MONSTER ENERGY:

Reigning AMA Motocross Champion Chad Reed has thrilled fans at the opening round of the 2009 Monster Energy Super X Series at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium, with a sensational fightback to finish third on the podium after a horror crash in his heat race almost forced him out of contention.

The proud Australian, who debuted his brand new Monster Energy-backed Kawasaki KX450F, is back on home soil to compete in the series he co-created and despite only having limited riding time on the bike before tonight’s event demonstrated to the 8000-strong crowd why he has twice been crowned World Supercross Champion with two incredible races from the back of the pack.

Reed was the quickest man on track during practice and the top ten shootout but crashed heavily on the opening lap of his heat race forcing him to sidelines with extensive damage to the bike and substantial bruising and swelling to his elbow.

Determined not to let down his passionate Tasmanian fans down, Reed was back on the bike for the last chance qualifier (LCQ) which he won comfortably.

Due to his ride in the LCQ, Reed was allocated the second-last gate pick and forced to start both races from the same gate.

He showed his class as the gates dropped, fighting back from 16th to finish 5th in the first 10-lap final. Reed rode to victory from 11th in the second and final 10-lapper of the evening.

“Considering all the weather conditions and what we started with at the beginning of the week the track was very good,” said Reed.

“It was a rough night for me- I had had to go to last chance and come from the back from both races.

“Someone hit me from behind in the heat race and came down on top of my elbow which put me out of the heat.

“It was extremely painful during both races – every bump it hurt so I had to be a bit cautious.

“I tried to be careful and not do anything silly but on the last lap I saw an opportunity to challenge for the race lead and I had to take it; I ended up winning the last race which was pretty cool,” he finished.

Reed finished the opening round in third place, scoring 20 points.

Monster Energy’s Adrian Hunter said the Super X series was world-class and a very important way of connecting athletes to the brand.

“The Monster Energy series in the US is extremely important to us and with Australia moving to be more like it the Super X series here is also very important,” he said.

“We are extremely excited that Chad is now a Monster Energy-supported athlete; he is an icon in the US and we are looking to mirror that image here in Australia.

“We look forward to a very successful relationship between Monster Energy, Super X and Chad Reed moving well into the future,” he said.

The next round of Monster Energy Super X will be held at Geelong’s Skilled Stadium next Saturday.