Ryan Dungey keeps hold of the red plate
By TMX Archives on 5th Feb 17
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Teams Ryan Dungey continues to lead the way in the 450SX Championship after capturing his fifth consecutive podium of the season on Saturday.
With a second place finish in the Main Event, Dungey remains the only rider in the premier class to appear on the podium at each of the five rounds of the AMA Supercross Championship. Additionally, TLD Red Bull KTM's Shane McElrath earned his fifth consecutive podium finish of the season, where he remains the only 250SX West rider to hold a podium position throughout the first five rounds.
In 450SX Heat 1, Marvin Musquin put his Red Bull KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into a 2nd place position on the opening lap. From there, Musquin maintained a solid position where he ultimately finished 2nd place en route to the Main Event.
Ryan Dungey grabbed a top-five start in 450SX Heat 2, where he climbed his way into a transfer position around the halfway point. However, Dungey dropped back one position in the final laps to ultimately finish 5th place, where he was forced to line up in the semi-final.
In 450SX Semi 2, Dungey jumped into the lead position by lap two. From there, Dungey put forth a dominant performance to capture the win and a transfer position to the Main Event.
Main Event
Just short of grabbing the official holeshot, Dungey powered his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION into the lead on the opening lap as he established a good pace early on. Dungey charged ahead to lead the first 16 laps of the Main Event before Eli Tomac made his move into the lead on lap 17. From there, Dungey pushed hard in an attempt to reclaim the lead but in the end he finished a close second.
Dungey: "The track was pretty tough – there were some spots where we were a little uncomfortable out there but a track like that brings out the rider and the talent. You have to really put it all together. We went for it in the beginning and opened up a nice little lead, which is good. I could gauge where Eli was and I saw that he was doing that rhythm lane. All and all it was a good night, I'm really happy with it. Just a couple of spots that I was losing time on the track so I'm happy with that. It's not like it's a bike thing, we'll go to work this week and try to get better just like we do every week. Considering where we started out we made really good progress today so I'm really happy with it.”
Musquin didn't get the best jump off the line as he checked in just inside the top-ten on the opening lap. Musquin immediately began climbing his way through the pack until a crash sent him back to the 17th place position just before the halfway point. Musquin was able to rebound, where he ultimately made his way back up to 9th.
250SX West Class
It was a tough start to the evening for Shane McElrath, who failed to immediately qualify into the Main Event after getting tangled with another rider in the heat race. McElrath was able to bounce back in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), where he led a majority of the race to claim an easy transfer position into the Main Event.
McElrath got off to a great start aboard his KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION as he jumped into the third place position on the opening lap. McElrath engaged in a battle for the 3rd place position for a majority of the race where he ultimately prevailed to earn his fifth consecutive podium finish with third place.
McElrath: "It's actually a big relief (to not be leading the points chase). This is the first time I've had all the pressure off of myself. It's been a tough five races and it seems like it's only gotten tougher having the target on my back, so we're one point down now and I couldn't be more relieved. It's something where I can settle down now. That's been my biggest thing – trying to understand how to deal with it. I'm here and I'm thankful that I'm safe. I'm ready for next weekend and ready to put up a fight going into the break.”
