Reed 2008 champion with Las Vegas victory
By TMX Archives on 5th May 08
Chad Reed is the new 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross /FIM World Championship number one after registering his ninth victory of the season in front of more than 39,000 spectators at the Sam Boyd stadium in Las Vegas last weekend.
The Australian, still recovering from a broken shoulder blade, went into thefinal round of seventeen with a ten point lead over main rival Kevin Windham butblitzed the field once more aboard his YZ450F to clinch his second crown in theclass (the other obtained in 2004).
Reed obtained his 13th podium of theseason after an electric start that saw him pull through from outside the topfive on the first lap to pass Windham and motor to the chequered flag by oversix seconds. The track inside the Nevada venue was one of the longest andtrickiest of the season but Reed coped with the pressure of seeing Windham takevictory in the two previous races to produce a vintage and deserving performancewhen it counted.
"I didn't really think about winning until I saw thatKevin [Windham] wasn't really riding away," he commented. "I didn't know what hewas doing, or what his gameplan was, but I felt really confident from the Heatrace that I had a lot more speed than him. It seemed like any time, I could justpull up right alongside of him, and I was stronger in the whoops. Then we madesome changes to the bike to make it easier on me, and I just came out in themain event and knew I could ride a fast pace if I had to."
"I'm a lotbetter now, but I still had to be careful, and it's the experience," he saidregarding his fractured shoulder. "I've been there before, unfortunately. Ibroke my scapula before, and I knew that I needed to get through those first twoweekends, and then I'd be a lot stronger."
"Coming into the season, Iknew I could be strong, and I knew that it was a race between James Stewart andI, and Kevin, but once James went out, the season got really tough," Reed addedconcerning his 2008 campaign. "I think I lost focus. Winning became really easy.I felt like I was on a roll, and no one was going to beat me. I just got toocontent. It was just becoming kind of easy, and I made mistakes."
"Nextyear is a long way away, and there's a lot of stuff that needs to happen betweennow and then. I want to put my head down and just enjoy the experience. It'sbeen a rough season, and there have been a lot of ups and downs. I just want tothank everybody."
The 25 year old ends a comprehensive andrecord-breaking - but also difficult - season with a thirteen point gap overWindham. Josh Hill was fifth and Nathan Ramsey finished withseventh.
Thanks to Jason Lawrence's title in the West Coast Litesdivision Yamaha have claimed championships in two of the three supercrossclasses in 2008.
The AMA Motocross championship - in which Yamaha and theYZ450F are defending champions - begins at Glen Helen on May 25th.
2008 AMA-SX Las Vegas, NV 04/05/2008
Race 1 - 20 Laps
1 Chad Reed Yamaha AUS 23'18.500
2 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'6.629
3 Andrew Short Honda USA 0'10.544
4 Josh Hill Yamaha USA 0'20.546
5 David D Millsaps Honda USA 0'24.700
6 Nicholas Wey KTM USA 0'27.700
7 Charles Summey Yamaha USA 0'35.916
8 Travis Preston Kawasaki USA 0'46.244
9 Tim Ferry Kawasaki USA 0'65.687
10 David Vuillemin Suzuki FRA 0'70.010
11 Heath Voss Honda USA -1 Laps
12 Paul Carpenter Honda USA -1 Laps
13 Jason Thomas Honda USA -1 Laps
14 Kelly Smith Kawasaki USA -1 Laps
15 Ryan Clark Honda USA -1 Laps
Rider Standings 03/05/2008
1. Chad Reed Yamaha AUS 365
2. Kevin Windham Honda USA 352
3. Andrew Short Honda USA 281
4. David D Millsaps Honda USA 278
5. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 228
6. Tim Ferry Kawasaki USA 217
7. Nathan Ramsey Yamaha USA 173
8. David Vuillemin Suzuki FRA 169
9. Nicholas Wey KTM USA 159
10. Charles Summey Yamaha USA 144
11. Paul Carpenter Honda USA 144
12. Heath Voss Honda USA 130
13. Travis Preston Kawasaki USA 109
14. Jason Thomas Honda USA 100
15. Eric Sorby Honda USA 84
26. Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 38
41. Broc Hepler Yamaha USA 3
Manufacturer Standings 03/05/2008
1. Yamaha 386
2. Honda 374
3. Kawasaki 296
4. Suzuki 218
5. KTM 163