This year has been a huge one for Chad Reed, forming his own team in TwoTwo Motorsports and gaining factory Honda support along the way following a stellar supercross season.

Reed, 29, ultimately finished second in supercross and third in the outdoors, placing his very own team on the map in the process and proving that he has what it takes to mix it with the world’s best teams both on and off the track.

MotoOnline.com.au tracked down Reed following the Pala finale to see how he rates his season, plus to also find out on what the future holds for himself and the TwoTwo team.

Chad Reed finished with 12-3 results at Pala on Sunday, but overall he's happy with TwoTwo Motorsports' debut season. Image: Alex Gobert.

This year you started your own team late in the off-season and now you have a full season of supercross and motocross under your belt. Even though the year didn’t finish how you would have liked, you are the most popular guy out there, so how does that relate to your championship years previously?

For me, I think the biggest thing is that it’s rewarding in so many different ways. A championship is always rewarding in a certain way, but this year we were building a team at the last minute with a bunch of good people who took a leap of faith and believed in it.

We all worked hard, all had goals, and the only disappointing part is the fact that we were actually in a position where we were controlling the championship at one point. In the second half of the season we just weren’t able to be as strong as we were in the beginning.

So, I think in a lot of ways it’s positive that we weren’t able to be champions, because it gives us more to strive for and it presented our weaknesses.

We’re not exempt from a lot of the things that everybody is faced with. It was all looking good, we were on the lucky side in a few things.

Our teammates had bikes break and we never did, we were close a lot of times, but in the second half of the season all that stuff caught up with us. We have weaknesses we need to work on and we’ll continue to try to do that, make it better and stronger for 2012.

You’ve raced in a lot of different eras. You raced with RC, you had a big rivalry with Bubba and spoke about him a lot before this year, but now it seems to be you and all of these kids – RV, Dungey, Barcia, Canard, and so on. What’s that like, to race through those eras and still be one of the best?

Yeah, I think it’s good. I mean, obviously they bring something different than what even James and Ricky brought. It seems, you know how to get it done, what it takes to get it done.

Villopoto and Dungey are actually more seasoned than their age, they’ve both been around a long time, both won titles. But the Barcias and Canards are coming, which makes it fun.

You never want to get pushed away, never want to be the old guy, so I think for the future we still have what it takes to win and contend for championships. As long as I feel that then we’ll keep coming back.

We’ve heard a lot of talk about next year, that there could be another guy with you on TwoTwo Motorsports, and that you’ve hired more mechanics. Is this a platform you’re building for after you race, or is it still all about you and your racing career at the moment?

No, I think right now, you dream big and try to build it to what you feel it can be. I have goals of wanting to go car racing, doing bigger and better things. But the race team is something I have a passion for, I enjoy it, it’s fun.

There’s a lot of work in different areas, but I enjoy building a group of people and we’re going to add some staff and potentially a rider. We’ll keep continuing to take steps forward, hopefully build the team up to be in contention whether I’m riding or not.

Reed is looking to expand TwoTwo Motorsports, possibly to a two-rider effort as soon as 2012. Image: Alex Gobert.

Just finally, Motocross of Nations is here. What can Team Australia expect coming into that event in France?

I think that individually we just need to rise to the occasion. We all need to focus really hard on starts, get out front and just be away from the trouble.

You know, you show up at des Nations and you’ve got three of the best guys from every country, so everybody has a different riding style. They ride different than you and you don’t normally race them on a weekend basis.

I think that we have a huge potential and we should be on the podium. From my side, I feel like we have the strongest team that we can possibly have at this point.

I’m really excited to be going to France with two good guys, guys who can hopefully rise to the occasion along with myself, and we can put Team Australia on the podium.

Okay well thanks a lot, congratulations on a great year, and we’re all very proud of you and your family for what you guys have achieved with TwoTwo. Good luck at MXoN!

Thanks buddy, no problem.

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