Image: Supplied.

Chad Reed’s campaign at Anaheim 2’s third round of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship was hampered by a technical issue that denied him of starting the second main event of the Triple Crown format.

The JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing contender wound up 10th in the opening encounter, however the threads of an unobtainable clutch cover malfunctioned, causing oil to leak from his RM-Z450 on the starting line for race two

The problem was repaired, allowing the Australian to salvage what he could in the final of three mains, putting in a spirited performance to finish fifth for 13th overall.

“It was a good night of racing,” Reed admitted. “I felt race ready even though my qualifying times were not where I would have liked them to be – I was a little too kind about making my way forward in the first main. Unfortunately, we had a technical issue in the second race.

“In race three I felt like I needed to pull one of my customary Suzuki starts out of the old bag. From there I really felt like I rode my best all weekend. Moving forward I want to focus on believing in myself more and getting great starts more often.”

The two-time AMA Supercross champion now sits 13th in the standings as the series heads to Oakland this weekend for round three. Saturday’s overall win was credited to Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – the first of his career – while Ken Roczen (Honda HRC) still leads the points classification.