hew, it seems like just a few weeks ago that we were in Vegas for the U.S. Open, but, now the holidays have come and gone and we are once again in the full swing of Supercross season. The Amp’d Mobile World Supercross Series kicked off in Toronto in December, with Parts Unlimited-sponsored Chad Reed taking the win for his new team, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians L&M Racing Yamaha. Reed went on to claim the third podium spot in Vancouver the next week, behind Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart…a great start for the season!
     When the series arrived in Anaheim for the start of the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the game had already changed. Reed suffered an unfortunate crash at the practice track the weekend before Anaheim I, leaving him with a broken shoulder, cracked collarbone and a concussion. However, Reed battled through the pain and raced anyway, putting in another impressive third place finish.
     In the Lites class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto put in a strong ride for the win, followed by his visiting teammate, Christophe Pourcel, who is riding a few races for the PC team this season before returning to Europe for the GPs.
     The Supercross main in Phoenix saw a rare red flag on the second lap, after a horrific crash by MDK Honda’s David Vuillemin. The race was restarted and after a good battle between Stewart and Carmichael, Stewart held on for the win, with Reed finishing in third.
     The Lites class proved to be a fantastic night for the Pro Circuit team, with their riders Christophe Pourcel, Ryan Villopoto and Chris Gosselaar filling up the podium.
     At press time, James Stewart was leading the AMA Supercross Series with 50 points, followed by Ricky Carmichael, who will be riding an abbreviated schedule this season, with 44 points, and Chad Reed with 40 points. The Supercross Lites Series shows Pourcel and Villopoto tied for the points lead with 47 points each and Gosselaar in third with 33 points.
     This has proved to be an exciting season so far, and we’re just getting started! Check out some of the highlights from the season so far, Toronto through Phoenix…

The opening round of the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross Series goes off the line in Toronto. Steve Bruhn photo.

Chad Reed brought home a big win for his new San Manuel Band of Mission Indians L&M Racing Yamaha Team in Toronto. Steve Bruhn photo.

Suzuki’s Ivan Tedesco was back in action at Anaheim I, after having to sit out both Canadian rounds due to a broken hand suffered during a racing incident with James Stewart in the first Toronto practice session. Steve Bruhn photo.

After a crash during practice the weekend before, Chad Reed valiantly stepped up his game at Anaheim I, riding through considerable pain to an impressive third place finish. Steve Bruhn photo.

After an impressive season last year, taking home the 2006 AMA Motocross Lites Championship and top honors as part of the winning Motocross des Nations team, Ryan Villopoto is already off to a solid start again in 2007. Steve Bruhn photo.

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto took home a strong win in the Supercross Lites class at Anaheim I. Kinney Jones photo.

The Parts Unlimited and Thor hospitality areas at Anaheim I were packed with fans all day long. Jen Emde photo.

Thor had a cool display at Anaheim I, showcasing a ton of their popular gear, along with some big screen TVs to keep the fans entertained while they browsed through product. Steve Bruhn photo.

Parts Unlimited had a very impressive hospitality set-up at Anaheim I! Kinney Jones photo.

Villopoto battled back from a bad start to an impressive second place finish in Phoenix. Steve Bruhn photo.

Reed put in another great ride in Phoenix for a solid third place finish. Steve Bruhn photo.

Yamaha rookie Josh Hill has put in some solid rides so far in 2007. Steve Bruhn photo.

Nate Ramsey is Reed’s new teammate on the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians L&M Racing Yamaha Team. Steve Bruhn photo.

Chris Gosselaar is another talented up-and-comer from the Pro Circuit stable. His third place finish in Phoenix marked him as a serious contender for the 2007 Lites season. Steve Bruhn photo.

