RCvCR gets KO'd!
By TMX Archives on 12th Dec 03
THE OPENING two THQ World SXGP rounds - planned for Seville and Arnhem - have been cruelly robbed of the Ricky Carmichael/Chad Reed showdown that supercross fans worldwide have been so eagerly anticipating.The first rider to drop out of the THE OPENING two THQ World SXGP rounds - planned for Seville and Arnhem - have been cruelly robbed of the Ricky Carmichael/Chad Reed showdown that supercross fans worldwide have been so eagerly anticipating.The first rider to drop out of the running was RC when he decided to switch from the two-stroke CR250 to the CR450F four-banger less than three weeks before the series was due to begin. This meant the AMA champ was unwilling to travel to Europe as it would eat into valuable testing time before the AMA series kicks off at Anaheim on January 3.Then, during one of these test sessions, RC tore the ACL in his knee - ending any chance of the Angry Elf riding in the '04 SX season and paving the way for Reed to dominate. Right?Wrong! Less than five days after the announcement of RC's injury, Reed dislocated his shoulder in a non-riding incident rumoured to be suffered while playing pool. After successful orthoscopic surgery to the dodgy joint it's hoped that Chad will be back in action for the AMA series. But who does that leave in contention for the THQ World SXGP series?It all could come down to a battle between fast but fragile South African Grant Langston on the Red Bull KTM and Honda's Ernesto Fonseca, who rounded out the podium behind RC and Reed more often than not throughout the '03 supercross season.Deadlines being deadlines, by the time this issue of dbr hits the shelves Seville will be done and dusted and Arnhem will be right upon us so you'll have to wait until our February issue - on sale January 17 - for answers.