Toward the end of last year, Yamaha’s Chad Reed looked like a machine on a supercross track. Virtually unbeatable and inch perfect. This year, he can’t seem to run Ricky Carmichael’s pace. What happened?
Carmichael loves his Suzuki RM250, no doubt. Carmichael is clearly faster than he has ever been on a supercross track. One other factor may be Reed’s new aluminum frame. Even if Yamaha hit the nail on the head with its first aluminum-framed YZ250, Reed might have had to start virtually from scratch with suspension settings versus his old steel-framed mount.
Part of Reed’s perfection last year had to be attributed to his YZ250. With the same motor, but an entirely new aluminum frame this year, you would expect Reed to need time to test and adjust to his new machine. It is never that simple to develop an aluminum frame (ask Honda — now several generations into developing their aluminum-framed CRs).
Will Reed be able to pick up the pace and run down Ricky Carmichael before this supercross season is over? Perhaps, but time is running out while Carmichael pads his points lead every week.
