Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chad Reed 2nd at Perth SuperX

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s newest signing, Chad Reed, has finished the third round of the Monster Energy SuperX Championship in 2^nd place at Perth on Sat 31 October. In an awesome display of speed and experience, the KX450F rider clawed his way back from an average start to finish within inches of the win.

With the contractual negotiations finished and put to bed, Chad officially rolled out at Perth’s Burswood dome on his Kawasaki as the newest rider for American team, Monster Energy Kawasaki. (Both Chad Reed and Ryan Villopoto will ride the KX450F for the proven team in 2010). With only two previous rounds of SuperX racing on board his new green machine, Chad is already proving that he is well and truly at home on board the KX450F as he sets blisteringly fast lap times, considerably faster than his competitors.

On the back of a second round SuperX win at Geelong that saw him take the Championship lead, Chad headed to Perth in typical good form. Chad won his three round robin heat races to qualify in top position for the 10 lap final. A less than perfect start saw Chad get caught mid pack in the first turn. From there, the number 1 plate holder got to work, quickly picking off riders one by one as he charged for the lead. In what was a great spectacle for the crowd and television viewers, Chad worked his way right up to second place by the final lap and was hot on the heels of the race leader. With not enough race time left to make a pass, Chad was forced to settle for 2^nd place.

KRT Manager, Brett Whale who, along with Kawasaki’s Glenn MacDonald, has been assisting Chad throughout the 2009 SuperX Championship says, “It is awesome to have Chad on board a Kawasaki and he just loves the product.”

“He’s proven that he’s the fastest guy out there! We need to do a bit of work on his starts but that’s about it. He’s a great guy to work with and with the way he’s been racing so far, the fans are in for a treat over the next four rounds.”

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Chad Reed currently sits in 2^nd place in the Championship and will be fighting to regain his series lead at the fourth round of the Monster Energy SuperX Championship in Canberra, ACT on Sat 7 November.

KRT on the Charge at Geelong SuperX

KRT riders Craig Anderson and Luke Arbon both improved their standing in the 2009 Australasian SuperX Championships after round 2 at Geelong on Saturday 24 October with both riders advancing up the Championship leaderboard.

Open rider Craig Anderson put on a spectacular show during the “Man on Man” qualifying to win the first two rounds and advance to the semi final. Craig exhibited a lot of speed to win his way through to the semis causing the commentators to remark that Craig was riding the fastest they’d seen him ride all year. The semis were going to be tough however with Craig coming up against his cousin, fellow Kawasaki rider and world Champion Chad Reed. After a great battle that saw both riders swapping for the lead, Chad came away with the win and Craig came away with 3^rd place overall and a good gate pick for the 4 moto finals.

Craig rode well throughout the four 6 lap finals (6-5-9-17) and was on track for a podium finish for the round until a crash in the 4^th and final moto relegated him to the rear of the field resulting in 8^th place overall for the round. For his efforts Craig earned enough Championship points to advance himself to 7^th place overall in the Championship.

Craig says, “I’m happy with the bike and happy with how I rode. I was really disappointed not to finish on the podium after crashing but overall I stepped it up from last round and really felt like I was in the mix the entire round. My goal is to get faster each round and I’m really looking forward to Perth. The Perth venue is an indoor venue and I really like racing indoors. I can’t wait.”

After an outstanding SuperX debut in Tasmania that saw him rocketing out of the gates and straight to the front of the pack in both Pro Lites motos, 17 year old KRT rider Luke Arbon was looking forward to a solid result at Geelong. His day of racing was to become a whole lot harder however after Luke crashed heavily in qualifying. Showing a lot of guts, the sore KX250F rider found the strength to line up for the main event and put in a good performance to hold on for an 11^th place finish. Luke’s efforts advance him to 11^th place overall in the Championship.

KRT Manager Brett Whale says, “A fantastic result this round for Kawasaki.”

“I was really happy with how Ando rode.  He put in a good performance to qualify in 3^rd, also a big effort by Luke Arbon to even be out there after such a big crash in qualifying. We’re looking forward to Perth.”

