Former champ Chad Reed took victory at the third round of the AMA Supercross Series in Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles but the Aussie’s win in a restarted 450 Main Event was overshadowed by a horror crash that took out Trey Canard and Ryan Morais.
As the riders got out the gate for the first time former champ Ryan Dungey led from defending champ Ryan Villopoto before RV slipped underneath in the second turn. Then Canard, with a bale cover hooked onto the back of his bike, was forced to double into the triple and Morais landed heavily on top of him.
Morais sustained a collapsed lung, broken ribs, three neck fractures, a broken jaw and concussion in the crash. Canard suffered multiple fractures to his back. The good news is that both riders are expected to make complete recoveries.
From the restart Jake Weimer holeshot from James Stewart, Dungey and Reed but RV was almost dead last after jumping off the track and getting caught up on a tuff block trying to rejoin the race.
The four-way battle for the podium was reduced to a three-man fight when Weimer crashed. Stewart also crashed allowing Dungey up to second and the race finished with Reed on top ahead of series leader Dungey and Stewart.
“I have been trying to figure out what I have been doing wrong this year,” says Reed. “I switched to a tyre that I used last year and it worked. I am going to keep trying to get better each week. I will take the good with the bad and keep moving forward.”
“It feels great to hold the red number plate as we head into the fourth round,” reckons KTM’s Dungey. “It’s still early in the series but it is definitely off to a good start for the Red Bull/KTM Team. I can’t thank everybody on the team enough. They have put in so many hours and we have made so much progress on the new 450. The bike is running amazing.”
The West Coast Lites win goes to Eli Tomac from Scot Dean Wilson and former British MX2 champ Zach Osborne.
Tomac, son of MTB bike-building legend John, grabbed the lead on the opening lap and rode super-steady to make sure of victory and the series lead. Cosworth Bike-it Monster Energy Yamaha rider Zach moved into second at half-distance but was pushed back to third by Wilson in the closing stages.
“I was able to sneak into the lead and ride 15 solid laps,” said Tomac. “It’s a night and day difference when you get a good start. I should have been getting starts like this all season.”
Battling Brit Max Anstie put in a solid ride to finish sixth and move up to eighth in the standings but the evening finished on a low note for former world champ Marvin Musquin. The Frenchman was fourth and challenging for a podium finish when with three laps to go he crashed landing from a triple. He DNFed but was credited with 19th.
