IN HOUSTON
Team Rockstar Makita's Chad Reed staged another amazing race from the back to finish second at Saturday's Houston Supercross after being squeezed out in the first corner.
The reigning AMA/ FIM Supercross World Champion proved the pace of the RM-Z450 Suzuki - as he did last week at Anaheim when he came back from a crash - to finish second behind James Stewart (Yamaha) and keep his series lead intact by three points.
Makita Suzuki teammate Mike Alessi also celebrated his strongest results of the season: Alessi finished fourth in his heat race and then got the holeshot in the Main Event where he eventually brought home a seventh-placed result.
Michael Byrne did not race due to an injury sustained in the off-season. He hopes to be back racing as soon as possible.
In the Supercross Lites class Nico Izzi picked up a podium position in the season-opening round of the East Coast series. The 2008 AMA Supercross / Motocross Rookie of the Year finished third in his heat race and then third in the Main Event at Houston on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250.
Chad Reed:
"It was tough for me this weekend. I don't know why. It was really a struggle all weekend. I didn't have the groove and I was pushing it and I fell a few times in practice so it wasn't for lack of trying. But to get on the podium and to get second is awesome, considering how I felt out there. Basically, I'm just trying to get out there and do what I can do and try to get on the podium: I'm happy that we didn't lose any ground this weekend, even though we struggled a bit."
Mike Alessi:
"This was a good weekend. We are steadily improving with every race, getting a little more speed, a little more confidence, a little bit more aggression. In practice I was in the top-10 times. In the heat race I ended up fourth - I bettered last week by one position. In the Main I got the holeshot. My Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 got me off to a great start and I was riding up front, battling with the top guys and then I was running sixth for most of the race. I made a mistake at the end though and I ended up seventh. Like I've been saying, I'm working on steady improvement and getting better everyweek."
Nico Izzi:
"My day was pretty good, though it started out a little rough. I had a pretty good get-off in the first practice and I had to regroup from that. I came out in the second practice and put in some good laps. In the heat race, I was able to work my way up into third. Then, in the Main Event, I got a pretty good start and was in second and put in about eight laps. But then I made a mistake and moved back to third. I was struggling to get back into it but I held on for a podium position."
Supercross Results: 1 James Stewart (Yamaha), 2 Chad Reed (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), 3 Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki), 4 Andrew Short (Honda), 5 Josh Grant (Yamaha), 6 Ivan Tedesco (Honda), 7 Mike Alessi (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), 8 Tim Ferry (Kawasaki), 9 Kevin Windham (Honda), 10 Davi Millsaps (Honda).
Supercross points (after 4 rounds): 1 Reed 86, 2 Stewart 77, 3 Grant 77, 4 Short 71, 5 Villopoto 68, 6 Tedesco, 7 Ferry 56, 8 Windham 53, 9 Alessi 46, 10 Millsaps 42.
Supercross Lites: 1 Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki), 2 Brett Metcalfe (Honda), 3 Nico Izzi (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), 4 Austin Stroupe (Kawasaki), 5 Blake Wharton (Honda), 6 Wil Hahn (KTM), 7 Martin Davalos (KTM), 8 Darryn Durham (Yamaha), 9 Daniel Blair (Honda), 10 Matthew Goerke (Suzuki).
Lites points (after 1 round): 1 Pourcel 25, 2 Metcalfe 22, 3 Izzi 20, 4 Stroupe 18, 5 Wharton 16, 6 Hahn 15, 7 Davalos 14, 8 Durham 13, 9 Blair 12, 10 Goerke 11.
