The heavens opened and created a swamp at the Daytona Speedway for the tenth round of the 2008 AMA Supercross series, a FIM World Championship. Yamaha San Manuel's Chad Reed was three corners from his seventh victory of the season before being forced to retire.
To make matters worse for the Australian he was later penalised for cutting the sodden track and dropped to seventh place for his lowest standing of the season so far. Despite the drama and eventual outcome, the 25 year old still leads the championship by 23 points with seven rounds remaining.
The deluge of rain on Saturday ruined the outdoor course partly designed by AMA legend Ricky Carmichael. The races in both Supercross and Lites classes were only just able to start, with some American sources describing the conditions as the worst ever seen for a SX event.
Reed - like most of the riders - was barely recognisable after the first few corners and fought in the early stages with Kevin Windham before being able to make a break, although the battle of attrition would be lost mere metres from the flag.
"It just sucked water and mud through the air boot," said Larry Brooks, San Manuel Yamaha team manager. "There was standing water on the track, and the bike sucked water and dirt, and when he stopped to line up for a rut, it just had no compression, got stuck in some mud and stopped. He had a minute and 15 second lead with three corners to go and couldn't finish, so obviously he's upset, but stuff happens. We should be happy that he got those points and move on to the next one."
Brand-mate Josh Hill has a similar problem after four laps. Reed was still the top ranked Yamaha finisher with seventh while Nathan Ramsey managed to take twelfth. There were no top ten entrants in the Lites division.
Round eleven takes place next weekend at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Circuit Length: n/a
Weather: Muddy
2008 AMA-SX Daytona Beach, Fl. 10/03/2008 Race 1 - 12 Laps
1 Kevin Windham Honda USA 19'48.890
2 David D Millsaps Honda USA 0'22.420
3 Jacob Marsack Honda USA 0'111.833
4 David Vuillemin Suzuki FRA 0'137.726
5 Antonio Balbi Honda USA 0'151.760
6 Heath Voss Honda USA -1 Laps
7 Chad Reed Yamaha AUS -1 Laps
8 Andrew Short Honda USA -1 Laps
9 Eric Sorby Honda USA -1 Laps
10 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA -2 Laps
11 Bryan K Johnson Honda USA -2 Laps
12 Nathan Ramsey Yamaha USA -2 Laps
13 Dusty Klatt Kawasaki USA -3 Laps
14 Travis Preston Kawasaki USA -3 Laps
15 Paul Carpenter Honda USA -4 Laps
17 Josh Hill Yamaha USA -5 Laps
Rider Standings 07/03/2008
1. Chad Reed Yamaha AUS 223
2. Kevin Windham Honda USA 200
3. Andrew Short Honda USA 154
4. David D Millsaps Honda USA 149
5. Tim Ferry Kawasaki USA 137
6. Nathan Ramsey Yamaha USA 123
7. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 110
8. David Vuillemin Suzuki FRA 102
9. Nicholas Wey KTM USA 89
10. Paul Carpenter Honda USA 86
11. Charles Summey Yamaha USA 72
12. Mike Alessi Suzuki USA 69
13. Heath Voss Honda USA 67
14. Jacob Marsack Honda USA 61
15. Ivan Tedesco Honda USA 53
21. Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 38
33. Broc Hepler Yamaha USA 3
Manufacturer Standings 07/03/2008
1. Yamaha 224
2. Honda 215
3. Kawasaki 183
4. Suzuki 142
5. KTM 89
- Yamaha Racing -
