Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin bag two more wins for KTM at the Indy Supercross in Lucas Oil Stadium.
KTM has never won the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series title, but unless someone can figure out how to stop Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, it isn’t hard to imagine that the Austrian brand will soon be checking that off its bucket list.
Dungey was just that, unstoppable, when the supercross circus made its 11th stop of the year under the dome of the opulent Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Saturday night, and when it was all over he came away with his fifth win of the season. Dungey also moved up to ninth on the all-time AMA Supercross Series winner’s list where he is now tied with Damon Bradshaw.
There may well be a double title celebration in the KTM camp if Marvin Musquin continues to see things go his way. Dungey’s Red Bull KTM teammate bagged his fourth AMA 250cc East Supercross Series win and five starts, giving KTM a 250/450 sweep for the fourth time this year.
450cc Main Event
BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short has snared so many holeshots this season that he should think about applying for a patent. The likeable Texan pulled off another one to start the 20-lap main event, but Dungey was right there with Short, and he only trailed Short in the first two rhythm sections before swooped around the outside of him to take the lead. Team Honda/HRC’s Cole Seely and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac ran right behind Short in the first run through the whoops, while TwoTwo Motorsports/Discount Tire’s Josh Grant ran fifth after surviving a second-turn tangle that left his team owner and teammate, Chad Reed, on the ground. Toyota/Joe Gibbs Racing Yamaha’s Weston Peick was sixth.
Seely shot to the outside of a sandy left-hand turn to overtake Short for second place on the opening lap, while Canard suffered another poor start and was mired way back in 11th place, behind seventh-placed behind Peick’s Toyota/JGR Yamaha teammate Phil Nicoletti, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Davi Millsaps, Kyle Partridge and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett.
Seely kept Dungey honest through the first few laps, only to come up short over a jump and lose time to the series point leader. Farther back in the field, Millsaps and Canard were charging toward the front with Baggett tagging along as well. Canard was able to slip under Millsaps for fifth place on lap six, and Baggett appeared set to challenge Millsaps, too, until he lost the front end and crashed in a right-hand corner. The momentum of Baggett’s bike caused it to roll over on top of him and trap him, which cost him several positions before track officials could come and rescue him.
With no pressure on him, Dungey simply went about his business, clicking off laps at the front of the field en route to another main event win. Seely ran about 3 seconds behind Dungey and over 7 seconds ahead of Canard, who made his way past Peick into third place at around the halfway mark, setting the top three. Dungey crossed the finish line with 3.9 seconds in hand to claim his fifth win of the season.
Dungey now has a 45-point lead over Canard, 249-204, in the series standings, but he is adamant that every remaining race is still important.
“I’m taking it one at a time, you know,” Dungey said. “That’s easier said than done, but it’s a long series. It’s awesome to win these races. The track was tough today. The only reason I say that is because in practice everybody was so close. We were all running the same pace, and it was going to take something more to open up that lead if I got the holeshot. My heat wasn’t so hot, but that main event start was way better.”
Seely’s solid second-place finish was his second podium finish and fifth top-five this season.
“It’s my rookie season, and I can’t complain about a podium, that’s for sure,” Seely said. “I’m glad to get two of the [Team Honda/HRC] bikes on the box.”
Canard’s poor start once again hampered his chances for the win, and third place cost him more ground to Dungey.
“I’m definitely searching right now, and it shows,” Canard said. “Maybe I won’t go practice any this week. I’ve burned some clutches up, doing some starts, so it’s not for a lack of effort. Once I get it, I’ll get it. I’ve just got to keep plugging away. It’s unfortunate that Ryan [Dungey] is still creeping away and that championship is getting a little more elusive, but I’m so happy for my teammate, Cole—he’s such an awesome guy. And I’m so happy for the HRC team.”
250cc East Main Event
GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle hugged the inside and barely beat Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos through turn one to take the holeshot in the 250cc East main event, but Davalos’ speed around the outside quickly carried him into the lead. Musquin just as quickly moved into third place and then jumped past Bogle through the first rhythm section to move into a second place while Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy and GEICO Honda’s RJ Hampshire moved into fourth and fifth place respectively.
Davalos’ lead lastest all of one lap as Musquin followed him across the finish line jump and then cut to the inside to take the lead. Davalos would run into trouble in the whoops and crash on the same lap, dropping well outside the top 10.
