wins supermoto at the xgames
he really should think about doing a full series in one of these sports again
from cycle news;
Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Doug Henry claimed a convincing win in the 40-lap X Games 11 Supermoto feature at Home Depot Center in Carson, California today, the former AMA National Motocross and AMA Regional Supercross Champion earning his first career X Games Gold Medal with 11.35 seconds in hand over two of his motocross peers, seven-time former AMA Supercross Champion and former AMA National Motocross Champion Jeremy McGrath and former AMA Supercross Champion Chad Reed.
Team Yamaha’s Reed grabbed the holeshot at the start of the nationally televised race, with Henry running second. Henry passed Reed in the paved right-hand turn just before the dirt section outside the main stadium on lap six and then pulled out a lead of several seconds before the round of pit stops that began to occur after lap 20.
"I was thinking of the pits because I wanted a little bit of a gap," Henry said. "You never know what could happen, so I tried to get a gap and come out of the pit stop ahead."
The lead changed hands a few times in the pit melee, but once it all sorted out, Henry worked his way back to the front and methodically clicked off the laps to the finish.
The real race was for second place, as Reed managed to reclaim the spot after his crew had difficulty in getting him out quickly after his pitstop. That allowed American Honda’s McGrath, who had struggled early and even crashed in the stadium dirt section before his pit stop, to work himself into position to challenge Reed. McGrath completed a hairball pass on Reed down the long and perilous wooden jump that led the riders back into the stadium dirt section on lap 34 to claim the second spot. McGrath went on to finish 4.59 seconds ahead of Reed to claim the X Games silver medal. McGrath, who earned a gold medal in the X Games Step Up competition last year, said that he thoroughly enjoyed his X Games Supermoto experience.
"The thing that I love about this race after racing Supercross for such a long time is it's a lot more business over there," McGrath said. "This is a lot more fun. Even though everybody wants to win, the athletes over here get treated the way they're supposed to, and I think that's great."
Reed was third, over 20 seconds ahead of Red Bull/Parts Unlimited KTM’s Eric Bostrom, who had passed Reed to run as high as second before pitting.
"My endurance was good," Reed said. "I had to hold my body in an awkward position the whole race, and I had to get used to the 450 from the beginning."
Red Bull KTM’s Kurt Nicoll crashed early in the race but rode strong to the finish for fifth.
X Games Supermoto
1. Doug Henry (Yamaha)
2. Jeremy McGrath (Yamaha)
3. Chad Reed (Yamaha)
4. Eric Bostrom (KTM)
5. Kurt Nicoll (KTM)
he really should think about doing a full series in one of these sports again
from cycle news;
Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Doug Henry claimed a convincing win in the 40-lap X Games 11 Supermoto feature at Home Depot Center in Carson, California today, the former AMA National Motocross and AMA Regional Supercross Champion earning his first career X Games Gold Medal with 11.35 seconds in hand over two of his motocross peers, seven-time former AMA Supercross Champion and former AMA National Motocross Champion Jeremy McGrath and former AMA Supercross Champion Chad Reed.
Team Yamaha’s Reed grabbed the holeshot at the start of the nationally televised race, with Henry running second. Henry passed Reed in the paved right-hand turn just before the dirt section outside the main stadium on lap six and then pulled out a lead of several seconds before the round of pit stops that began to occur after lap 20.
"I was thinking of the pits because I wanted a little bit of a gap," Henry said. "You never know what could happen, so I tried to get a gap and come out of the pit stop ahead."
The lead changed hands a few times in the pit melee, but once it all sorted out, Henry worked his way back to the front and methodically clicked off the laps to the finish.
The real race was for second place, as Reed managed to reclaim the spot after his crew had difficulty in getting him out quickly after his pitstop. That allowed American Honda’s McGrath, who had struggled early and even crashed in the stadium dirt section before his pit stop, to work himself into position to challenge Reed. McGrath completed a hairball pass on Reed down the long and perilous wooden jump that led the riders back into the stadium dirt section on lap 34 to claim the second spot. McGrath went on to finish 4.59 seconds ahead of Reed to claim the X Games silver medal. McGrath, who earned a gold medal in the X Games Step Up competition last year, said that he thoroughly enjoyed his X Games Supermoto experience.
"The thing that I love about this race after racing Supercross for such a long time is it's a lot more business over there," McGrath said. "This is a lot more fun. Even though everybody wants to win, the athletes over here get treated the way they're supposed to, and I think that's great."
Reed was third, over 20 seconds ahead of Red Bull/Parts Unlimited KTM’s Eric Bostrom, who had passed Reed to run as high as second before pitting.
"My endurance was good," Reed said. "I had to hold my body in an awkward position the whole race, and I had to get used to the 450 from the beginning."
Red Bull KTM’s Kurt Nicoll crashed early in the race but rode strong to the finish for fifth.
X Games Supermoto
1. Doug Henry (Yamaha)
2. Jeremy McGrath (Yamaha)
3. Chad Reed (Yamaha)
4. Eric Bostrom (KTM)
5. Kurt Nicoll (KTM)