Phoenix was a great weekend for Mitch Payton and the rest of the Pro Circuit team, with their riders Pourcel, Villopoto and Gosselaar filling the podium in the Lites class. Steve Bruhn photo.

ow did Chad Reed Win Toronto? The easy answer is, he got to the checkered flag first, but there must be more to it than that. Reed is in a team environment that he likes and the team–even though it’s all new–knows how to plan to win. Here’s what Reed had to say following his win in Toronto:
     “I came to Toronto to be consistent and be in a battle,” said Chad Reed of his preparation for the Amp’d Mobile World Supercross GP opener, and he stuck to his plan. Chad made a quick pass for the lead in the main at Toronto, he then held off a long charge by James Stewart–ending in Stewart flying off the track–and Reed taking the win.
     “I didn’t come here wanting to lose or thinking I was going to lose, but I didn’t come here with the attitude that if I didn’t win, my heart was going to be broken,” said Chad. “I think that was the difference. I just wanted to ride strong and ride to the end and battle with those guys, and not ride around in 3rd or worse by myself. It was fun to have a battle.”


     Chad was holding his own leading the main at the mid point. Carmichael was back making up the spots he lost when he clipped a tuff block on lap 1. Stewart closed the gap on Chad and with about 7 laps to go, it was on. The two had a great battle for about 4 intense laps, neither letting the other get away with anything, or get away. “Anytime James would pass me I just wanted to put myself right back into the battle,” said Chad. “I think that was the difference.”
     “There were like 4 laps to go, and there was a lot of lapped traffic. I would pull out, and he would and every time he passed me, I just tried to stick it back inside him and not let him go. He got me right there on the finish line, two laps in a row. When you are leading, it was a line I would struggle to protect. It was an easy line to pass on but to get there first and race on it was tough. I knew he was coming in there and just did my best to not end up over the bales!” Then an error cost Stewart a lot of time, and as it would turn out, it would hurt too. “Right by the finish line, I got beside him and went for the right side so I could beat him to the turn coming around the start straight,” he said. “He read me and he knew that’s what I was going to do so he just jumped right on the brakes as I grabbed a handful to go up. I hit his back wheel just as he was getting ready to go for the jump and he exited left. It was kind of scary. I was just watching and saw this guy just flying away. It was a bad deal. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. He was just grabbing a handful trying to get back on the racetrack. I was just trying to get there as fast as I could.”
     Stewart was struck by Travis Preston as he re-entered the track. So Chad didn’t back down when it mattered the most and it paid off with a win. Sounds easy, but just getting there took months. Chad has changed just about everything, even admitting that he started with himself. He took a trip home for surgery and turned it into a chance to re-invent himself, and returned to race for a team that was ready for that.
     The New Chad
     “There are a lot of new things going on in my life,” he said. “There are so many things that I changed, from the ground up. I started with myself. I am not sitting here saying my race team now is night and day better than my old race team. My bike is still a Yamaha and not a lot has changed. I started with myself and my life and to be a good person. That’s where we started. We built a race team with the same motto.”


     Larry Brooks stood at the first turn of the main at Toronto looking like mom at a 50 race at Loretta’s. Larry is the “L” in L&M Racing, Chad’s new team. Larry looks like he’s about to run and hop on the bike and race it himself at any given moment, and that’s because he’s an ex-racer and he’s been there.
     “Larry is an awesome guy. He is a racer at heart,” said Chad after the main. “He understands us. He understands that we are people first, and not some robot where you press the button and go and do these things. I think just having that in common, and he just puts a lot of effort into the team, all the guys in the team love the guy,” said Chad. “They work hard because they love their job. We all get along good and we have fun. We spent some time in Florida hanging out at my house. It’s been a ball so far. This is a great reward for them but we know there is a whole lot more than this weekend. We are not getting cocky or overconfident. It’s a long season. We are ahead of schedule. This weekend in Vancouver we are going to do what we did last weekend.”
     So what’s it all really mean? What it means is Chad came back from Australia happier and a team was waiting for him to do just that. So far it’s been a good mix.




itch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit team swept all three Lites podium spots in Phoenix. Such a thing may seem impossible, but for a team owner like Payton with three fast guys, he actually watches for it.
     We caught up with Payton to see what he thought of such a rare weekend:

TFS: Did you ever think there would be a night where you celebrated sweeping the podium like you did at Phoenix?
Payton: “We have always wanted it to happen. We have had really good teams in the past. It’s something that we have always talked about. But it doesn’t really mean it’s going to happen. We almost did it in 1997 with Carmichael, Casey Johnson, and Craig Decker. It came down to the last corner and Timmy Ferry passed him. That would have been 1-2-3. That’s something we always wanted to do. You hold it under your breath because you don’t want to wish it bad luck. It’s almost happened a few times and it’s cool to finally get it.”

