Chad Reed withdraws from 2012 AMA Supercross series following crash in Dallas – Motocross News
TwoTwo Motorsports/Honda rider Chad Reed has announced his withdrawal from the current season of the Monster Energy American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Supercross series due to injuries sustained from his crash in Dallas, Texas, this past weekend.
The 29-year-old Australian paid a heavy price for challenging the defending AMA Supercross champion Ryan Villopoto for first place in Lap 7 at the seventh round of the series at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on Saturday, February 18. The front wheel of his bike
dove into a sandy section of the track and threw him over the bars. While he managed to protect his head by tucking it, his body slammed into the ground while his leg left foot got stuck on the foot peg.
Flying to California the very next day for evaluation of his injuries, Reed learned that he had sustained torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a broken tibia and fibula, two broken ribs and a broken T6 vertebra.
“I was genuinely in a position to fight for race wins week in week out and expected to be going to Las Vegas for a shot at the title,” said Reed. “This is bitterly disappointing, I felt like I had everything in my corner this time. I’ve never felt more comfortable,
from the bike and team to my riding.”
The TwoTwo Motorsports/Honda rider is still waiting for the swelling in his knee to go away so that the doctors can perform a surgery on it.
The former two-time Supercross champion was sitting just behind Villopoto in the overall season standings prior to the race, making him the biggest threat for the latter’s successful title defence.
However, Reed will not be able to continue his campaign for the coveted AMA Supercross title and will have to sit in the stands and watch Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey and JGRMX/Yamaha’s James Stewart challenge the Villopoto.
The Australian rider admitted on the social networking and micro-blogging service Twitter that he was immensely disappointed about not being able to compete in the full AMA Supercross season, adding that he was not quite sure whether it was his injuries
that hurt more or the fact that his knee injury would keep him out of action for a while.
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