KRT head to Perth, WA for the 3^rd round of the 2009 Australasian SuperX at Burswood Dome on Saturday 31 October.

Cody Mackie Shines at SuperX Opener

Cody Mackie - Kawasaki

Cool Air Kawasaki’s Cody Mackie has made an impressive and memorable SuperX Pro Open debut at the first round of the 2009 Australasian SuperX Championship at Launceston, TAS on 17 Oct 2009. In a phenomenal display of speed and strength, Cody fought his way to the front of the pack at the series opener, proving he is a front running rider and a genuine threat in the ’09 Championship. Whilst his round results do not reflect his performance or efforts, Cody still came away with many valuable Championship points going 4-9 to take 6^th place overall in the series. Fellow KX450F team rider Troy Carroll made a welcome return to racing after a long injury break going 13-12 to sit just outside the top ten in the Championship in 12^th place. The team’s third rider Jake Pengelly will miss the first 2 or 3 rounds due to injury.

After an impressive 2009 MX season that saw Cody go from strength to strength on board the KX450F, the 23 year old from Kiama NSW has now demanded the attention of the SX racing community with an extremely impressive performance at the SuperX opener. Cody qualified well in 7^th place before taking to the track for his heat race. Being his first year on board the 450, Cody lined up against fellow unseeded riders to battle for a spot in the main event. A 3^rd place position after the first corner was good news for Cody until a crash put him back to last place. From there Cody fought back, passing riders one after the other to cross the finish line in 6^th place, securing himself a place in the finals.

Cody didn’t get the best start in main event race number one but still managed to race his way to a 4^th place finish however it was to be the second moto where Cody would really shine. The gate dropped and Cody quickly found 4^th place out of turn one, then 3^rd place after turn two. From there Cody rode brilliantly amongst the field of world class riders. Cody fought hard to pass all other riders and find the lead on lap five. Cody then held onto that race lead right up until the final turn on the final lap when, in heartbreaking fashion, Cody was knocked from his bike with the waving chequered flag only metres away. Cody scrambled back onto his Kawasaki as quickly as he could to cross the line in 9^th place.

Although the race result wasn’t what he had hoped for, Cody has still taken away valuable Championship points for his efforts and has well and truly proven himself as a rider to watch in this series.

Cody says, “That second moto was the best race of my life up until the last turn, then it became the most disappointing. As for being knocked off my bike, it all happened way too fast. It is what it is!”

“After this round I think I’ve exceeded people’s expectations of myself which is good. I’m really thankful for all the support I constantly receive from all my loyal fans and I’m now totally focussed on this weekend.”

Cool Air Kawasaki Team Manager Kevin Crutcher says, “Cody just rode so well on the KX450F and has shown his team and his fans that he is well and truly capable of running at the pointy end of the SuperX series. The team, Sheree and I are so proud of what Cody’s achieved so far this year and we know that he is yet to really shine in 2009.”

“Troy got some good points after being off the bike for so long. We have no doubt he will come back even stronger next round and we’re also looking forward to Jake returning in the next few weeks. We’d really like to thank all of our fans, Kawasaki and our sponsors for their support. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are.”

Cool Air Kawasaki now heads to Geelong, VIC for the second round of the Australasian SuperX Championship on Saturday 24 October.

2009 Australasian Supercross Championship

Supplementary Regulations for the 2009 Australasian Supercross Championship (Super X) are now available to download from the Motorcycling Australia website at www.ma.org.au/superx09regs

Round dates and locations for the 2009 Championship are as follows:

Round 1: 17 October 2009, Launceston TAS
Round 2: 24 October 2009, Geelong VIC
Round 3: 31 October 2009, Perth WA
Round 4: 7 November 2009, Canberra ACT
Round 5: 14 November 2009, Sydney NSW
Round 6: 21 November 2009, Hamilton NZ
Round 7: 5 December 2009, Brisbane QLD

In 2009, Super X Series will feature Opens and Lites Championship classes, while a Development Series for riders aged 14-15 will be held at the Geelong, Canberra and Sydney rounds.

For more information about the 2009 Australasian Supercross Championship, visit www.superx.com.au