Reed and Lawrence Top Wet San Francisco Supercross

Jean Turner | January 27, 2008

Chad Reed took his third win of the season at round four of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross FIM Championship in San Francisco’s AT&T Park. Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Kevin Windham notched a second-place finish – his third-consecutive podium finish of the year – ahead of Red Bull Honda’s Davi Millsaps, who landed his first Supercross-class podium finish.

What many were expecting to be a complete quagmire actually turned out to be a decent night of racing. The track held up remarkably well under the rains throughout the week preceding the event. The skies held off for most of the day but by the time the main events rolled around, a steady downpour was soaking the already soggy track. Slippery mud and developing ruts became a big factor in the evening program. Consequently, the main events were shortened by five laps, making the Lites class 10 laps and the Supercross class 15 laps.

Factory Kawasaki’s Timmy Ferry grabbed a huge holeshot in the main event followed by Windham and Millsaps. Reed was off to a modest start, but didn’t appear too worried about it. Windham quickly gained control of the race and got out front, leaving Millsaps and Ferry to battle for second. Millsaps made up time by tripling where Ferry and most others were doubling. Millsaps began closing on Windham, leaving Ferry to battle for third with Red Bull Honda’s Ivan Tedesco, but meanwhile Reed was slipping past both of them for third.

Reed simply stayed consistent and let the race come to him, which it did when Windham got cross-rutted shortly after losing the lead to Millsaps. Millsaps then ended up in the Tuff Blocks also, putting Reed into the lead. From there, Reedy never looked back and stayed solid to take his third win of the season. Windham held on for second and Millsaps recovered quickly enough to take third – though he had to deal with Tedesco before the podium was finally his.

Fourth place went to Bad Boy Energy Drink’s Jacob Marsack and fifth (after a very up and down night) went to Factory Yamaha’s Grant Langston. Ivan Tedesco, Nick Wey, Heath Voss, Troy Adams and Tim Ferry completed the top ten.

It wasn’t a big surprise that New Englander Jason Lawrence fared well in the wet San Francisco conditions. His first Supercross win was a long time coming and Lawrence was thrilled to finally nab his first victory.

Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey and Factory Yamaha’s Broc Hepler – the two front-runners in the series – both had sub-standard nights, finishing seventh and 12th, respectively. Battling with the mud and the other riders, Dungey and Hepler both had get-offs that kept them out of the front-running.

Austin Stroupe of the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team got off to a great start, grabbing the holeshot ahead of Lawrence, Metcalfe and Hahn. Lawrence didn’t waste time gaining control of the race, and Hahn, who was also looking solid in the mud, kept the pressure on Lawrence. J-Law wasn’t to be stopped, however, and he led the charge all the way through the main event.

Hahn battled with Metcalfe, but gave way to the Monster Pro Circuit rider late in the race. On the last lap, however Metcalfe mistook the muddy white flag for the checkered flag and slowed down. Hahn grabbed the opportunity to regain second place, where he finished. Metcalfe collected third ahead of Torco Racing Fuels/Honda’s Dan Reardon and Stroupe, who completed the top five. Troy Lee Designs/Honda rider Gavin Gracyk finished sixth ahead of Dungey while Chris Blose, Wil Hahn and Michael Blose rounded out the top ten in the Lites class.

Catch all the San Francisco Supercross action tomorrow (Sunday) in high definition on CBS at noon Eastern and 9am Pacific.

Jean Turner | Contributor

A former staffer at Cycle News, Turner continues to contribute to the website and magazine as a columnist and someone we can count on to whip up a few thousand words on an off-road race when needed.