TFS: It’s obvious the bikes you produce work. Can you put a number on things and compare them to others that way?
Payton: “I think we have the best bikes. I think it’s not just power, it’s the whole. We have a lot of power. We have great suspension. There is a lot of attention to detail in certain things that make a difference. Our mechanics and everyone involved have a winning attitude and that carries over to the riders and the group and it forces everyone to do better.”
TFS: How many technicians are there in the race shop that we don’t see at the races?
Payton: “We have a tight little group. The riders each have a mechanic. Aaron Johnson that helps with development of 450 Kawi stuff and Zack White is 250 Kawi. We try and keep one guy on each one so we keep them both moving forward. Bones is in charge of suspension and he has a couple of guys. I do my part on engines and we have someone working on cams and pipes. It’s a big group but people also work on the parts we are selling and Factory Connection’s Honda (race team) engines. We are pretty busy.”

TFS: It’s been said that Ryan Villopoto is successful because he works hard, what’s he doing?
Payton: “Since the beginning he has been a hard worker. He’s not lazy. Randy Lawrence trains him. He is really from the first race, Binghamton in ‘05, from that race to the next time he had a lot more endurance and strength in him. This year for Supercross you can see that he is stronger and more confident. He’s growing up. He is going to be a champion. He IS a champion.”

TFS: What does Goose have going for him?
Payton: “He is a really good kid. He has worked real hard, and has some injuries in his career. It’s nice to see he has earned a spot by doing well. He puts in the effort. He works real hard at racing and cares about it. I would love to see him win a race. I know he can win a race. I think he can do better than he has. At Phoenix he rode his ass off. The last four laps he had his head down. He nutted up and was going for it. It was really cool, I was really proud of him.”

TFS: Did you have a lot of contact with Christophe Pourcel to make his appearance here or was this a plan from Europe that you only needed to say OK to?
Payton: “He came over and rode the US Open a long time ago, and he rode a KX80 a Loretta’s (2003). I try to put my feelers out anywhere in the world, here, Australia, England, France, Belgium, Holland, anywhere that I think there is a talented rider coming up. I would prefer to work with them while they are young so that we can keep an eye on them and they will want to come and ride for our team. It just so happened Pourcel stayed on a Kawasaki and we watched the GP results. When we were in France at the des Nations, we sat down with his manager, and he expressed his goal was to come to the US. I said the way to do it is not come over here early. Come over when you are on your game, when you have everything down and you are more mature and stronger. I believe that is the way you are supposed to do it. I have seen some kids come over, where they just want to come to the United States. They come here and they are not fast enough. They struggle and everyone says, ‘Oh, that guy is no good’ and they end up getting shuffled. It is really important to win a championship so you have something to offer. He wanted to come over so I said we should do it like we did Pichon. That is bring him over and let him ride a couple Supercross races. Let him get the feel for it, feel the stadium. Next year he will come here and he will know our team. He will know the mechanics. It won’t be new to him.”

TFS: Now that you made the goal of sweeping a podium, what’s the next thing you want to do?
Payton: “It’s not for me, it’s for these guys. I want them to be successful. It would be cool. I would like to see Goose win a race! I have to get that done. When we can win a race we can worry about a championship. I have a year with Ben (Townley) already. I really believe in Townley. I want Townley to win a race and win a championship. I want to be involved when he is a champion because I got him over here and I want that to happen. Metcalfe is new to the team and he hasn’t ridden yet because of his shoulder and I want him to be successful.”