Team Rockstar Makita's Chad Reed staged another amazing race from the back to finish second at Saturday's Houston Supercross after being squeezed out in the first corner.
The reigning AMA/ FIM Supercross World Champion proved the pace of the RM-Z450 Suzuki - as he did last week at Anaheim when he came back from a crash - to finish second behind James Stewart (Yamaha) and keep his series lead intact by three points.
Makita Suzuki teammate Mike Alessi also celebrated his strongest results of the season: Alessi finished fourth in his heat race and then got the holeshot in the Main Event where he eventually brought home a seventh-placed result.
Michael Byrne did not race due to an injury sustained in the off-season. He hopes to be back racing as soon as possible.
In the Supercross Lites class Nico Izzi picked up a podium position in the season-opening round of the East Coast series. The 2008 AMA Supercross / Motocross Rookie of the Year finished third in his heat race and then third in the Main Event at Houston on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250.
Chad Reed:
"It was tough for me this weekend. I don't know why. It was really a struggle all weekend. I didn't have the groove and I was pushing it and I fell a few times in practice so it wasn't for lack of trying. But to get on the podium and to get second is awesome, considering how I felt out there. Basically, I'm just trying to get out there and do what I can do and try to get on the podium: I'm happy that we didn't lose any ground this weekend, even though we struggled a bit."
Mike Alessi:
"This was a good weekend. We are steadily improving with every race, getting a little more speed, a little more confidence, a little bit more aggression. In practice I was in the top-10 times. In the heat race I ended up fourth - I bettered last week by one position. In the Main I got the holeshot. My Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 got me off to a great start and I was riding up front, battling with the top guys and then I was running sixth for most of the race. I made a mistake at the end though and I ended up seventh. Like I've been saying, I'm working on steady improvement and getting better every
week."
Nico Izzi:
"My day was pretty good, though it started out a little rough. I had a pretty good get-off in the first practice and I had to regroup from that. I came out in the second practice and put in some good laps. In the heat race, I was able to work my way up into third. Then, in the Main Event, I got a pretty good start and was in second and put in about eight laps. But then I made a mistake and moved back to third. I was struggling to get back into it but I held on for a podium position."
