Chad Reed wins AMA Motocross opener at Hangtown

Chad Reed and TwoTwo Motorsports/BelRay Racing have carried the form that took them to second in the AMA Supercross Championship through to the opening round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

The young team having never raced an outdoor season before has enjoyed a fairytale start to their motocross campaign, winning the Hangtown Classic less than a week since confirming Reed would actually race the series and two weeks after winning the AMA Supercross finale in Las Vegas

The Australian, who qualified second, got a good start in the opening 30-minute moto and sat comfortably fourth out of Turn 1. Reed put himself in touch with the leaders while he found his feet and steadily worked his way forward to second.

Reed got another good start in the second race and immediately put his head down. As the race settled the lead was swapped a number of times before the TwoTwo Motorsports rider took control mid race.

Holding off a late charge from Race 1 winner Ryan Dungey, Reed took both the race win and overall round victory.

“That was definitely a great way to start the season.” Reed said. “We were better prepared than we were at the start of the Supercross season and I am feeling the fittest I ever have.

“The bike really felt good out there. With the outdoors it normally it takes a few races to get going but I can’t really fault anything today.

“It is going to be a tough season there are a lot of fast guys and they are going to step it up week after week,” he continued.

“It was an eleventh hour decision to race the outdoors. If you had asked me two weeks ago I would have said we weren’t going to do it but my sponsors – BelRay, Shift, Etnies, Skull Candy along with some amazing support from Honda and Pro Circuit have made it possible.

“I had an absolute blast out there today so much fun and the win was an added bonus,” Reed concluded.

The team will now turn their attention to next weekend’s Freestone National in Wortham, Texas.

2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship? – Rd 1 of 12 – Hangtown, CA

450 Class Overall Results:

1. Chad Reed
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Kevin Windham
5. Brett Metcalfe
6. Davi Milsaps
7. Tommy Hahn
8. Christophe Pourcel
9. Ricky Dietrich
10. Christian Craig