The Honda Red Riders enjoyed the limelight at round 12 of the AMA Supercross Championship in Toronto, Canada, over the weekend, filling four of the six podium spots in the Supercross and Supercross Lites East classes. TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed and American Honda Racing’s Trey Canard finished two-three in the Supercross class, with Reed taking over the championship points chase. GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia and Blake Wharton went two-three in the Lites East competition.
After winning his heat race, Canard got away to a good start on his CRF450R in the main and was among the lead group early on. Pounding out a series of successful passes, he moved into third on lap two, where he remained until the race’s end. Canard’s finish marked his fourth podium of the season, including two race wins, and after 12 rounds he is fifth in the championship. Fill-in teammate Cole Seely scored his second top-10 result in three races. Finishing sixth in his heat race, Seely got a mid-pack start in the main and rode a strong race to finish 10th overall.
“I’m happy with third tonight,” said Canard. “After getting the win last weekend, I’m pleased to put American Honda Racing on the podium for the second week in a row. I’m not completely happy with the way I rode, but that’s something I will work on in the upcoming week and I’ll be ready to go for the win next week in Dallas.”
TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed finished second in both his heat race and the main event. Despite applying pressure to race leader Ryan Dungey throughout the race, Reed was unable to get by for the win. His runner-up result, however, elevated him into the championship points lead with five rounds to go in the series. GEICO Honda’s Kevin Windham finished eighth overall.
In Lites East competition, Barcia recorded his sixth-straight podium of the season in Toronto. Aboard his Honda CRF250R, Barcia took his heat race win before getting a good start in the main and moving into the lead on the opening lap. He led for seven consecutive laps despite racing with a broken wrist, but he then made an error while negotiating the whoops and relinquished a spot to finish second overall. Teammate Wharton got an equally good start in the main, battling with Barcia up front on the opening lap. Riding with an injured shoulder, Wharton staved off a number of challenges to record his first podium of the season with a third-place finish. Privateer Honda racer Darryn Durham finished in ninth spot. |
March 26, 2011
