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RYAN DUNGEY
450 SX / 4TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Although he finished in second position, Ryan Dungey was the main focal point of the 450 main event last weekend in St. Louis. The Red Bull KTM rider was finally showing the potential to upset Eli Tomac’s winning streak after grabbing a good start and gaining on the Monster Energy Ka- wasaki, but he found himself in a controversial struggle with Chad Reed. The Australian was back in sixteenth place and chose not to move aside for the faster rider, impeding Dungey’s progress for approximately three laps, and stifling the battle that was brewing for the lead. Nonetheless, the defending champion is content with where his speed’s at heading into Seattle he’s ready to do battle. The current championship leader was able to step it up in the only practice session and match the pace of Eli Tomac, an important facet of the mental warfare that these championship con- tenders put themselves through as the season nears it’s end. Dungey has struggled to bring the intensity in qualifying for the majority of the season, but he was able to step it up with the points lead hanging in the balance. He was able to carry that intensity straight into the opening 450 heat race as he forced his way to a second place start behind his teammate, Marvin Musquin. Dungey was able to match the speed of his fellow Baker’s Factory trainee, but he never found an opportunity to force himself into first position. Things couldn’t have gone worse for Dungey at the start of the main event; the Red Bull KTM rider was involved in a small incident with the Suzuki pair of Justin Barcia and Justin Bogle, ironically due to some interference with a Suzuki tuff block bordering the inside of the first corner. He remounted his bike rather quickly and found himself in nine- teenth position on the opening lap, setting him up for a spirited charge all the way back to fourth place by the end of the race. Dungey did enough to salvage some incredibly valuable championship, putting himself and Tomac both on two hundred and ninety-four points heading into the final three rounds of the season.
20 GRITMOTO • APRIL 9, 2017