Reed podium streak curtailed in Atlanta

Yamaha's Chad Reed finished off the AMA Supercross podium for the first time this year after a crash during the main event of round eight of the series at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta meant that the Australian crossed the finish line in sixth position. The 30th SX event in Atlanta (the first was won by Bob Hannah with a Yamaha) would not see Reed extend his career tally of podium results to 81. The YZ450F rider won his Heat, and also grabbed the holeshot, but slipped off his San Manuel machine while holding the lead after five laps and need the rest of the 17 minute sprint to clamber back to sixth spot. The 25 year old left the Georgia Dome promptly, after gingerly picking up 15 points. Reed saw his lead in the series, also an FIM World championship, cut to 25 points with nine rounds remaining. It was left to team-mate Nathan Ramsey to hold centre stage on the YZ as the veteran posted his best finish of 2008 with fifth position. "It's been like baby-steps since I started riding again, and I haven't quite gotten there yet, but tonight was a good start," said the American, who is sixth in the standings. "I feel my pace is starting to pick up and if I can get up there and race with them, that stuff will all come back to me. I think tonight was another good step in that direction, and it was fun to be racing with those guys." In the East Coast Lites division top the YZ250F finisher was another Australian, Jake Moss, with fourth position. Five riders from the final top ten were making their SX debuts at the Georgia Dome. Sixteen year old rookie Tyler Bowers was among them - representing the Yamaha of Troy squad - and took a very decent fifth spot on his maiden outing. "My race was good," he commented. "Unfortunately, I made the rookie mistake of not breathing for the first three laps and by about the third or fourth lap, I was out of breath. By the time I actually started breathing and was trying to get loose, it was too late. I was tired and a couple guys got around me. My mechanic threw-out the pitboard and told me I was in fifth, and it said, 'Lap 10'. I was like, 'Cool, I've got five more laps in me.' I found that extra little bit of energy and made it around to the finish and pulled it off. I was happy with that."

AMA Supercross travels to Daytona for round nine next weekend. Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 17'15.100 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 0'6.051 3, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 0'10.236 4, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 0'11.014 5, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 0'14.607 6, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 0'33.910 7, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 0'35.912 8, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 0'44.317 9, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 0'51.481 10, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 11, Ryan Clark, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 12, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 13, Bryan K Johnson, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 14, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, -1 Laps 15, Jacob Marsack, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 16, Cole Siebler, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 17, Jeff Gibson, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 18, Josh Hansen, Yamaha, USA, -2 Laps 19, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, -7 Laps 20, Troy Adams, Honda, USA, -12 Laps Rider Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 184 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 159 3, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 137 4, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 123 5, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 121 6, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 101 7, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 84 8, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 84 9, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 72 10, Mike Alessi, Suzuki, USA, 69 11, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 67 12, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 66 13, Ivan Tedesco, Honda, USA, 53 14, James Stewart, Kawasaki, USA, 47 15, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 45 16, Grant Langston, Yamaha, RSA, 38 Manufacturer Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 185 2, Honda, 170 3, Kawasaki, 160 4, Suzuki, 106 5, KTM, 84