They were singing the blues at the opening round of the AMA THQ Supercross Series in Anaheim, California, where all three of Team Yamaha factory riders filled the podium following the 20-lap main event. Chad Reed, David Vuillemin and Tim Ferry, all aboard YZ250 two-strokes, finished out the very chilly (but dry) evening 1-2-3, and had it not been for a crash by fellow YZ250 pilot Ezra Lusk of the Mach 1 squad, Yamaha could very well have swept the first four positions. Instead it was Mike LaRocco, on the Amsoil Chaparral Honda CR250R, who put a stop to the blue wave in fourth.
While the team of the hour certainly was Yamaha, the man of the hour was without a doubt Reed, the Australian simply in a class all his own on this night. After passing Honda’s Ernest Fonseca, who nabbed the holeshot and eventually crashed while running near the front, Reed instantly opened up a big lead and was never even remotely threatened for the rest of the race. Reed, who dominated the late stages of last year’s series, ended up finishing over 19 seconds ahead of Vuillemin, who battled back and forth with his teammate Ferry before taking control of the runner-up position.
Even Vuillemin said that second was all that he could do today giving testimony to just how fast Reed was tonight.
LaRocco finished fourth even after getting off to a 10th-place start and suffering a hard crash earlier in the evening during his heat race.
Rounding out the top five overall was Team Kawasaki’s newest (and only) 250cc rider Michael Byrne after he rode a steady race after rounding the first lap in second place.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was the stellar performance turned in by Hansens/HJC’s Tyler Evans. The Suzuki pilot finished sixth overall after qualifying for the main-event via a fifth-place finish in a semi. Honda/MotoXXX’s Damon Huffman also turned a lot of heads with a seventh-place finish, while Lusk, who was right in the mix of things with Ferry and Vuillemin before crashing, ended up eighth.
After looking very impressive in his heat race, which he won, Honda’s Kevin Windham couldn’t do much with a 12th-place start in the final. Windham ended up ninth, one spot ahead of his teammate Fonseca.
KTM Red Bull’s Grant Langston crashed out of the final while running sixth.
In the 125cc main, Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ivan Tedesco captured his second win of his career. After squeaking past Josh Hansen on the first lap, Tedesco opened up a somewhat comfortable lead that he maintained to the finish, though Honda’s Nathan Ramsey gave him something to worry about late in the race. Tedesco, however, managed to keep the former 250cc-class rider at bay, eventually crossing the finish line just under three seconds ahead of Ramsey. Tedesco’s teammate Stephane Roncada, another former 250cc-class rider, ran second for a while before surrendering his position to Ramsey and eventually finishing out the race in third ahead of MotoworldRacing.com/Suzuki’s Andrew Short and Team O’Neal/Kawasaki rider Troy Adams.
Hansen ended up sixth, followed by Boost Mobile/Yamaha/Troy Racing’s Brock Sellards, Amsoil/Chaparral Honda’s Travis Preston and Greg Schnell.
The podium in the 125cc class was filled with 250cc four-strokes, as was the class in general. Of the 22 bikes in the 125cc-class final, 19 were 250cc four-strokes. In the 20-rider 250cc final, however, only five riders were 450cc four-stroke-mounted.
Results:
250: 1. Chad Reed (Yam); 2. David Vuillemin (Yam); 3. Tim Ferry (Yam); 4. Mike LaRocco (Hon); 5. Michael Byrne (Kaw); 6. Tyler Evans (Suz); 7. Damon Huffman (Hon); 8. Ezra Lusk (Yam); 9. Kevin Windham (Hon); 10. Ernesto Fonseca (Hon); 11. Sean Hamblin (Suz); 12. Heath Voss (Yam); 13. Jason Thomas (Hon); 14. Keith R. Johnson (Yam); 15. Nick Wey (Suz); 16. Isaiah Johnson (Yam); 17. Clark Stiles (Hon); 18. Ryan Clark (Yam); 19. Robbie Reynard (Hon); 20. Grant Langston (KTM).
125: 1. Ivan Tedesco (Kaw); 2. Nathan Ramsey (Hon); 3. Stephane Roncada (Kaw); 4. Andrew Short (Suz); 5. Troy Adams (Kaw); 6. Joshua Hansen (Yam); 7. Brock Sellards (Yam); 8. Travis Preston (Hon); 9. Greg Schnell (Yam); 10. Chris Gosselaar (Hon); 11. Steve Boniface (Suz); 12. Cole Siebler (Yam); 13. Brian Gray (Suz); 14. Johnny Marley (Hon); 15. Bryan Johnson (Yam); 16. Jesse Casillas (Yam); 17. Jeff Gibson (Yam); 18. Joshua Sumey (Yam); 19. Casey Lytle (KTM); 20. Robert Kiniry (Suz); 21. Michael Sleeter (Yam); 22. Ryan Morais (Suz).
