Jason Anderson gets his second win of the season after Ryan Dungey makes a rare mistake.
It’s just one of those things that happens in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and tonight at Ford Field in Detroit it happened in Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider Jason Anderson’s favor.
After what appeared to be a solid second-place finish—a position that he celebrated on the podium—Anderson found himself awarded his second 450cc supercross win of the year after Red Bull KTM’s Ryan
Dungey was docked two positions for jumping during a medical flag in the main event. The medical flag denotes that a rider is receiving medical attention in a potentially perilous proximity to the racetrack, and AMA rules require that all riders passing that part of the track are to roll the obstacles until they are clear of the incident. Dungey failed to do that, and it cost him what seemed like a certain victory. It would have been Dungey’s 28th career win, although finishing third had only a negligible impact on his monstrous series points lead.
Dungey pulled the holeshot to start the 20-lap main event, but his Red Bull KTM teammate, Marvin Musquin, got a strong drive from the outside through the first rhythm section to cut Dungey off in the second corner and take the lead while Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett briefly ran third ahead of BTO Sports KTM’s Justin Brayton. Brayton quickly slipped under Baggett just before the whoop section to give the Orange Brigade the top three spots before the end of the first lap. Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely passed Baggett in the first-lap scramble, only to lose control and crash through the Tuff BLox at the end of the whoop section, handing the fifth spot to Anderson. Team Yamaha/360fly/Chaparral Racing’s Chad Reed quickly moved into sixth at that point.
Dungey made his move for the lead on lap two by getting a good run up the inside in the whoop section and then driving across in front of Musquin in the next left-hander. From there, Dungey went on to gap the next closest rider by a few tenths per lap to take the lead. However, Dungey had already inadvertently committed his foul by jumping through a section in which the medical flag was being shown for fallen RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki rider Jake Weimer.
Meanwhile, Anderson passed Brayton to take over third place. Brayton would drop out of the lead pack on lap 15 with a flat rear tire, allowing Reed to advance to fourth place.
Anderson then slowly began to reel-in Musquin, but Musquin still had nearly a 3-second cushion on the Husky rider with just two laps to go when he lost the front end and crashed just before the start of the whoop section on the last lap, handing Anderson the runner-up spot, which would later be crucial to the outcome of the race.
“I feel like me, Ryan [Dungey] and Marvin [Musquin] were just like another day out at the practice track,” Anderson said afterward. “It seemed like we were going the same speed for the whole race. I’m bummed that Marvin fell. He definitely handed me a second-place [finish] that I’m not bummed on.”
Dungey crossed the finish line about 9 seconds ahead of Anderson, unaware that he would be penalized two positions for the aforementioned infraction.
“We were just trying to plug away,” Dungey said. “Those whoops were tricky all day. I tried to just ease into it, and just stayed light. It worked out good, and the bike was working well. It was a good night.”
Musquin was able to remount quickly after falling to salvage third, which later turned into second. Had he not crashed, he would have been credited with the win.
“It was a rough day,” Musquin said. “I felt good, but I went down in my heat race. I won the semi, so that was good, and then got a good start for the main event. I was riding a little bit tight. The track was so slick. It was difficult. I was struggling in the whoops. Jason was actually catching me, but I was riding consistent, and I was happy. Unfortunately, I gave Jason a second place. I’m not a big fan of those [slick] conditions, but we made it happen.”
Two-time series champion Reed had a great night, finishing fourth ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, with RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen finishing sixth after a terrible start in which he ran outside the top 10. Then came Autotrader/Monster Energy/Yamaha’s Weston Peick in seventh, followed by Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard, who won his heat race to start the night but tangled with Baggett early in the main event and crashed. Smartop/MotoConcepts Racing Honda’s Mike Alessi finished ninth, with GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle completing the top 10.
Roczen’s finish obviously didn’t help him in his attempt to run down Dungey in the series points. Dungey has now amassed 253 points to Roczen’s 214. Anderson sits third with 200 points. Barring a major catastrophe, Dungey is well on his way to defending his Monster Energy AMA Supercross title, but there are still six rounds of racing yet to be run, with the next round taking place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, March 26.
2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
Results: March 19, 2016 (Round 11 of 17)
450 Main
1. Jason Anderson-Hus (finished second)
2. Marvin Musquin-KTM (finished third)
3. Ryan Dungey-KTM (finished first, penalized two positions)
4. Chad Reed-Yam
5. Eli Tomac-Kaw
6. Ken Roczen-Suz
7. Weston Peick-Yam
8. Trey Canard-Hon
9. Mike Alessi-Hon
10. Justin Bogle-Hon
11. Cole Seely-Hon
12. Josh Grant-Kaw
13. Vince Friese-Hon
14. Phil Nicoletti-Yam
15. Nick Wey-Kaw
16. Nicholas Schmidt-Suz
17. Cody Gilmore-Kaw
18. Justin Brayton-KTM
19. Blake Baggett-Suz
20. Kyle White-Hon
21. Jeff Alessi-Hon
22. Jake Weimer-Suz
2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Points Standings (after 11 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-253/5 wins
2. Ken Roczen-214/3 wins
3. Jason Anderson-200/2 wins
4. Eli Tomac-186/1 win
5. Marvin Musquin-178
6. Cole Seely-173
7. Chad Reed-160
8. Justin Brayton-128
9. Davi Millsaps-105
10. Trey Canard-104
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