THQ World Supercross GP Series
Round 2: Gelredome Stadium
one while trying to pass second-place
rider Sebastien Tortelli, and while it
was not the fault of Reed, several
people called Reed out as impatient it was something the 20-year-old was
not happy about.
"I wanted to show those people
that I am not impatient," Reed said. "I
was taken out by Sebastien in Geneva,
and it was not my fault. If you don't
want to get to the front in a hurry,
then you're going to be finishing second. I know Carmichael and
Vuillemin won't be waiting around,
and I won't be either."
Sure enough, Reed showed
patience in his Holland heat race.
While following Vuillemin for several
laps, the Aussie tried a pass on his
teammate, which the Frenchman
thwarted with a good block - Reed
knew he had made his statement,
backed off and finished second.
"I saw enough in the heat to know
were I am in terms of speed compared to David [Vuillemin]," Reed
said. "That's all I needed to know. I
didn't need to do anything stupid. I
gained a lot of confidence from that
heat race, and I now know were I am
compared to him."
Vuillemin's speed was, as usual,
very good. Timed practice on Friday
and Saturday morning proved that
nobody was going quicker than the
Frenchman, yet when it came time to
perform, he had nothing left.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF MEYER
ARNHEM,HOLLAND,DEC.14
T
eam Yamaha's Chad Reed is
already in winning form after just
two rounds of the THQ World Supercross GP Series. In front of 25,000
spectators, Reed returned to the
country that hosted the first major
international race he won in 2001, the
Dutch 250cc Grand Prix. Maybe even
more impressive was the fact that
Reed did so nine seconds in front of
his
proven
teammate
David
Vuillemin, while Amsoil/Chaparral
Honda rider Mike LaRocco finished
third another eight seconds back. The
crowd in the Gelredome had not forgotten the rider they just about considered their own.
"It's nice to win again in Holland,"
Reed said. "This is not my best win,
and when I get back to America, I
want to keep winning - it's all I want;
finishing in second is just not important anymore. It was good to learn
what David [Vuillemin] was all about,
and I'll tell you, teammates or not, he
is not scared to put it in there. I wanted
to beat him so bad, I mean he was
the only guy who really took it to
Ricky [Carmichael] last year, and this
win has done wonders for my confidence."
Reed had something to prove in
Amhem. He had crashed out of round
8
JANUARY
8, 2003'
cue
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