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Reed Fifth in Wild San Francisco Supercross
Category: Racing News
Date: 31 Jan 2006
Time:
19:30:21 -0500
Comments
It was a mud bath reminiscent of the 2005 Supercross opener at Anaheim. After rainy weather, on January 28 the San Francisco SBC Park contained probably the slipperiest racing surface west of the Mississippi. When the pack charged toward the first turn in the shortened main event, Chad Reed found himself squeezed in midfield while championship rivals James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael clashed up front. Twelve impossible laps later Stewart took the win over Carmichael, and Reed salvaged a remarkable fifth after a crash dropped him back to 17th place. Given the brutal conditions – where knee-deep ruts pulled bikes in like quicksand and riders rolled across doubles that they’d normally fly over – it was a wonder anyone could race at all. But Reed showed huge resolve by battling back from deep in the field aboard his YZ450F. With four of 16 rounds complete he is third in the standings, 10 points behind series leader Carmichael. Another amazing story was a sensational Supercross Lites performance by Yamaha of Troy’s Brett Metcalfe. Riding a YZ250F, Metcalfe won his heat race and led early in the Lites final, then surged to nearly take the win. His close second place represents Metcalfe’s first career Supercross podium. Yamaha’s injured Heath Voss sat out San Francisco but is back on his YZ450F and plans to return to action at Anaheim III on February 4.