to
the fans for coming out today, I hope we will be back next year, bigger and
better.”
The maximum points haul moves Reed to seventh on
the standings which are still topped by Marmont.
He’ll
take a five-point lead and the red plate to round three in a fortnight, and
was happy to take away solid points after a strong performance.
"I had a couple of offs in my heat races so I knew I had to get a
good start in the main and try and get out in front,” said
Marmont.
"Chad and I came into that first corner doing a
bit of Casey Stoner sliding but we held on and kept it upright.
"He made a mistake coming into the triple and had to roll it which
gave me the chance to catch back up to him.
"I felt great
and being here in this atmosphere is just awesome - this was an awesome
event and hopefully we will be back next year.”
McCoy made
it two podiums from two starts yesterday and maintains second on the points
ladder and a legitimate title chance heading to Toowoomba.
Teammate Lawson Bopping repeated his fourth place finish from Dubbo to
move ahead of Campbell Mining Honda’s Jake Moss, who was fifth.
Phillip
Island. Rd 2 Race Results:
Open: C Reed (Honda) 12m14.825s 1, J Marmont
(Kawasaki) 12m16.910s 2, D McCoy (Yamaha) 12m18.208s 3, L Bopping (Yamaha)
12m21.011s 4, J Moss (Honda) 12m23.169s 5, T Waters (Suzuki) 12m25.488s 6,
T Simmonds (Honda) 12m30.715s 7, B Townley (Honda) 12m41.106s 8, C Boyd
(Honda) 12m43.592s 9, B MacKenzie (Kawasaki) 12m47.323s 10.
Championship
Points:
Open: J Marmont (Kawasaki)
47pts 1, D McCoy (Yamaha) 42pts 2, L Bopping (Yamaha) 36pts 3, J Moss
(Honda) 36pts 4, T Waters (Suzuki) 30pts 5, T Simmonds (Honda) 30pts 6, C
Reed (Honda) 25pts 7, C Boyd (Honda) 25pts 8, B MacKenzie (Kawasaki) 25pts
9, J Wright (KTM) 22pts 10.
Ben Townley comment courtesy of Carlton Dry Honda Thor Racing. Townley was buoyed by a positive weekend finishing 2nd and 4th in his heat races before racing to a
solid eighth in the final.
"This was a definite
improvement on the previous round. Race-by-race
I am making gains and that is all I can ask for. I
have to think of the big picture and use these events to build a foundation
for 2013. It is hard to sit on the start-line with that
approach but to come back from an injury like that, is a steady re-building
process. Overall I was stoked to be part of this
weekends event. Huge props to all involved it can only benefit our
sport.”
LITES:
A first-corner pileup played havoc with a number of the Terex Pro
Lites title contenders in their Main Event.
Carlton Dry Honda
Thor Racing’s Gavin Faith holeshot the 15-lap final and established
an early race rhythm in the lead.
He managed to steer clear of
the 7-rider pileup which put an end to the charge of Serco Yamaha Metal
Mulisha Racing’s Luke Styke and Raceline Pirelli Suzuki’s Errol
Willis.
Faith opened an advantage and was able to keep the
fast-finishg BCP Honda Fox Racing pilot Geran Stapleton in check to record
his second straight win.
Faith extends his win streak in the Terex Lites
class. Credit: Shayne Rice.
"I didn’t feel great in
practice but we made some changes and I felt great in my heats and the
final,” said Faith.
"I had a couple of close calls
and almost went down a few times but made it to the end and was able to
build on my round 1 result.”
He moves 13 points clear of
Stapleton on the table, with JDR KTM’s Ryan Marmont finishing on the
final step of the podium today to climb into third.
Stapleton
was elated to be able to ride back through the field and claim second place
on the podium.
"This is a pretty awesome feeling – I
didn’t even know I was in second, I thought I was fourth,” said
Stapleton.
"I was concentrating that hard as it was
totally different to Dubbo, I had to come through the field and it was a
pretty tight track.
"It was so cool being on the same
weekend as MotoGP and having the crowds there to watch us.”
Also caught up in the first-corner melee was Monster Energy Kawasaki
rider Kade Mosig.
After a second-place finish in Dubbo, Mosig
was forced into recovery mode in yesterday's drama-filled final and did
well to finish 10th.
Suzuki rider Steven Clarke was consistent
with another fourth place finish, holding down fourth on the standings and
now ahead of Mosig who drops to fifth.
The action continues
today as tomorrow’s stars in the Unit Under 19s and Pirelli Junior
Lites go into battle.
The AirAsia Australian Motorcycle Grand
Prix recorded its highest-ever Saturday visitor numbers yesterday, with
thousands of the 40,245 making their way to Lukey Heights to witness the
world-class Supercross action.
Phillip
Island. Rd 2 Race Results:
Lites: G Faith (Honda) 9m14.068s 1, G Stapleton (Honda)
9m17.172s 2, R Marmont (KTM) 9m20.979s 3, S Clarke (Suzuki) 9m21.786s 4, L
Clout (Yamaha) 9m32.113s 5, S Coloumb (Suzuki) 9m36.803s 6, J Booth-Elliot
(Honda) 9m49.774s 7, T Potter (KTM) 9m52.006s 8, T Cachia (KTM) +1 lap 9, K
Mosig (Kawasaki) +1 lap 10.
Championship
Points:
Lites: G Faith
(Honda) 50pts 1, G Stapleton (Honda) 37pts 2, R Marmont (KTM) 36pts 3, S
Clarke (Suzuki) 36pts 4, K Mosig (Kawasaki) 33pts 5, S Coloumb (Suzuki)
28pts 6, L Clout (Yamaha) 23pts 7, N Sutherland (Kawasaki) 22pts 8, L Styke
(Yamaha) 20pts 9, J Booth-Elliot (Honda) 18pts 10.
Ends.
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