Page 18 - ISSUE41

RYAN DUNGEY
450 SX / 3RD
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Ryan Dungey has had a season of ups and downs in reference to the exceptional standards that he
has set for himself throughout his career -- winning the 450 SX title in his rookie year, finishing on the podium thirty races consecutively, and entering the season as the two-time defending champion. One of his strengths has always been his impeccable starting technique and reaction time out of the gate, always plac- ing himself within the battle for the podium on the opening lap, but he has failed to replicate that consistency in recent weekends. Dungey was involved in a starting line debacle with both of his training partners in Daytona that placed him almost dead last coming into the first corner; the Minnesota native managed to fight his way through the field and salvage a fourth place finish, but his points lead is slowly slipping away to the delight of Eli Tomac. The rider with the #1 plate struggled to find his flow throughout the early stages of timed qualifying, but eventually pulled it together towards the end of the final session by clocking the sixth fastest time in the premier class. Although Dungey’s main championship rivals qualified ahead of him, he would be able to draw some confidence from the final session into the night show, and the gate pick wouldn’t hurt ei- ther. He wasn’t able to execute the start he was hoping for in his heat race as he got pinched off by his train- ing partner, Jason Anderson, heading into the opening corner. Dungey made the best of a bad situation in the opening rhythm section and found himself in fifth place as he crossed the stripe for the first time, poised to strike for the final transfer position behind Chad Reed. The Red Bull KTM rider followed the Yamaha rider around the track for a couple of laps in order to scope out a passing opportunity, eventually lunging for the position after the first triple jump; Reed held the throttle on around the outside and stayed committed, there- fore maintaining the inside line and the position through the following corner. Dungey attempted the same maneuver on the following lap, but Reed was keen to the attempt and squared up the corner, therefore main- taining the position for the remainder of the race. The back-to-back champion was forced to line up in semi and ended up coming away with a better start, tucking in behind the Smartop MotoConcept’s Honda of Jus- tin Brayton. Dungey wasn’t able to show a wheel to the leader throughout the entirety of the race and ended up settling for second position heading into the main event as he managed to salvage a decent gate pick. He finally got one of his patented starts when the pyrotechnics erupted above the starting line, sending a sea of 450cc machines hurling towards the first corner. Dungey showed some early aggression in order to get the better of Eli Tomac through the opening rhythm section, but he ended up falling back to third place before the end of the opening lap. The Minnesota native worked his way past Blake Baggett only a couple laps into the race in an attempt to keep Tomac within striking distance, but he ultimately didn’t have the speed in order to hang with the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider. He put in a solid opening half to the main event and hung onto second position with smooth, consistent laps, but the gap to Musquin began to shrink once the leaders worked their way into lapped traffic. Dungey fell off the pace and conceded second position to his teammate after the second triple, forfeiting the inside line as he settled for third place. Although it wasn’t where the three-time SX champ is conditioned to finish, he was able to get back on the podium provide damage control in terms of the points chase heading into Detroit.
18 GRITMOTO • MARCH 19, 2017