Aussie Chad Reed won Hangtown for the second year in a row on Sunday. Image: Simon Cudby/RacerXOnline.com.

Australia’s Chad Reed has taken victory in the opening round of the 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Hangtown in Northern California.

The TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing team owner/rider stunned with 2-1 results after a hard-fought day, edging out Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s defending champion Ryan Dungey for the overall.

Dungey raced to 1-2 results for second to commence his outdoor season, while new AMA Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto finished third overall with 3-3 finishes.

In moto one, Dungey picked up right where he left off last season, when he dominated the field throughout the season.

Dungey worked his way to the front, and once he got the lead from Kevin Windham, he kept putting distance on the rest of the field.

Reed earned the second place finish, and 2011 Supercross champion Ryan Villopoto took third in his return to the outdoor nationals.

Davi Millsaps and South Australian Brett Metcalfe rounded out the top five.

Come moto two, Reed and Dungey battled hard for the majority of the race and the two championship riders kept the fans on their feet.

Although Dungey was the winner of moto one and had ample chance to attain a sweep, he backed off the throttle towards the end of the race to give the Moto Two win and overall victory to Reed.

Villopoto was in the top three all race, but just couldn’t pull out the win.

The naturally-talented veteran Windham finished fourth after taking sixth in moto one, while Metcalfe again rounded out the top five. He scored fifth overall.

Queenslander Michael Byrne finished 11th overall with 10-14 results, while Tye Simmonds was 16th with 12-16 results in his AMA outdoor debut for JDR/J-Star/KTM.

In the 250 Class it was Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett who won, winning ahead of teammates Dean Wilson and Tyla Rattray.

Wilson won moto one before handing the overall to Baggett when he crashed while again leading in moto two.

Baggett’s 2-1 results were good enough to score the overall win.

The series will now head to Freestone in Texas next Saturday for round two of the 12 to be contested this season.

2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Round One – Hangtown, CA

450 Class Overall Results:
1. Chad Reed
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Kevin Windham
5. Brett Metcalfe
6. Davi Milsaps
7. Tommy Hahn
8. Christophe Pourcel
9. Ricky Dietrich
10. Christian Craig

250 Class Overall Results:
1. Blake Baggett
2. Dean Wilson
3. Tyla Rattray
4. Eli Tomac
5. Marvin Musquin
6. Gareth Swanepoel
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Darryn Durham
9. Broc Tickle
10. Cole Seely