Australia’s Chad Reed is marking fourth place overall at Washougal as a minor setback in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship following his world famous crash at Millville just seven days prior.

TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing’s Reed, who captured headlines across the globe for the incident, struggled through injury at Washougal on Saturday, losing his championship leader red plate to Ryan Villopoto in the process.

Reed didn’t get the best start in the opening 30-minute moto. He was buried mid pack but pushed through to finish seventh.

The tenacious Aussie got a much better start in the second moto and battled with fellow compatriot Brett Metcalfe before finishing fourth.

Acknowledging he had nothing left in the tank today Reed said he was looking forward to recuperating during the three week break in the season.

“It was a really tough day today,” Reed admitted. “I did the best I could but I struggled out there.

“We now have three weeks until the next event so I have some time to recuperate before we start the run home.

“It’s a minor setback but as we have seen this year anything can happen and there are still four rounds and 200 points up for grabs,” he added.

After leading the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship for seven consecutive rounds Reed has relinquished his lead and now sits third, nine points behind points leader Villopoto and defending champion Ryan Dungey.

Reed will use the three-week break to fully recuperate and test ahead of the Unadilla National on Saturday, 13 August.