Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 21, 2014 P43 Briefly... Cole Seely grabbed the holeshot in the 250. This time he held the lead to the finish. third after both Dungey and Villopoto had gone down. Having caught the whiff of victory, something clicked inside Reed. The "old vet" turned it up a notch and reeled in the youngster Roczen and passed the former World Champion for second. With about five laps left, everyone in the packed stadium suddenly realized that Reed could actually win this thing and broke into a deafening roar, cheering on the sentimental favorite – even the Reed naysayers. Sensing a win, Reed turned it up a notch again and went after the only rider that stood between him and his 42nd career Supercross win – none other than his old archrival James Stewart. Even Stewart, as good as he was riding, had nothing for Reed, who only got faster as the race went on. He clicked off the quickest lap time of the race on the 18th lap, the same lap that he rode past Stewart en route to taking an amazing win just a couple of circuits later on the hard-packed and slick track. "I looked at the board and we were on lap 16 and I felt like, 'I've got this thing,' " Reed said. "I could see that I was getting faster and the lines were coming to me a little easier. I just tried to put my head down and grind away. When I got to Stew' I just wanted to put a good clean pass on him and get away so he couldn't come back at me. He's awesome at doing that, ducking right back under you and fighting for it. It was kind of a retro weekend with me and Stew' going back at it - we just weren't banging bars. I loosened up and rode to my potential at the end." the program. After the crash I didn't ride well. I was tight and just let it get away from me. I didn't have a great week leading into this race - I only rode one time - so maybe that hurt me. I'll get back to the regular deal and just grit it out. That's what I need to do." Osborne ended up eighth. Justin Hill, on the Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit/Kawasaki KX250F, finished fifth in the 250 main, which was a remarkable feat when you consider he went down in the first turn and was 19th after the first lap. "That's not usually how you want to get a good result like that, but considering I started the race just trying not to get hit by everyone, I have to say I'm pretty pumped right now," said Hill afterward. "I don't think I would have told you this is where we'd end up after the start, but I was really feeling good on my bike and this track just suited my style. This might be the most excited I've been after a race in my career so far, because I think I just showed I have the speed and stamina to challenge for the podium." GEICO Honda's Wil Hahn is still waiting for that breakout ride in his first full season in the 450 class. "I think I made a lot of progress tonight speed-wise," Hahn said after his 12thplace finish. "Even though the results didn't show it, I feel like I fixed most of the little things I've been struggling with. I had another mediocre start but made some good progress up through the pack, but I went over at one point and lost some spots. I need to ride like I did last year when I won the championship. I really need to go back to having fun. I'm putting pressure on myself that just doesn't continued on next page

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