That left it up to Bogle to try and cut into Musquin’s lead, which was already nearly 2 seconds by the start of lap three. Musquin was simply unstoppable once again as he rode a polished race, stepping up his gap in small increment. It was up to 3.9 seconds by the halfway point. Musquin appeared to be even stronger at the finish than he was at the start, dominating the race as he crossed the finish line with a massive 22.3 second cushion—some of which was accumulated when Bogle crashed in one of the rhythm sections with four laps to go. Bogle finished second about 4.5 seconds ahead of his teammate Hampshire.
“It looks like it was a crazy race behind me,” Musquin said on the podium. “I got into the lead pretty quickly. I was really happy about my riding today. I made some passes really quick, and I felt like I adapted to the track pretty quickly and found some different lines. My start wasn’t so good, so I had to do some passes, but my bike was once again unbelievable. Me and my wife have been married for three years today, so it was good to get a win on today.”
Bogle said that he felt really good all night, but a win eluded him once again.
“I felt like I had the speed to win,” he said. “Once again I didn’t execute. I got a good start but kind of got shuffled around again on the first lap. I need to work on that. I ended up off the track after the finish on one lap and had a pretty good crash in the long rhythm section, so I’m honestly just thankful to get through with a second and get out of here. Seeing what happened to Jeremy Martin this weekend, things can turn around in a quick second, so I just have to keep pushing, keep grinding, and try to keep improving. We’ll get there.”
Hampshire’s third-place finish was reason to celebrate, as it marked the first AMA Supercross podium finish of his career.
“I had that big crash in Dallas, and I’ve just been getting better and better every weekend,” Hampshire said. “I have a good group of people behind me. I have an awesome team, and I feel like I am capable of doing it.”
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Lucas Oil Stadium
St. Louis, Missouri
Results: March 14, 2014 (Round 11 of 17)
450cc Main Event
1. Ryan Dungey-KTM
2. Cole Seely-Hon
3. Trey Canard-Hon
4. Weston Peick-Yam
5. David Millsaps-Kaw
6. Andrew Short-KTM
7. Joshua Grant-Kaw
8. Broc Tickle-Suz
9. Chad Reed-Kaw
10. Jacob Weimer-Kaw
11. Eli Tomac-Hon
12. Kyle Chisholm-Kaw
13. Phillip Nicoletti-Yam
14. Nicholas Wey-Kaw
15. Blake Baggett-Suz
16. Kyle Partridge-Hon
17. Jason Anderson-Hus
18. Tony Archer-Kaw
19. Ben Lamay-Hus
20. Killian Rusk-Yam
21. Adam Enticknap-Hon
22. Dustin Pipes-Suz
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Point Standings (After 11 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-249/5 wins
2. Trey Canard-204/2 wins
3. Eli Tomac-169/1 win
4. Cole Seely-160
5. Ken Roczen-156/2 wins
6. Chad Reed-152/1 win
7. Jason Anderson-144
8. Blake Baggett-141
9. Andrew Short-124
10. Broc Tickle-120
11. Davi Millsaps-103
12. Weston Peick-91
13. Josh Grant-80
14. Jake Weimer-74
15. Justin Barcia-71
16. Kyle Chisholm-53
17. Phil Nicoletti-52
18. Mike Alessi-48
19. Josh Hill-40
Brett Metcalfe-40
250cc East Main Event
1. Marvin Musquin-KTM
2. Justin Bogle-Hon
3. Rj Hampshire-Hon
4. Jordon Smith-Hon
5. Kyle Cunningham-Hon
6. James Decotis-Hon
7. Kyle Peters-Hon
8. Colt Nichols-Hon
9. Vince Friese-Hon
10. Jace Owen-Hon
11. Luke Renzland-Yam
12. Gannon Audette-Kaw
13. Mitchell Oldenburg-Yam
14. Justin Starling-Yam
15. Martin Davalos-Hus
16. Anthony Rodriguez-Yam
17. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
18. Taylor Potter-Hon
19. Logan Karnow-Hon
20. Joey Savatgy-Kaw
21. Nick Gaines-Kaw
22. Dakota Alix-KTM
AMA 250cc East Supercross Series Point Standings (After 5 of 8 rounds)
1. Marvin Musquin-122/4 wins
2. Justin Bogle-106
3. Jeremy Martin-85/1 win
4. RJ Hampshire-74
5. Joey Savatgy-73
6. Martin Davalos-62
7. Vince Friese-58
8. Jimmy Decotis-57
Kyle Peters-57
10. Anthony Rodriguez-52
11. Matt Lemoine-39
12. Arnaud Tonus-38
13. Luke Renzland-37
14. Kyle Cunningham-33
Colt Nichols-33
Gannon Audette-33
17. Mitchell Oldenburg-31
18. Jordon Smith-27
19. Justin Starling-26
20. Jace Owen-17
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