Dungey, Pourcel Fastest In Toronto, Reed Out

Jean Turner | March 13, 2010

It’s cold and rainy in Toronto, but dry inside the covered Rogers Centre where round 10 of the AMA Supercross Championship is about to kick off. There’s a noticeable absence, however, as Chad Reed did not ride practice, and will not be racing tonight on account of a reported thumb injury.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider set the hot lap during practice at the previous round in Daytona, but opted not to race, instead setting his sights on Toronto to mark his return to the series. But while Reed was recuperating his left hand, he managed to injure his right thumb last week, breaking the tip of it. According to Monster Kawasaki reps, the injury is more of a hinderance than anything else. Reed is going to try to be back for next week’s Dallas round, but the team admitted it doesn’t look likely.

Meanwhile, Ryan Villopoto is holding strong for the factory Kawasaki team, and posted the quickest lap time in the second practice session today. But it wasn’t enough to top overall qualifying, which went to Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, who stopped the clock two hundreths of a second sooner. Josh Hill qualified third in the premier class followed by Kevin Windham and Trey Canard.

In the Lites division, Christophe Pourcel is once again looking blazing fast. He not only qualified first, but was the only rider to break the 58-second mark, notching a 57.559-second lap time. Second was Ryan Sipes followed by Austin Stroupe.

Quite typical of the Canadian venue, the dirt is rocky and primative, but many agree that it’s the best dirt they’ve seen in the Rogers Centre yet. Despite the expansive floorspace, the course is rather tight and complex with laptimes somewhat shorter than some anticipated it to be.

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.